Scarebird Conversion

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charger426

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I have done a TON of googling and I think I've found all the threads possible about Scarebird kit and other than some people finding some problems with having to grind some extra off their calipers and one guy saying his bracket broke its been mainly positive reviews. So before I pull the trigger on doing this conversation does anyone have any recommendations for any other kits that are similarly priced? I've heard some talk about kits from Classic Industres and Mancini but they are both about double what I'm looking at spending on my Scarebird kit ($350 with drilled and slotted rotors).

Right now the car is /6 but I'm planning on putting a 440 in the car down the road. The plan right now is its going to a fun street car that may see a drag strip once in a blue moon. I'm mainly looking for a little more braking power and less brake fade in case I have to make more than one panic stop while driving around town/at shows. Not trying to break the bank hence why I'm really looking into the Scarebird kit.

BTW... I want to stay with the 5x4 bolt pattern.

Thanks for your help!
 
I have one of his kits on my Demon's 9" drum spindles 10" disc - uses Mazda rotors, GM calipers/lines/pads- had him make custom hubs to run the 5x4.5" BC instead of the SBP

Go off his website as they're cheaper and also they are not bolt on kits totally to run the setup you need to have the rotors drilled for the SBP, and the back of the rotors machined to fit the registry on the stock hubs/studs

It's really debatable if the kit's are cheaper.. I had $450 not including the custom hubs ($350 more) - paid $400.50 for the Right Stuff kit

My Scarebird kit will be for sale soon as I bought a b body 11" setup from Right Stuff Detailing - BBP is where it's at.. more and cheaper wheels than SBP

I'd sell my setup for $400 shipped with new lower ball joints (small) and you'd just have to have the hubs/rotors drilled for SBP and get 7/16" studs as my setup is 4.5"BC and 1/2" studs PM if interested.. been assembled on the car but not driven on yet
 
... and the back of the rotors machined to fit the registry on the stock hubs/studs
First I heard of this and don't recall seeing it on the Scarebird site. That would be much harder than drilling the SBP holes, and having to do so for every new rotor would be a killer. Was yours a special configuration that required such machining?

Otherwise, a Scarebird setup could be much less than $350 if you source the Chevy & Toyota parts yourself (ebay, rockauto, craigslist). I have no issue w/ the parts. Does anybody here think that GM or Chrysler makes brake calipers and rotors? What should matter is "can I get them in the future?".
 
Exactly. Application is what the rotor is for, but it's still a Bendix, Raybestos, or whatever, so what difference does the application make? It's not like it's a "GM" part!
 
IMO, forget the 4" wheel bolt-pattern.
Whenever that 440 is put in the enginebay you'll need to upgrade the rearend and mostlikely you'll end up with a 4.5" boltpattern rearaxle anyway, and THEN you wished you had opted for a 4.5" boltpattern on the front tires aswell.
 
I have had a scarebird brakes adapter with chevy parts for 7 years now. I did not have to put a Chevy emblem on my car and they work fine. they did not need any macheaning, I drilled the roters myself\f. they give you a pattern and it is easy
 
Did Scarebird on Jake's 65. Probably higher quality aftermarket stuff avail, but on a part time high-school budget last year, it was very affordable for Jake to buy in pieces. Came in at about 250-275. We also upgraded to a dual pot master for a manual disc later model dart. Been driving it for a year nearly every day and have had no issues.
 
I have one of his kits on my Demon's 9" drum spindles 10" disc - uses Mazda rotors, GM calipers/lines/pads- had him make custom hubs to run the 5x4.5" BC instead of the SBP

Go off his website as they're cheaper and also they are not bolt on kits totally to run the setup you need to have the rotors drilled for the SBP, and the back of the rotors machined to fit the registry on the stock hubs/studs

It's really debatable if the kit's are cheaper.. I had $450 not including the custom hubs ($350 more) - paid $400.50 for the Right Stuff kit

My Scarebird kit will be for sale soon as I bought a b body 11" setup from Right Stuff Detailing - BBP is where it's at.. more and cheaper wheels than SBP

