Wilwood Disc brake kit, Keep or try to Sell?

[pyrogen007]

Looking for opinions/suggestions, please. I am restoring/re-building a 1970 Dart Swinger 2dr on a budget, this is not a numbers matching restoration. When I got the car years ago I wanted front disc brakes and bought a Wilwood disk brake kit(140-2729B) to replace the front drums, it made sense to me at the time. The car came with most of a 73+ front end which the Wilwood kit is installed on but we put them in a tote until we were ready to install the rebuilt front end in the car, that was some years ago. So now I am working on the car again and I am not 100% sure the Wilwood kit was the right way to go because of the 3.1 in diameter hub, its kind of a problem when sourcing wheels. I was hoping for some wheels I can get from a salvage yard or off marketplace that will work with the Willwood brakes and the 70 B body 8-3/4 w/drums I am about to install in the car. What is the safety factor of opening up a set of wheel centers with a 2.8 - 3.0in hub bore to the required 3.1in bore or machining the Wilwood billet alluminum hubs or some combination? Or should I sell the setup and get the late 70s parts? Attached are some photos. Thanks in advance!

 

[4mulas]

I don’t see the sense in drilling and tapping your existing disc brake spindle to mount the adapter bracket to it in order to use wilwood setup. Why not just use oem Chrysler disc brakes, either 10.98” or 11.75" rotors versions with the single piston floating caliper design?

This willwood kit says it can do 5x4" bolt circle and also 5x4.5’ bolt circle. Depending on the wheel I wouldn’t care to much about machining the Center out to accommodate the 3.1 requirement for the wilwood if utilizing the 4.5’ BC but WOULD have hesitation doing so if using the 5x4’ BC. 4" bolt circle lug holes are close to the Center on my centerline autodrags for example.

Another thought is if you’re machining out after market wheels to accommodate the 3.1 bore you may not be able to find Center caps to fit?

 

[pyrogen007]

I don’t see the sense in drilling and tapping your existing disc brake spindle to mount the adapter bracket to it in order to use wilwood setup.

Spindles were drilled/tapped per Wilwoods directions years ago. Please see the photo above post #1, those are my actual parts not a stock photo, so no un-doing that, but the spindles should still work down the road if I go back to factory type brakes.

Why not just use oem Chrysler disc brakes, either 10.98” or 11.75" rotors versions with the single piston floating caliper design?

I wish that I had gone that route instead of the Wilwood kit but now itl cost another $600-1000 to do this today, hence why I made this post, you know, younger/dumber back then.

I went with the 5x4.5in pattern for wheel selection not realizing at the time how hard it was going to be to find wheels with a 3.1in center bore. I was looking at some 99-04 Mustang wheels on marketplace locally because they are so cheap. Those wheels look like they have a large center bore but online is showing 70.3mm, not sure those will work. The Wilwoods also state that not all 15in wheels fit.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

I would use what you have, I have not seen many after market wheels that are the same size as the center hub diameter. They are always larger. Even if you have to bore the wheel you select you only need to cut the taper for the inner radius. My wheels are about 1/8 per side 1/4 total larger diameter then my axles and front hubs.

 

[pyrogen007]

Thanks!! That makes me feel much better!