Drums to Disc

-
D

Doug Palmer

Member
Joined
May 12, 2010
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
:salute:70 Dart Brakes Questions; I have 10" drums on the front and would like to put on disc brakes. I would like to keep my 14" rallies with the 4" lug spacing. Is this possible and if so what do I need to accomplish this? Thanks, Doug
 
Best bet would be to track down a factory a-body Kelsey-Hayes disc brake setup which use the 4" lug spacing.They come up for sale on here from time to time.
 
Thank-you all for replying, do you have any kit numbers for the Kelsey-Hayes and the Wilwood? Thanks for your advice and help......
 
Doug Palmer said:
Thank-you all for replying, do you have any kit numbers for the Kelsey-Hayes and the Wilwood? Thanks for your advice and help......
Click to expand...

The 1965 - 72 factory Abodies had available as either standard equipment or as an option, the 4" bolt circle, Kelsey-Hayes disc brake setup. This includes 4 piston calipers (available remaned today for about $60 each), 10" rotors (available today for as little as $21, and more depending on the material grade), and a specific larger ball joint for the lower control arms.

Brake pads, hoses, wheel bearings, etc. are also readily available.

Occasionally, complete factory Kelsey-Hayes disc setups are for sale on this and other Mopar websites. The spindles are getting to be more rare, as well as the rotor hat (the rotor is a 2 piece unit - rotor itself with a re-useable hat)

If you are set on staying with the 4" bolt circle and you want discs, you can buy the Scarebird setup for low $$$, or find a factory K-H setup, buy the parts that require replacing, and be done with it.

If you decide that you want to convert to the 4.5" bolt circle of the later '73-'76 Abodies, there are many sources for these parts and the wheel choices expand considerably.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

PS -- Wilwood is good, it's just that you are stuck buying replacement from Wilwood, instead of heading down to the local auto parts store.
 
With the more modern stuff available....I wouldn't run the 4 piston calipers if my life depended on it. There's a lot better stuff out there if you're not going for a restoration. Even the 73-76 single piston stuff is way better.
 
StrokerScamp said:
With the more modern stuff available....I wouldn't run the 4 piston calipers if my life depended on it. There's a lot better stuff out there if you're not going for a restoration. Even the 73-76 single piston stuff is way better.
Click to expand...


The factory four-piston calipers work great, as long as the car is used regularly, and the pistons do not hang up in the bores, due to corrosion/pitting in the bores. Rebuilding these calipers is very straight-forward, and can be accomplished with very simple hand tools.



A re-sleeving service is available that fits new stainless steel sleeves into the bores, and that takes care of any future bore issues.


Take a look at any of the modern supercars including Viper, Corvette ZR1, Buggati Veyron, even the Challenger SRT8; all use multiple piston calipers.


The '73-'76 calipers use a single piston caliper design.
 
Vs29H1B said:
Take a look at any of the modern supercars including Viper, Corvette ZR1, Buggati Veyron, even the Challenger SRT8; all use multiple piston calipers.
The '73-'76 calipers use a single piston caliper design.
Click to expand...

Ive always wondered about that Vs29H1B, i currently have the kelsey hayes 4 piston caliper setup in my dart but i was thinking of changing it to the later style disk brake setup because i have a furd 8" rear end with the 4 1/2 bolt pattern but im thinkn otherwise. Does anybody know if theirs any real difference between the earlier and later brake setup in stopping distance? I figure a 4 piston caliper setup would stop alot faster than the single piston caliper setup would but like to get some opinions on that.
 
Vs29H1B said:
The factory four-piston calipers work great, as long as the car is used regularly, and the pistons do not hang up in the bores, due to corrosion/pitting in the bores. Rebuilding these calipers is very straight-forward, and can be accomplished with very simple hand tools.



A re-sleeving service is available that fits new stainless steel sleeves into the bores, and that takes care of any future bore issues.


Take a look at any of the modern supercars including Viper, Corvette ZR1, Buggati Veyron, even the Challenger SRT8; all use multiple piston calipers.


The '73-'76 calipers use a single piston caliper design.
Click to expand...


I agree, the single piston design was probably a cost-cutting measure by Chrysler. They actually lost about 25% of the braking surface by going to the single piston design. The four-piston KH is IMO a better system than the later single piston design but (as mentioned) must be kept active as the OE brake pistons will get stuck in their bores if the system sits too long unused. Stainless steel pistons are now available.

Doug, guys are always swapping out the KH system for lighter, newer pieces on their race cars, so you might have luck finding a 65-72 Kelsey Hayes set-up. They do show up on here occasionally, you'll need the spindles and knuckles as well.
 
Hi all,

I have all the PST parts to rebuild my front end and am going to change it to the factory a-body Kelsey-Hayes disc brake setup I found off of a recently driven car from a junk yard. My question is this. I've heard when you do this you have to change the master cylinder as well. When I call the local auto parts stores, they only show one type of master cylinder available and it does not specify drum or disk. Napa shows a different part number for slant six cars versus v eight cars but thats about it. Does anyone know the correct master cylinder to buy? Part Number??? thanks
 
I just installed the K-H disks on my '64 Dart with a manual master cylinder. It is certainly an improvement over stock drums. The car stops straight with hands off of the wheel and with firm pressure, I can hear the front tires are right on the edge of locking up. The later, larger disks will probably stop even better but these will be just fine for a Slant-6 driver.

I searched rockauto.com for all of my parts, using a 1970 Dart as my base. The different master cylinders are labelled drum-disk, drum-drum, manual or power so just read the descriptions and you will find it.

Instead of rebuilding my calipers, I bought remanufactured ones. Even though I had to chase the threads to clean them out, this was the way to go; it got me on the road a lot quicker as the old ones looked like they spent 5 years in a pond.

New caliper brake lines were purchased from Inline Tube. After some slight manipulation, they fit and worked just fine.

I had to bend several of my own new lines for the proportioning valve. No biggie, it's kinda fun.

Oh yeah, and you will have to buy new lower ball joints for the disk brakes, or do what I did: have a machinist open up the bolt holes to 9/16."

5682311030_939ea9a8cd_z.jpg


5743960506_1898ef913b_z.jpg
 
my 73 dart did not stop as well as my 1971 dart , the single piston caliper/disk combo wore pads unevenly as well . Had shorter stopping distance with 71 Dart .The change was to save $$$
 
I bought the SSBC kit from autoanything . com and it had a $100 rebate and 15% for first time order. I think the kit # A153. It is basically a copy of the stock kelsey hayes stuff but is uses your 10 inch factory drum spindles. SSBC gives a life time warranty on the calipers too...
 
Rob, did this kit from SSBC still allow you to keep the SBP, 4" and used 14" rallies?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top