Disc brakes an `62 Chrysler. Who`s done it?

I have access to a '63 300 that would have the single cylinder front brakes, if they really swap over that easy I think I'll have to grab those. Also interested in hearing more about the Volare swap if it's that simple.

This thread is bringing up some great info, glad to get it. Also glad to know I'm not the only one who hates the stock brakes on FL Mopars.

 

IIRC the Volarie spindle changes the geometry in a not great way on the FL cars.

Scarebird, thanks for the heads up, i'm still a ways out on getting brakes but your on the top of my list. I want to keep my factory spindles and geometry.

 

The plates are 10mm thick, but 8mm would be enough aswell I would think.
The slugs used to space the brackets out are about 21mm thick I seem to recall. They are tapped with 1/2-20 thread and welded against the plates.

These adapters were for my '60 NewYorker;

I've found mounting the plate to the front of the spindle is only possible with the large 11.75" rotors. Smaller rotors don't have enough inner space for this. So one has to switch to 15" wheels because of this.
If someone would recast/reproduce these caliper brackets, it would improve the ease of doing such a conversion. The brackets in the pic are from a '73 Chrysler (with 11.75" rotors), but I've found the calipers from a '78 Dodge Charger have the same dimensions.
Cars with the smaller 10.xx" rotors have different brackets.

 

Awesome!

Thanks for the Pics and Info BigBlockMopar

Greg

 

MBM may make these - but only the large diameter rotor version. How did the hose routing go? any binding excessive twisting? I noted at the boneyard a high number of F's that had cracked and damaged hoses at the bracket - not the best design.

Other posters: Thanks for the kudos - makes this worthwhile.

 

Large diameter brackets are good, for me at least. For mild use the smaller 10.5" rotor will be enough for most folks but I like to step on the throttle now and then and it's nice to know there's enough metal down there to absorb all that kinetic energy again

I re-used the original brakehose on the car but I don't recall having much issues with it's routing.
Don't have any pics of the hose routing on the car but I'll see if I can get some pics.

 

I did it, on my 58 Dodge Wagon, and posted photos here, but I can't find them............I used the Dodge Aspen spindles, calipers, rotors, etc.....................Had no alignment or geometry issues, and the 14 inch wheels still fit.

 

Thanks for everyone coments. Ordered up the adapters from scarebird yesterday.

The drums on this car were fine for the first few years but were constantly needing attention. The thing weighs four thousand pounds and my family drives it alot. Like it`s our main ride six months a year. My wife drops the kids off at daycare in it, etc. So I`m not interested in hearing about how the discs arn`t traditional.

My hot rod will have drums forever though

 

http://www.aajbrakes.com/

I used a kit from AAJ on my 57 Dodge. Went on quick and easy.

 

More (braking) power to ya! I'm thinking you made the right decision for your needs. Glad to see that you at least sorted thru the pros and cons to figure out what you wanted. Now just make sure to follow the instructions and try not to cut any corners. After all, this ain't the shiny stuff, this is your brakes!

 

Today I started on a disc conversion on my '60 Chrysler New Yorker.
Made the large inner bearing bushings for the spindles on the lathe, but I need to order the outer bearings first to be able to make the bushings.

In the meantime I've found out a stock Mopar piston pin has the exact same inner diameter as the stock spindle, so turning down the pistonpin to the correct inner bearingsize will be a snap.

Temporary mock up;

 

BigBlockMopar: Can you show a pic of the steering stop on the lower arm? I am looking at redoing the next batch and weighing options.

BTW, I have both inner and outer bearing bushings you are needing for your setup if desired.

 

please forgive my ramble....arent these C body Mopars sub framed?....the early disk like what was on my 67 Polara wagon came from the Imperials set up and worked well....seems that sub frame went up to about 71-72 or 73 on those C bodys....maybe to much work....

 

Yup they`re sub framed but I dought that the sub frame stayed unchanged into the `70`s. Could be wrong though.

 

Pre '65 Chryslers are not 'C bodies'.
The Chrysler chassis/platform changed in '65. The 'C body' designation only describes the '65 and newer models, on which swapping discbrakes is a bit easier.

 

Got the lasercut adapter plates in recently.
Unfortunatly I'm working on another project car in between so I won't have much time finishing the brakes on my '60 NYer yet.

 

Just wanted to reply that I went with the scare bird adaptors and I`ve been driving the car for a few weeks now and they work great! It`s such a pleasure to drive now! Thanks to all who replied to this thread.

 

Thanks for your patience Bondo. We took another look at what BigBlockMopar did to see if it would work better for us - could not get it to go with a 14" rim and stuck with the original design.

 

An ancient thread, but it amazed me to see this level of misinformation posted on such an important topic. I don't mean to pick on anyone in particular here, but I have to ask the question: on what planet are drum brakes "equal" to disc brakes...of any vintage? Drum brakes...especially the self energizing variety..have virtually no threshold braking ability. In a panic stop with a drum brake system, the only thing guaranteed to happen is that all four wheels are going to lock up. On Mopars built prior to 1964, its even worse, since there is a single circuit master cyl, with no proportioning at all, other than the size difference between front and rear drums. If your front wheels lock up first, you lose your ability to steer. If the rears lock first, your car MUST switch direction (i,e; front and rear swap places). Then there is brake fade. Drums are an enclosed case system and as such, they dissipate heat much slower rate than disc do. Anyone who has ever driven a 4 wheel drum car down a steep, long mountain grade can appreciate this. Disc brakes just don't suffer this phenomenon.

"The Green Brick" was indeed a 1968 Plymouth Valiant that was entered into the One Lap Of America contest. It did indeed place 8th overall, in a field of 100 cars. A field mostly populated by big dollar, race prepped BMWs, Benz, Porsches, Corvettes and misc Japanese iron. The Green Brick did not have 4 wheel drums however. That car was the daily driver of Rick Ehrenberg, the tech editor of Mopar Action magazine. The car was orginally a /6 car, and Ehrenberg bought it from New Jersey Bell Telephone who used it as a staff car. As entered in One Lap, it had a built 400 hp 360, front and rear sway bars and a front disc brake swap. In fact, Ehrenberg wrote the original feature in the aforementioned magazine (A feature called "Disc O Tech") which became the go to resource for most Mopar fans looking to upgrade their rides with disc brakes, using only junkyard/swap meet, OEM Chrysler components. Ehrenberg still writes for MA magazine. I'm in the middle of doing a rear disc brake swap on one of my cars, using a feature he recently published, which he called "Disc O Tech 2". I sourced the parts from a local wrecking yard and the whole thing cost me 250 bucks (including new pads).

There is absolutely NO comparison between the effectiveness of disc brakes vs drum. If you have a 100% stocker that sees only car shows and local cruise nights, then drum brakes are OK. If your car has any power and you use it to road trip or navigate in traffic, disc brakes are an easy swap in most cases that will bring all that heavy, flying steel to a stop much faster.

The Green Brick's story:
https://www.allpar.com/history/mopar/lapping-valiant.html

 

with the Scarebird kit, what did you do for a master cylinder?

 

I used a 1970 Full size Chrysler MC. It bolted up in the stock location of my '61 Newport.

 

Just for added emphasis. I just took my autocross-prepped 5.13:1 geared Falcon on a rotor sizzling blistering pace ride, chasing motorcycles on Skyline Boulevard.

My brakes: Scarebird.