New Member: Non Drop Disc Brake Swap Question

[Hogan]

I am a new owner of a 1957 Ford Fairlane (new member on 57fordforever.com) and would like to upgrade the vehicle by adding disc brakes upfront.  I have used the search function finding a lot of information on this topic, but would like to make sure I am on the right track.

I would like to retain the stock hub caps and have read that I need to upgrade to the later 1970s Ford 14? wheels (1975-80 Granada, Monarch, Maverick, or Comet) when swapping in disc brakes.  Further, I am not interested in a drop and have read where I could use 1970-71 LTD, 1972-1976 Torino, or 1975-78 Thunderbird/Cougar spindles.  I am assuming that once I find donor spindles, I can just go purchase rotors, calipers, bearings for the vehicle I got the spindles from. Further, I would then need to purchase a 197? Ford Granada non-power master cylinder and a 1965 Mustang brake light switch.  Is there anything that I am missing?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Hogan

[Ford Blue blood]

Hogan you are on track.  The donor vehicle parts will do just fine.  You may need to get a couple of the tapered holes enlarged a little (7 degree reahm) to get full engagement.  The best course is to use a master that is the same as the one from the donor, generally speaking the Granada/Monarc master cylinder is the correct one to use.  The years you are talking about are all disc/drum vehicles.  Make sure you get the "proportioning" valve from the same donor.  It does a little more then just seperate the front and the rear.  It is vital to the safety and functionality of the brake system.

[shopratwoody]

I used Torino spindles and it dropped my car more than it was before.

[Frankenstein57]

I used the torinos also and got at least an 1 1/2 or 2" drop in the front. I believe the granada swap also lowers the car. There is a company called scarebird that makes a bolt on bracket for your spindles. His kit uses a mustang rotor and GM s-10 calipers. This allows you to keep your ride height, and not mess with the camber/ caster, or toe in.Mark

[RICH MUISE]

If you ordered a kit from Drop 'n Stop I believe Dave gives you the option of lowered or not. With the Granada spindles, the drop is controled by how large the hole is reamed (where it fits over the lower ball joint.  Rich

[Lou]

Hogan- email me at hotmail  vehicleone I have some information you may be interested in.

[Hogan]

Guys,

Thanks for the quick response!!  I will take a look at www.scarebird.com to see what they have to offer.  I will also be looking to see if I can locate a granada donor car in my area (central Illinois).  Unfortunately, when scrap prices got up, many of the older vehicles got smashed.

If I find a donor car, does anyone have a part number for a new granada proportioning valve?  Is this something that I can get at NAPA or would it only come on the donor car?

Also, I noticed that my stock master cylinder only has one brake line running to it.  Will I need to run an additional line (how should this be routed).

Thanks for all the help.

Respectfully,

Hogan

[Ford Blue blood]

Hogan get the valve off the donor car.  They really don't go bad.  The proportioning part is just a diaphram and spring.  The little slider inside of the unit that turns on the "brake" light and blocks the line that has a leak could get stuck but running new fluid through the thing normally frees everything up.  There will be three fitting hole for the front brakes and two on the rear brake side.  You will have to run new lines for the front and I would for the rear as well.

With respect to running the new lines, the passenger side front can be run just as the stock one is, just look at the mounting for the flex and duplicate that on the 57.  The current junction block can be removed as both front lines will come off the valve.  The rear line comes off the block as well.  The proportioning valve can be mounted most anywhere but NAPA does sell the short lines to run from the master to the valve.  The master will have odd sized fittings (the tube seat is standard but the nut is larger for the fronts).  Look at some of the adds for kits on the various vendor sites and you can get a good idea how they mount the valve.