I purchased a, from what I can tell and was told , is a 1937-41’ 3” dropped axle with disc brakes. I recently purchased a second front end of a 1928-31’ ford front axle for the wishbones, but it came with disc brakes also. Both utilize the round back spindles, however the first axle has the attached steering arms with one cut off. The second axle has bolt on steering arms that I was going to use, but then noticed the difference in calipers on both axles and caliper backing plates. Don’t think I can use the arms on the dropped axle. I think the second axle (rusted parts) is a speedway kit. Can anyone tell me what kit the black setup is? Or info on calipers or rotors? Rotors are 11” on both. I’m assuming they are the mustang II type. Is one better than the other? Can I rotate the caliper to the top of the spindle to utilize the lower holes? Any help is appreciated!
The single-piston set-up looks like early GM. The four-piston looks like early Mustang, Fairlane, etc '65-67. The four-piston brakes were very good but being non-floating calipers were very sensitive to rotor runout and loose wheel bearings which is why Ford quit using them (besides the cost). I know parts for these got very expensive for a while...
I am not sure about the calipers although they do look like GM G body calipers. The round full circle brackets with the ears look like the caliper brackets from TCI that I used on a sedan delivery I built several years ago. It used the GM calipers.
As Steve said, the second set definitely looks like 65-67 Mustang. Brake hose inlet threads would narrow it down to 65-66 , or 67 if you need to be more specific. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Calipers in first photo are Speedway’s ‘78-‘88 GM intermediate clones. They have IMCA cast on them as they were legal for that racing organization. I have no idea why that was necessary BITD. Speedway also produced those caliper brackets as did TCI, Super Bell and probably others. The hubs are not drilled, there is a wheel adapter on one hub, the other is missing in the photo.
I’m pretty sure the rusted parts are the speedway kit. If the other setup utilized the mustang calipers, are there steering arms for this? Or should I swap over to the GM calipers with a different plate? Pros and cons of the sting over GM metrics?
The single piston (aka GM Metric) calipers are the easier and lower cost if replacement is needed. That would be my choice. You don;t have to get Speedway calipers, any GM G-body, S-10 use that design.
If the rotors are 4.75” GM pattern, most likely 70-77 Camaro/Firebird, most common for 37-48 Ford disc brake kits. If the are 4.5” Ford/moose pattern then 74-81 Volare/Mopar rotors. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Interesting. Speedway says the GM calipers work with a 11” (1” thick) gm rotor that have been redrilled for a ford 4.5 bolt pattern. With what you said, the 74-81 volare/mopar rotors are just this? based on what I’m looking at, I may pull off the mustang calipers/brackets and switch to the GM to utilize the drop steering arms.
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