The internet is a powerful thing. Having said that, I want to share my experience. Google led me to the upgrade and kit, but there wasn't much into out there. Posting this for HAMB members and anybody else on google who finds this doing the same project I did. My wife bought a really neat solid old 60' F-100. It runs like a champ, stops like a piano. I tuned up the drums, and still.... it is just dangerous. I pulled it into the shop 2 days ago and started in on it. I bought Speedways deluxe upgrade for a 60' F100. It is basically GM calipers, pads, rotors etc. You do not have to do anything that would alter the truck in any way from stock, should you decide to do a 100 point resto. These are BOLT on kits. I wanted to post some things that I knew going in. I just didn't know it would be a pain in the a$$. You HAVE to have 15" wheels and you HAVE to grind the calipers for clearance.... a lot.. The part you grind isn't structural, it's plenty meaty where you need to grind. Just have a 3" grinder ready. You can file off the "hex" corners on the brake line of the brake hose and it WILL go through the frame rail and C clip nice like factory. Once everything was bolted on, we started to bleed. We had a leak at the master banjo... sigh. I ended up putting a new brake line on where it goes to the brake line junction block. The old line was scary. Which led to new wheel cylinders, flex hose on the axle and that master line to junction block under the cab. I used a late 60's Chevelle caliper hose for this application, in addition to a 20" napa hard line. The bends are minimal, so no tools should be needed for pre flared 20" hard line installation. The brake caliper hose, now used for the master is 7/16' banjo. Ford uses a 1/2" banjo. Just carefully drill out the banjo fitting on this new flex line. Even after drilling out the banjo hole, there is more material than the stock banjo. I am not sure why Ford put rubber hoses in their master cylinder lines, but this put a flex hose back in it's place. Next, brake bias. I was concerned about this because this kit does not use a proportioning valve. Only a junction for fronts, and rear. After a bleed, and drum adjustment.. we are ready. I ran the truck easy for a mile. Then started grabbing more and more brake. I then did a 60-10 mph brake and let them cool. Did that again. After several 60-10 braking cycles, they were as good as they were going to get. A few miles later, I braced up on a nice level and wide road. I jumped on the brakes and for the first time since owning this truck, I got tire noise. Just a hint of front lock up. I did a few of these panic stops at 30 trying not to lock them up. With a new stock master, no prop valve, factory adjusted drums... I have absolutely no doubt the bias is very nice. I've been road racing sports cars for 20 years, and I can tell you... you do not want too much rear bias in a street car. Conclusion- for $279 shipped, I give this kit an A+. Instructions, free fast shipping, ease of installation and all. If you have a generation F-100 like mine and are tired of the drum fronts... this is a very very nice budget upgrade. Thats it.
Thanks. I'm sorry I waited this long to put disc on it. In a way I'm a purist snob about correct restorations. But the older I get, the more I drive my stuff. If a man has a beautifully restored drum brake Hemi RoadRunner... I will totally forgive him if it's factory looking discs. Drum brakes are stupid unless it's a garage queen.
Used the same kit on my '64. Well worth the $$$. Luckily, I did not encounter the problems that you did. Took exactly 2 afternoons to complete. Best upgrade that you can do to these old trucks. The Speedway kit is complete and very well priced. Btw, that is a nice '60 F-100!
An off the shelf 1/4" wheel spacer from Advance Auto Parts would have solved the caliper grinding issue. That's what worked for me. I agree the Speedway brake kit is a good kit.
The Jalopy Journal
