I have been thinking about disc brakes on the front since I got the car.My wife may drive it from time to time and shes not very car savy. Originally I found a early 60s Tbird parts car with discs and robbed the complete spindle assemblies. Then found out they wont work. I did some searching and I think Im going to use Scarebirds setup. I like the idea of off the shelf of any parts store calipers. BUT I think I want to keep it manual. I do have a later model Galaxie dual res. master on it and my drums are a little stiff so I think I may have the one for manual discs I will have to check the part number if I can find the box. My question is about propotioning valves. I have one off my 70 camaro that was manual discs and it had a little canlike (about the size of a film canaster) inline with the rear brake line. Would that have been a residual pressure valve. It was only on the rear line.
Residual valves are normally located behind the tube seats in dual master cylinders. That can-sized item sounds like a proportioning valve, most likely part of a combination valve. You're much better off using a new adjustable prop valve, v.s. 43 year old factory parts when it comes to factory hydraulic components that cannot be rebuilt. There is no operational (pressure) difference between a manual and power brake master cylinder with the same bore size. The main difference will be in the push rod counter bore depth.
so on that proportioning valve setup it is, in order, MC- front and rear lines to proportioning valve- proportioning valve- left and right front lines out and then rear line to additional proportional valve then to the rear. €
Guess I wasn't clear in post #2. Ditch the '70 junk, run the fronts directly from the correct master port, and install an adjustable prop valve in line to the rears. If the master does not have an internal residual, install a 10 lb external residual between the master and prop valve.
Couple comments: I've never heard any complaints about Scarebird's stuff, but on a Galaxie I'd just use '70-72 Galaxie front spindles, rotors, and discs. Ford MCs have a residual pressure valve under the tube seat in the MC on the drum side of the system, the tube seat can be pulled out with an Easy-Out if you have to but be careful not to damage the seat. I believe dual-circuit drum-brake GM MCs usually have the RPVs in the combination valve, not in the MC but my experience with them is not broad. A proportioning valve has only one inlet and one outlet and it goes in the rear brake circuit. Automakers have used 'combination' valves that can have, in addition to the proportioning valve, RPVs and a 'shuttle' valve that turns on a warning light in the event of loss of working pressure on one side of the valve. In a conversion an adjustable proportioning valve is IMO a better idea.
A combination valve complicates the plumbing, and the front/rear bias ratio is fixed for whatever application that valve was originally used in, I personally would rather use an adjustable single-purpose valve e.g.: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wil-260-10922/overview/
They work but they're smaller than the '70-72 Galaxie discs which are also a direct swap. Some people who've done the '77 Bird (which is basically '72+ Torino and LTD II) swap claim to have run into camber-adjustment problems (just reporting scuttlebutt here, haven't done this swap personally) so if you go this way do enough research to be comfortable with the parts you're choosing.
here's my opinion of aftermarket brake kits: they're for cars that either never see the road, or never go farther than AAA will haul them back. why? because not ONE of the sellers gives you the replacement part numbers for the calipers, rotors,pads, or hoses so you can get fast replacements (when) should one or any of these pieces FAIL on the road. using FORD parts (early 70's Galaxie/LTD, late '70's T-bird) will at LEAST give you a source car to work from to tell the parts guy in Ottumwa Iowa what to look for when your brake hose splits or your caliper spits a seal on the Power Tour.....
That is a VERY good point, and I'd never buy a kit from a vendor that didn't, though in some cases (Baer's Corvette rotors drilled 5x4.5 for Ford applications, for instance) the specific parts concerned aren't going to be available at the local NAPA anyway.