I'd sell my setup for $400 shipped with new lower ball joints (small) and you'd just have to have the hubs/rotors drilled for SBP and get 7/16" studs as my setup is 4.5"BC and 1/2" studs PM if interested.. been assembled on the car but not driven on yet


if you'll look at a lot of the lead sleds, rat rods,custom trucks ,cars and vans you'll see scarebird stuff on a lot of them. they're pretty popular out west. that's where I heard of them on the 95 ish or so and they had been out there a while to my understanding
not to knock any of the others,, (well maybe a little, but I like the way scarebirds setup works and the ease of getting parts) and at your own pace to pickup parts. I live out in the sticks so a ups truck do not like to visit me often and parts stores are 15-20 minutes away.

it is totally a DIY job
if you have a drill press.. even a 49.99 harbor freight one *(with the 20% off of course)

If you drill the ORIGINAL hubs out to the 5 on 4.5 (now you even have the more and cheaper wheels)setting and never have to worry that if you trash a rotor what will happen.
I drilled and tapped for screw in threads my first 2 jobs and then discovered A machinist that did moonlighting as a roundy-round guy and had the jig made to do em in about 5 minutes each for about 12 bucks a hub. that's a no brainer there
OR
you drill the 5 on 4.5 pattern ROTOR's from "Bendix" hmm didn't see gm in there did ya? but yes that particular rotor fits both the mopar AND the Gm cars. And they give you the pattern to drill (Drill It Yourself) to the 5 on 4 pattern. there is NO machining of the original 5 on 4 hub. ya just add a ring to center the rotor done! I had one caliper I took a hand file to so I could get clearance for the brackets. The other side fit fine. I flipped em side to side and it fit the other bracket also so it was caliper casting differences I had to file off (about a minute.)
oh and if you do the b body upgrade thingy (like going from 9" spindles to theirs or disc spindles from ma mopar and replace the upper control arms and spindle. you now have to align the car, scarebirds. doesn't need that ,not that you shouldn't have a great car aligned. But since you didn't do anything to the upper or lower control arms there is no need of alignment. in my case it was done Before I went to scarebirds and I took it back within a week to check, PERFECT.


before drilling
View attachment DSCF2791.jpg

been sitting in humid area for a while so ignore the flash rust.
after drilling to 5 on 4.5, notice the option to go back to 5 on 4. worried about getting stud out ? drill from the back pilot 1/8 then 1/2 about 1/4 into the head of the stud, knock off the heads and center punch through. no bent hubs EVER!
View attachment WP_20130917_004.jpg
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys. I just ordered everything. Just wanted to get my front end aligned first to make sure there wasn't anything really wrong that would have made me replace a bunch of front end stuff. I came up with the 350 price based on picking out stop-tech drilled and slotted rotors from Rockauto and some carbon-fiber/ceramic pads. So a little nicer pads and rotors that I prob need :).

Another thing I noticed today while working on the front of the Dart is I have about 3-4 studs that are lose so I'm hoping that the new studs I have to install anyway will tighten that up too.
 
If you drill the ORIGINAL hubs out to the 5 on 4.5 (now you even have the more and cheaper wheels)setting and never have to worry that if you trash a rotor what will happen.
I drilled and tapped for screw in threads my first 2 jobs and then discovered A machinist that did moonlighting as a roundy-round guy and had the jig made to do em in about 5 minutes each for about 12 bucks a hub. that's a no brainer there

Great idea here!!! Something I'll keep in the back of my mind if I ever feel like changing out the 14" Rally wheels.

Oh and as fair as needing to upgrade to a 5x4.5 for when I upgrade the rear. I've already looked into and found the big axel companies are generally more than happy to drill whatever bolt patter you want into an axel. Planning on grabbing a Dana out of a ford truck and using my buddy's jig to shorten it up....just like they did in MOPAR muscle.
 
