galaxie disc thread

i have tried to search on this topic and get different answers and opinions on this. or they are not written up very well. i read part of one that found 12 inch rotors with the small pattern that went on the smaller spindles. and what do you have to do to modify the spindles to work? and pictures? or has anyone done the swap using the s10 calipers? how well does that work? any info would be great.

 

77 tbird spindles are bolt on, but some people have problems with the upper hole for the ball joint being off, and in result it pushes the upper part of the wheel out towards fender [ positive camber ].

Scarebird do a kit that uses some newer parts and i have read good reviews.

I did the tbird swap and real problems with it, i went back to drums and have been happy ever since

L

 

Have you tried http://www.scarebird.com/ or are you looking to find all wrecking yard parts?

 

I did 79 T-Bird spindles, and such. Bolted up fine, just don't have the the car together, to check the alignment.
Eric

 

It depends on what you are looking for. Our current setup uses 11.25" rotors with S10 2WD calipers, and can use the Summit/Speedway/CPP oversize piston calipers too. This requires 15" drum rims or 14" disc rims.

We also have prototypes of a design that will fit inside the 14" drum rim.

 

i would like to have 12 inch rotors. i read somewhere that ford had a factory 12 inch rotor with the correct bolt pattern and fit onto older spindles?

 

1972 Thunderbird has 11.72" rotors with the 4.5" bolt circle. One year only, so they aren't cheap. Later years were 5" circle. They were also an option on heavy duty Torino (police and taxi).

They use the BR12 and BR13 wheel bearings,(like the 11" Granada or Torino disk) which have the same OD as the BR2 and BR6 drum brake bearings used on most mid 60's Fords.

So, you can use the drum brake bearings in the disk hub and it should slide on the drum spindle. I haven't done this myself, but I've read about it being done on Fairlanes. You have to fabricate or buy a bracket to mount calipers to the drum spindles.

 

so is the bracket that uses mustang rotors and gm calipers stop good? what kind of alignment problems do the granada swaps have? have herd of them but no one really goes into detail on them.

 

I've done a disk brake swap on two 64 Galaxies with junkyard parts. I used parts from a 78 LTD II both times, get the spindle and everything bolted to it. Clean everything up, replace as needed, use the brake hose from the donor car (replace all wear parts as needed, or budget allows). The spindle bolts in place of the factory Galaxie spindle. No funky bearing spacers, brackets, etc. All Ford parts available everywhere you travel. PM me if you have questions, I've done disk brake swaps on early Mustangs, Falcons, Fairlanes, Galaxies all on the cheap with parts from a local wrecking yard and never had problems

 

We use the 1970-72 full size Ford rotors on another application and decided to test fit it to a early Galaxie spindle. It clears fine, but fabricating a mount will be far more difficult than you think. As you see, it does not leave a lot of room for mounting brackets. Also posted is a pic of our bracket which uses the 68-69 Mustang (11.27") rotor and GM Metric caliper - it is one of the more difficult to manufacture. Using a marginally larger rotor and significantly larger caliper would be quite difficult, not to mention the pilot snout will require machining to fit the OEM 15" rim.

 

I also used Ford parts for my swap. Mine came off of a 78 Thunderbird, but I replaced all the wear parts before installation. If you go this route I recommend using 1970 outer tie rod ends instead of the originals. These have a longer shank and work better with this setup. Some people report problems with alignment after this swap, but I should not have a problem with this since my car is lowered. Here is the obligatory picture.

 

Havent done mine yet but I am using 72 Mark Rotors and spindles. These are the same as the 72 Bird. New rotors were quite expensive.
I also took the booster master and proportioning valve off the Lincoln. Bought the whole car off ebay and was told it had 4 wheel disc and was going to use that too but it did not. Mine actually stops quite good with the drums, way better than my 68 F250 with 4 wheel drum.

 

Doesn't the Mark have the bigger bolt pattern?

 

is that a rack and pinion back there?

 

also the front hub looks a little bigger, will i run into problems with wheels fitting? im planning on going with a torq thrust eventually.

