Brake replacement

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OneRedDart

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Hello to everybody!

I am in need of advice regarding drum brakes to disc conversion. This Dart has two different tires, size 14 in the front and 15 in the rear. I read in one of the brake vendor's site, that some disc brakes conversions, may not work for some models with 14 tires.

Looking for something similar to this:
1966-74 Dodge Dart Mopar A-Body Front Disc Brake Conversion Kit for 5x4 Bolt Pattern & Manual Brakes

The master cylinder is also leaking, I made/installed an extra gasket, bent the wire holder with a pair of pliers and still leaks a little. When driving the car and applying the brakes.

Thank you for your help and advice.

Pictures of the front and rear brakes in the car:

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It looks like you have the original 5x4” pattern in the front, but that rear appears to have been converted to 5x4.5” with aftermarket axles. It appears you also have the large bolt pattern rear drums, 10x2.5”, not re-drilled small bolt pattern drums (10x1.75”).

In my opinion, and this is just my opinion, your best bet would be to use the 73+ disks and just use the larger, original, 5x4.5” bolt pattern those brakes had to finish your conversion to BBP.

The PirateJack kit is just the original mopar 73+ disks anyway, all that is changed is the bolt pattern on the rotor and the hub is turned down. But with your 14” wheels they may still not fit. So, if you just use the 73+ conversion you can match the bolt pattern front and rear, get some 15” front rims, and have all original parts (albeit for a later car.)

DoctorDiff will have everything you need, he’s a long time mopar business and knows his stuff. His customer service is great, and you’ll get higher quality parts than with PirateJack.

10.95" Front Disc Brake Kit (Stage 1)
 
Thank you very much for responding.

It is a 1972 Dart Swinger. I do not have many tools. Years ago, when I moved from Indiana to North Carolina, I left most of my tools to my brothers.

I was told replacing drum brakes is a challenge, for that reason, I started looking at disc conversion prices. Will definitely look at DoctorDiff.
 
Servicing the drums isn’t too bad, the biggest thing with the 5x4” drums can be finding replacement parts because they’re an A-body only deal. There was a long stretch a few years back where replacement drums were not available, although that ended and they have been available since then. Not sure about the current availability for everything though.

I’d be more bothered by having two different wheel bolt patterns front and rear. Can’t rotate tires, have to carry two spares or not bother. And 14” tires are getting pretty limited for options. A disk conversion using the later 73+ mopar disks is pretty straightforward, you don’t need a ton of different tools to manage it. And that way you’d have matching bolt patterns and could go to 15” rims in the front so tires would be an easier deal. And the BBP disk brakes were used on a lot of different platforms so replacement parts are pretty widely available.
 
i have a 63 dodge dart wagon....im wanting to put power disc brakes on the front.....anything newer interchange with it without a big issue....what parts do i need to make this work...any help greatly appreciated

It would be better to start your own thread, rather than hijacking this one to talk about a different car. There are a lot of threads on brake conversions on early A’s, lists of parts that are needed, and different options. You can do a search, review the stickied posts at the top of the brake sub-forum, or look in the early-A forum for relevant posts. No need to muddy up the OP’s thread taking about a different car with a different set up/needs.

And welcome to the forum!
 
Scarebird is cheapest. The make a custom bracket which bolts to your drum spindle to accept a Chevy or Toyota caliper and rotor. You do need to drill the rotor for 5x4, or buy drilled from them. Might get all for $300. They say they won't clear the 14" "poverty rims" or such, whatever that means.
 
i run a set of scarebird brakes on my 71 and love them

(i will be doing lower ball joins some time this week, so i can snap some pics of the set up then, if you like)

BUT that is my car and i have SBP all around

with your car, if you are going through the hassle of swapping brakes (drums, or disc) i would upgrade to LBP

its NOT that big a deal


and since it sounds like you need a new master cylinder anyway (it sounds like) plan the whole thing out so you get one that matches the brakes you will be getting
 
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