The "machining" I was talking about was for stock 7/16" original studs that "poke" out of the hub - the back of the Mazda rotor needs to be drilled to a taper where the studs go in the rotor so the rotor can sit flush to the hub-

I didn't have to do this as I had custom hubs made for 5x4.5" bolt circle with 1/2" studs by Scarebird = no drilling required plus I sold my 9" drum hubs with the rebuilt drum setup so I had to have them made

I'm selling my whole Scarebird setup though as I want 11" B body brakes - which I just got I like not guessing or having to try to explain why I'm buying a bunch of different make parts for my one car.. I will be able to buy rotors/ bearings/pads for a Charger now and I like that

Just need to find a disc/drum prop valve..
 
I have done a TON of googling and I think I've found all the threads possible about Scarebird kit and other than some people finding some problems with having to grind some extra off their calipers and one guy saying his bracket broke its been mainly positive reviews. So before I pull the trigger on doing this conversation does anyone have any recommendations for any other kits that are similarly priced? I've heard some talk about kits from Classic Industres and Mancini but they are both about double what I'm looking at spending on my Scarebird kit ($350 with drilled and slotted rotors).

Right now the car is /6 but I'm planning on putting a 440 in the car down the road. The plan right now is its going to a fun street car that may see a drag strip once in a blue moon. I'm mainly looking for a little more braking power and less brake fade in case I have to make more than one panic stop while driving around town/at shows. Not trying to break the bank hence why I'm really looking into the Scarebird kit.

BTW... I want to stay with the 5x4 bolt pattern.

Thanks for your help!
just buy a willwood setup. you wont be sorry. spindles are drilled for both 4 and 4.5 inch pattern. no pissing around. put the studs in the other holes later when you upgrade to better wheels. awesome setup. i also went with a rear disc setup when i installed an 8.75 pay the extra now and you wont regret it. jmo
 
just buy a willwood setup. you wont be sorry. spindles are drilled for both 4 and 4.5 inch pattern. no pissing around. put the studs in the other holes later when you upgrade to better wheels. awesome setup. i also went with a rear disc setup when i installed an 8.75 pay the extra now and you wont regret it. jmo

I have the willwood on my 69 charger. Just had to put new rotors and pads in it after only a few thousand miles. Have never been super impressed by the stopping power either. Hence why I didn't even look at them for this car.
 
Hey Charger426 Did you ever do the scarebird conversion? I am getting close to ordering parts looks like less than $250 not counting getting rotors drilled or new master. How did you end up?

Thanks!
 
So after 4 days i think i’m done with the convention on the dart. Ran into a lot of problems and to be honest i’m still not sure I’m 100% done. So I did have to make a new brake line for the drivers side since the old hard line and rubber lines were rusted together SOLID. The biggest hurdle I ran into was having to enlarge and countersink the stud holes so they would clear the knurls on the studs.. I couldn’t find a countersink at the time I was doing the job so I used a dremal tool with a grinder stone to enlarge and countersink the lug holes. The reason I don’t know if i’m 100% done is I still have a grinding sound that starts on the passenger side and then the drivers side when I stop. I've been running them for about a month now and the grinding does still happen but it seems to be only when they heat up and has taken longer and longer to happen every time I drive.. My guess is its the pads heating up and getting more aggressive with the rotors. I’m going to run it as is for a few weeks and see how it turns out. If nothing looks/feels off I’ll just write it off as its my rotors and pads just being a rather aggressive set up.
 

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That sounds like another thread I was just reading, slight grinding when brakes were applied especially hot. In that case the OP seemed to think pads needed to seat and once they did noise stopped.
Always harder than expected, never fails, how do you feel about the scarebird approach, worth the trouble and brake like you want it to?

Any recommendations for someone about to start the process?

Thanks!
 
Yep I need to do a good bed in on the pads and I think that will help some. I went with some carbon fiber ceramic pads and stop tech drilled and slotted rotors. So a little more aggressive than what most people would do if I had to guess

If I was to do it over again and my heart wasn't set on drilled and slotted rotors I would have just bought the rotors from Scarebird. Takes the guess work out it and that was what caused me the most problems. They also talk about a "swedge" cutter to take the studs out....I used a mall hammer and it worked just fine :). Other than the problems trying to get the rotors to work and finding out what the grinding noise was it would have been a day maybe two tops job. Most of my time and head scratching was over the grinding and rotors not sitting flush to the hub.
 
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