 

72 only is 5x4.5

 

I always wondered which year was the changeover.

 

maybe i will just go with the swap. seem like they stop pretty good?

 

Pie Pie,
I used HOTROD428's Kit with the stock spindles on my '62 Monterey (same chassis as your Galaxie). He provides the brackets to use Granada rotors with Monte Carlo Calipers. Here is a pic with the disc brake conversion on. You will not be able to tell the difference between the 11 inch Granada Rotors, and a 12 inch set.

Good Luck

http://hotrodsandbrakes.com/default.aspx

 

frozenmerc - I am missing something here. Why would HR&B use a Granada rotor? It has the wrong pilot, rotor friction thickness, bearings, etc.

 

is there any good pads offered for the granada/thunderbird swap?

 

I am not sure what you are missing, but it works, and here is Hot Rods and Brakes part list. The caliper brackets are custom made to fit the stock spindle. You may have to ask HotRod428 about it.

2 * BRAKE ROTOR <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com</st1:City>NAPA # 85564 (78 <st1:City w:st="on">GRANADA</st1:City>)
2 * GREASE SEAL <st1:City w:st="on">NAPA</st1:City> # 19221 (78 <st1:City w:st="on">GRANADA</st1:City>)
2 * INNER BEARING <st1:City w:st="on">NAPA</st1:City> # PBR13 (78 <st1:City w:st="on">GRANADA</st1:City>)
2 * OUTER BEARING <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1NAPA</ST1</st1:City> # PBR2 (64 GALAXIE)<O</O
2 * DUST CAP <st1:City w:st="on">NAPA</st1:City> # 730-2436 (78 <st1:City w:st="on">GRANADA</st1:City>)
1 * LH CALIPER <st1:City w:st="on">NAPA</st1:City> # 242-2032 (80 <st1:City w:st="on">MONTE CARLO</st1:City>)<O</O
1 * RH CALIPER <st1:City w:st="on">NAPA</st1:City> # 242-2033 (80 <st1:City w:st="on">MONTE CARLO</st1:City>)
4 * CALIPER BOLT <st1:City w:st="on">NAPA</st1:City> # 82205 (80 <st1:City w:st="on">MONTE CARLO</st1:City>)
1 * BRAKE PADS <st1:City w:st="on">NAPA</st1:City> #TS-7070A-M (80 <st1:City w:st="on">MONTE CARLO</st1:City>)
2 * BRAKE HOSE <st1:City w:st="on">NAPA</st1:City> # 4136847 (80 <st1:City w:st="on">MONTE CARLO</st1:City>)
2 * BANJO BOLT <st1:City w:st="on">NAPA</st1:City> # 82743 (80 <st1:City w:st="on">MONTE CARLO</st1:City>)

 

You are evading the point. The granada rotor is not the best call out for this application due to the constraints mentioned previously - hence my curiosity why it was used.

 

To the original poster. Yes that is rack & pinion you see lurking in the background. I am using Wagner Thermoquiets on mine. I have used them on several other vehicles and I really like them.

 

what rack set up is it? custom or a company made set up? i work at a parts store and for a granada i couldnt cross a number to wagner pads. i will check again.

 

It is the same type of setup as this one:http://www.wurthitdesigns.com/60-64FordRack.htm
My brakes are from a 78 Thunderbird, so I can't help with the Granada situation.

 

im confused on the brakes. is it the thunderbird that fits better? no alignment problems?

 

Some people have alignment problems with the Thunderbird brakes and some do not. hey can't get the camber right with some spindles. Apparently there was a lot of variation in the production of these items. My car is lowered 2", so this should make up for any possible alignment problems. The Granada setup can cause problems with the Ackerman angle since they are from a much smaller car. The Scarebird setup would be the simplest since it would not require a new alignment.

 

is there a way to get dust shields for his conversion? that was one concern i had

 

Not that I know of. Maybe he will chime in. My dust shields were in rough shape so I tossed them. I figured it was one less place to get a rock stuck.