need brake suggestions on duster

my "new" duster '74 is in bad shape.

the project i inherited needs brakes badly.

the car has been "upgraded" to have front disc brakes, large 4.5 bolt pattern, 8 3/4 rear with drums on large 4.5 bolt pattern.


right now it the 4.5" bolt pattern stock spindles & hubs, 1 new caliper and rotor on drivers side, & a new master cylinder. missing brake hoses. on the passenger side no caliper at all and an old rotor. in the rear the drums look very used i'm not sure of the condition of the cylinders.

in your experience what is the best option for brakes? ones that will get the job done, easy to maintain, no major hoops to jump through, bolt-on stuff.

should i stick with stock brakes in the front? are some of the calipers better than others? i.e. is kelsey hayes a better version of stock? what are the part numbers & where can i get them. help me understand.

i'd rather not go with mustang brakes or viper brakes of some of the stuff i've seen. if there is an aftermarket caliper that can bolt on let me know.

in the back i'd like disc brakes of course, but the larger version of drums will probably be sufficient. if you can point me in the direction of part numbers, etc i should look for to get the right drums backing plates etc please let me know.

well for the backs you can find someone on here with the bigger backing plates for the bigger brakes then just spend the few bucks to get all new stuff. I just replaces all my stuff it wasn't that bad of a price. Alot of the guys like the kelsey hayes brake calipers. Post a ad in the wanted sections. You will get a response real fast

If you are looking for the easiest, cheapest and "decent" fix for your car; simply complete what you have.
You would need a new caliper & rotor for the right side - relatively cheap at any parts house. Same with the brake hoses. You might even get by with the existing rotor by having it measured and turned.
For the rear, wheel cylinders are cheap, also at the parts house. You can have the drums measured and if sufficient material left, turned down to specs.

Since this may be an "upgrade" and only partially done, does it have a sway bar on the front? Or do you plan to install a factory sway bar? If yes you will want to do some research on here for installing the front discs with the sway bar.
C

Like clhyer says.....just repair what you have if it's the stock '74 type brakes. Replacement parts are readily available at your local auto parts store. The factory sway bar is not an issue.

That OEM set-up is a good combo. You'll get the most out of your money restoring it. No sense in getting over your head with bigger and fancier stuff especially since it sounds like you have a long way to go overall. Coincidently, I'm servicing that same brake set-up on my race car prepping for the upcoming season.

***Make sure that the "new" parts that are on the car aren't rusted inside, and when you shop around for replacement parts, be careful of the "core charges". I've seen anywhere from $10.00 to $45.00 per caliper!***

Like clhyer says.....just repair what you have if it's the stock '74 type brakes. Replacement parts are readily available at your local auto parts store. The factory sway bar is not an issue.

Cudamark, the '74 Duster would have front mounted calipers. I have read many times that the front mounted calipers would interfere with the factory sway bar. They don't? I think a lot of people on here reversed the setup (myself included) so that the calipers would mount to the rear.
Thanks,
C

The interference only applies to non-stock applications. If you install the '73-6 brakes into a '67-72 A-body that has a factory sway bar, you have to swap sides. Ditto with some aftermarket bars. The '73-6 has the sway bar link connection in the middle of the lower control arm. The '67-72 connection is out by the ball joint.

Damn!
Thanks for clearing that up though.
C