Lincoln disc brake rear end caliper question

I am trying to work out the caliper problem on the disc brake rear end in my wife's 54 Chevy car project. Today I was looking at a friend streetrod with the same Lincoln rearend and it has another type caliper without the emergency brake arm. I looked closer and you could see that someone had purchased and installed an adapter that allowed the use of another style caliper. I looked at my usual sources for this adapter but I have not found one anywhere. Does anyone know who makes the type that I am looking for? It is a bolt on that replaces part of the Lincoln caliper mounting unit. I have found several weld on brackets but if I change the present factory system, I would like to use this style. I want to do away with the factory emergency brake caliper.

 

The one we just did had a cast caliper bracket. Is this what you have?

 

Yes, the bracket that holds the caliper is cast but it is in two pieces that are held together with a bolt near each end. The bracket I saw today replaced half of this bracket and was held on by the two bolts.

 

Don't know John but I have always heard that the caliper is the problem with that rear end.

 

The problems with the Lincoln calipers are primarily that most folks run them w/o the E-brake hooked up properly. This caliper REQUIRES the e-brake to be hooked up with the proper tension to keep the arm in the right location. The e-brake arm is also an integral part of the self-adjusting feature & occasional use is necessary to keep it properly adjusted internally.

 

I am wondering if I can ocassionally manually operate the emergency brake feature.(By moving the arm back and forth a few times when I am underneath servicing the car.) The way I understand the operation is that it ratchets the internal adjuster to allow for the wear of the pads.

 

[ QUOTE ]
I am wondering if I can ocassionally manually operate the emergency brake feature.(By moving the arm back and forth a few times when I am underneath servicing the car.) The way I understand the operation is that it ratchets the internal adjuster to allow for the wear of the pads.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think if you can safety-tie the lever in the same position it would be in during normal operation, you might get away with "adjusting" for wear by working the arm a few times every month or so.

But you really should have an e-brake anyway!

 

Ernie, Im considering a Versailles (freebie)rear for a Y Block drag Altered project.
It will be rear brakes only and probably in the 11-12 sec range. Do you think this will be sufficient for stopping a ~2000# car?
Other suggestions; this will be using an A frame?

 

I'll be honest - I've had a lot of problems getting them set up correctly. They're a pain in the A** to rebuild too & buying rebuilt ones from the local parts store isn't a cheap proposition (and the core charges are horrendous as well).

To answer your question though, I would like to think they'd be fine. I've never used 'em as rear-only, but would think they did 35-40% of the work stopping a 5000lb car - should be about right. The trick is keeping them adjusted properly. I wouldn't know where to begin with M/C bore size & pedal ratio though...

But you'll have a chute too, right? Even if just for looks!


Besides, as you're no doubt aware, the Versailles rear is fairly desireable, so "freebie" is a most excellent price! If you change your mind & go with something else, you can easily move it on to finance the project further...