Technical 1963 Catalina complete brake redo

Long story short I spent 2600 to a mechanic to put new brakes on my car as soon as I bought it. Fast forward 6 months later 150 miles after he finished it the front wheels whistle no matter what speed so I take it back to him and he said the front brakes are shot because the master cylinder has kept pressure applied continuously to the front brakes. He tried 3 different master cylinders on this before this one "worked". I'm over it so I want to go disk. Can I put Camaro front spindle assemblies on to my existing upper and lower control arms. Next I want to swap rear ends while I'm there so Camaro rear end with a 3.73 rear gear but is that too much gear for a roto hydramatic aka slim Jim? I want to put the rear end about 2 inches higher than it is now so what springs should I buy. I'll need a new master cylinder also what would work? I want to keep this as low as possible.

 

We would love to help you out. But some more information is needed.
1963 what?
As far as camaro spindles. Not likely. Tons of kits out there to do a disk brake swaps on just about anything. There's tons of guys on here that have "been there, done that"
Just be prepared for "drums work fine if setup right"

 

Pontiac Catalina and I know they work great but I'm just tired of dealing with this guy and working on obsolete technology. What would I need to use Camaro spindles on the Pontiac?

 

The easy way to go to disk brakes on your car would be the kit from www.scarebird.com. Camaro spindles won't fit. The Scarebird kit will keep your current 5x5 bolt pattern, which will match the original rear end, which is bulletproof - no need to replace it.

 

I'd find someone who knows how to fix the Pontiac brakes. Even though you don't like old parts repaired correctly, don't screw the car up for someone who appreciates an unusual body style.
Adjusting the pushrod to the master would have fixed it, assuming any of the other brake work was done correctly.

 

Everything is still together on the car and improving drive-ability doesn't screw the car up. I have 2 sets of drums for this car along with every original part that was taken off, so if I ever decide to get rid of it the next person can put the drums back on even though it wouldn't make much sense to.

 

+1 vote for Stuarts advice. Unless that rear end is scattered or the housing is damaged there's no reason to change it out. Guys raced and flogged those things back in the day.

When doing the disk brake swap, you have some options.
1) just upgrade the front to disks
2) front disks and a power booster
3) front and rear manual brakes
4) front and rear disk with a power booster
Don't be tempted to peice it together from different sources.
Get yourself an all inclusive kit.
Much cheaper, faster, less hassle in the long run.

 

It's got a pretty good clunk every once in awhile. The main reason I was going to change it was because I thought I could go Chevy spindles on the front.

 

I have power drum brakes new everything for it. I got the car and left it at my parents while I was up at college. When I got it the drums were shot and there wasn't a single brake component inside and the master cylinder was shot. So I suggested disk when I was told that but instead the mechanic talked my dad into drums so since he was the bank at the time that's what we got. I had to buy new drums from frankspontiac at 550 dollars then springs and pads and a turn on the drums. So then he got the drums turned at oreillys and they didn't secure them on the machine and chalked the drums up and left huge marks in them. So after that huge deal we had to turn the drums more to fix it. Now they're doing what was described in the first post and I'm over it. Is there a way to use a set of disk brakes from a mid seventies Chevy to make this easier?

 

All it takes is money !

The bracket is the key ingredient in these kits. Sometimes a spacer for the spindle and $ 250 worth of standard Idiotzone brake parts.

 

All it takes is money !

The bracket is the key ingredient in these kits. Sometimes a spacer for the spindle, maybe a different but standard bearing and $ 250 worth of standard Idiotzone brake parts.

View attachment 3263046

 

I'm trying to keep this as low buck as possible. I know that will be difficult but it would help a ton if it was possible. I'm still trying to find a way to use a Camaro from upper and lower control arm. I am going to pull the front drums off and try and get back behind them and measure from the upper control arm to get its inside and outside diameter along with the lower control arm. Hopefully they will be pretty close to the same as a Camaro or something similar so I can just drop it in and change master cylinders and go. I got under the car on a lift for the first time the other day and the rear end is pretty beefy, can I keep the Pontiac rear end and switch axle shafts to a Chevy pattern?

 

The rod from the pedal to the booster or from the booster to the master is too long, that is why the brakes will not release.

 

Low buck as possible? Swap in a 1967-1968 drum-drum dual master cylinder and keep the drum brakes. Nothing from a Camaro is going to fit that car without a lot of fabrication. The speedometer cable may run off the LF hub grease cap, it did on my 1962 and 1964 Olds.

