Saw this on http://www.caddydaddy.com/Discbrakes.htm As all of you know, Caddy Daddy sells Cadillac parts. I was on there looking for a grille bullet removal tool, saw this, and thought I'd pass it on. Sorry - there were no pics, this is just a quick 'n dirty copy/paste. ~Jason
INSTALLING DISC BRAKES on the 1961 CADILLAC By Carl McAbee Upgrading to disc brakes generally is not difficult for anyone with reasonable mechanical ability and can be very rewarding for those of us who prefer to actually drive cars that preceded the availability of disc brakes by a few years, ie, generally cars of the early 1960's. I have made the swap on four different vehicles and can say I'm glad I did. One of them, a 1964 Chevelle, has gone over 300,000 miles since the discs were installed with nothing more than one replacement booster, a few pads and an occasional bleeding. A word or two or more of caution: virtually all swaps require fabricating new steel lines to the front disc brakes as they need to be smaller diameter than the original drum brake lines, and they are now a separate system (front & rear). The outlet to the brake hose might need to be relocated to ahead of the suspension on the frame, as was required on the 1961. The line to the rear brakes can be lengthened and adapted to the equalizer which should be obtained, with lines, along with the master cylinder - booster unit. A tubing bender is a must, a flaring tool will allow you to do a neater job by creating custom tubing lengths. This part of the job requires endless patience, and by the time the job is complete you'll have started to get the hang of it. A wheel alignment will be required as a final step. So where to begin? First, determine if your vehicle's front suspension is similar if not nearly identical to the suspension used a few years later in the first model (or later model still) offered with disc brakes. If it is, your car could be a candidate for disc brakes! When in doubt, measure, measure and compare, measure and compare. If you can't find a disc brake car with suspension just like yours, ask at the wreckers - often they know what works and what doesn't - but not always. It's well known that early GM intermediates can get disc brake set ups' from later models as a virtual bolt on. In my case I found that the ball joints listed for the disc brakes are the same ball joints as the earlier drum brakes. My 1961 Cadillac got a disc brake set up from the 1969 DeVille model. The 1961 Cadillac was the first year for the front suspension design that was used up until 1976, so presumably a 1962 - 1966 could also benefit from the use of discs from a 1967 - 1969. 1 recommend the '69 because all '69 Cadillacs had disc brakes and therefore parts are more readily available. 1967, '68 and '69 each use a different rotor and pads. 1970 through 1976 use a larger lower ball joint and the lower arm mounts differently inboard so they won't easily adapt to the 1961. An auto parts dealer can be a wealth of information, if you call or visit when they are not busy. Tie rod ends and ball joints don't necessarily have to have the same part number to be the same size tapered end. When in doubt, a visit to the wrecking yard is in order. Bring a tie rod end or ball joint if possible but at least bring calipers and measuring tape. A good look at the donor car is a good idea also. Pay attention to where the equalizer is mounted and the steel lines run. Get as much of the brake system from the donor car as possible, including small brackets and the bolts, nuts and clips! You may not use it all, but it beats having to run back after something missed. I spent a lot of time researching and measuring for this job before I bought part one. The tie rod ends were a different part # so that necessitated my first visit to the wrecking yard. It was quickly apparent what the differences were, but the '61 tie rod ends were the same size and taper as the '69 steering arms and would work fine. So the steering and rotor assemblies are a bolt on - ball joint to ball joint & steering arm. But in 1961 the booster mounting studs were slightly farther apart than the '69's and so the holes in the firewall had to be altered slightly. There is plenty of support material so overall strength is not compromised. But the two lower studs on the 1969 booster are also much shorter. Solving this dilemma involved enlarging the holes in the firewall and the inside pedal support bracket. I used extra long 'coupling' nuts together with studs epoxyed into one end to ' Disc brake set up means: steering knuckle & arm, hub, rotor, caliper, etc. for each side, plus a master cylinder/booster unit, equalizer and the steel lines from the master cylinder to the equalizer; all from the same car if possible lengthen the too short lower studs on the booster. But this made the studs too long so I used a piece of tubing and a large flat washer to make it all work. I avoided modifying the booster itself, as it is a service part and might be needed as a core. The actuating rod fits the stud on the brake pedal perfectly, but is longer than the original 1961 by 1/4" and left the pedal way too high in the car. I solved this by spacing the booster out from the firewall 1/4". This puts the pedal at stock height; I would have liked to have spaced it out even a bit further to lower the pedal even more but the booster would then be too close to the engine's rocker arm cover. The brake light switch was still in perfect adjustment. An alternate way of resolving the pedal height might have been to relocate the pivot point of the pedal, which could be done. The original master cylinder fed the fluid straight down, the new one feeds horizontally to the left, directly into the inner fender, which must be modified for clearance. I cut a pair of slots less than one inch apart, and with the center strip bent out of the way, cut long enough (=4") to clear the forward fluid line from the master cylinder. The rear line cleared without modification. Wheels from a disc brake model are required to clear the calipers, and they also happen to increase the total track width by 3/4" (3/8" each side), This will also necessitate late model wheel covers, as I seriously doubt the 1961 covers will fit. Don't forget the spare wheel! While upgrading to disc brakes, take the time to inspect the rest of your suspension as now would be an excellent time to replace worn out bushings and ball joints. I always rebuild the master cylinder but have never needed to rebuild the calipers. I always use new rubber hoses to the calipers too. This is a good time to check and rebuild if necessary the rear wheel cylinders too. Check the rear hose(s) too! A through bleeding is in order after any brake work that opens the fluid system, and be sure to check for leaks, including seepage, for several days after! The 1969 DeVille used a junction block as well, to divide the fluid to the front wheels. This junction block also has a button on it which must be held out while bleeding the brakes. Upgrading to disc brakes is a fair bit of work but for the sake of driveability and safety, it's well worth the effort! This car is much more fun to drive, as now I can stop with the best of them
If you can find a 69 caddy, you can bolt the disc parts right up to the 61/62 spindle, don't even have to take the suspension apart! Problem is , 69 caddy brake parts are pricey! I went with the kit from Scarebird, custom made caliper mounts and a list of over the counter disc parts that bolt to the stock spindle as well. I hope to be installing it all here in the next month or so.
Yeah, I'd totally go with Scarebird's stuff. Hell, whenever I'm on the phone with any parts houses, I always, ALWAYS give him a mention, an endorsement, and a suggestion to said parts house to contact him about selling his stuff! I just figured that I'd add to the repository that is the HAMB. Lots of folks know this can be done, I just figured that with 3 clicks I could make it searchable on here for folks to find that were interested one day. But seriously folks - use Scarebird's stuff. It/he totally rocks. ~Jason
that sounds pretty pieced together with all the spacers and shit he did. im sure it could be done a little cleaner if you really thought it out.i also dont like the fact of not being able to use the factory wheels? i was clean up the shop yesterday and came across a older custom rodder mag with the 62 that troy build and he used astro van splindles and rotors.cool cause you can get that shit anywhere and also use dropped splindes if so desired. i run my stock drums. they worked for how long? sure it could be better but shit the cars weigh 5,000 pounds.
I wish I'd known about Scarebird's stuff earlier....my brother just had a disc brake conversion done on his 63 Cadillac by a place that is supposed to be the place to go to for brake conversions (Hoppers Stoppers, for any of the locals) and he's had nothing but problems with the car since. And it cost him thousands to get done!
Oh man! This is the reason I try to spread the word about him - stories like that break my heart. Poor guy... ~Jason
Well, I like to think we though this out - and the stock rims will not allow anything bigger than 10.25" rotors - unsat for a heavy Caddy.
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