 

How do I determine which one is the problem?

What about a mid 70s Pontiac? Im wanting to go disk in the front if possible. Is there a cheaper after market option than the 879 legend kit?

 

At the risk of 'getting up in your business'... I'd like to do a reality check... In your first post you said it was $2600 to R&R the original brake system on your '63 Catalina? Maybe I'm out of touch with shop rates and vintage Pontiac parts prices, but that amount of money seems really high to me. Anybody else?

Gotta56forme/Scott

 

You keep talking Camaro, cheaper, low buck. It isn't going to work on your Catalina, and as far as putting in a Camaro rear in your Pontiac you would be going backwards. Get a camaro and sell the Pontiac or just fix the brakes. You have already invested $2600 with a mechanic to fix it the first time by the time you are all done with a complete disk brake installation you will have another $1200. in to it and that's if you do the work. I have these big GM cars and the drum brakes work just fine. My current 65 Olds 88 I installed a dual master on and it's been fine for 20 years. Take my advice fix whats wrong.

Pat

 

I think its really high too but I wasnt in town when the call was made to keep the drums and have that guy do them.

When the brakes were first put on 200 miles ago they did stop the car well. Now that this problem is happening I need to replace the single reservoir master cylinder, front shoes, and have the drums turned which I am fairly certain need to be replaced because of the heat and that they have already been turned down to the maximum they can be. I do have spare drums that are turned ready to go but if I switch to a dual reservoir master then I'll need a proportioning valve and a second line. That is a lot of work to continue on an overpriced and out dated system. If disk aren't an option than I will have to do the new master and everything, so what would be a good one to go with?

 

Impala is probably closer to your car than Camaro stuff.
If you can fab the caliper bracket measure with micrometers, and research bearings by size you be in and out on the cheap, really cheap. Guys who can't fab, measure & research buy a kit and purchasing a kit pays the first guy who figured it all out over and over and over again.

Send the car up here and I'll put any brakes you want on it, probably won't be cheap.

 

what year Impala? I can probably get some help on making the bracket, but someone posted earlier
https://scarebird.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=63&product_id=72

Would that be an option?

As far as camaro stuff I only said that because of how easy it is to find but im open to anything that uses a chevy lug pattern.

 

Not sure why you are hung up on the Chevy bolt pattern. You'll have to have your rear axle and drums redrilled and new smaller studs installed on your existing rear end if you keep that. I won't even get into the drum brake issues except to say that your mechanic made out quite well and doesn't appear to be very versed on working on older cars. Did you look into using the Scarebird approach that Stuart mentioned in his earlier post. Lots of folks have taken that route with excellent results. From him you get the caliper mounting bracket and bearing spacer(s?) and then a list of additional parts you can source anywhere...i.e. NAPA, Autozone, etc. You don't have to remove the spindles or anything, just the drums, shoes & hardware + backing plates and you are all ready to start assy. Personally, I would did into whether or not the drum brakes can be salvaged. You might want to consider going to the Performance Years site and checking out their tech forums...it's all Pontiac and I'm sure you could get help there regarding the "pushrod" issues that you appear to be having. Just my 2 cents....good luck.

 

I had asked if the scarebird option would be good I would be willing to go that route but I was waiting for someone to chime if they were a good option or not.

 

Go with the scarebird brackets and forget about all the camaro stuff. They are nice quality pieces.

 

Scarebird makes good stuff, simple and it works. I know he has been selling complete kits on some of his products, shoot him an email.

 

That would be a great option.
Give him a call

 

Lots of Poncho info on the biggest Pontiac website.
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/
Also drive up to Bettendorf next week if time for the POCI convention.

 

Thanks for the info. I just checked out their website, Iowa is pretty far for me ha ha I am going to make it there one day.

 

Lets face it, you got screwed by a "mechanic" who didn't know how to fix drum brakes. I have had about 6 old 60's Pontiacs back in the day. The brakes all worked great. There is no reason to change them. Find someone who knows how to do a simple brake job and fix what you have. If the first "mechanic" really did use new parts you probably will not have to buy much new. Don't keep throwing money at a simple problem. Do some reading and fix it yourself. It's not rocket science.

 

I'm going to bleed the brakes tomorrow and see if that fixes it. If not then I'll adjust the push rod and then see if I need to replace it. The reason I want to use a Chevy pattern is I have a set of weld pro star wheels I was wanting to put on the car.

 

Update?