Drop N' Stop brake conversion and drum update on my ranchero

[briney]

Marc,

Would you share his reply? Others may find it helpful.

Patrick / Dallas   

[57 Ford Kustom]

Boy I am happy I held out untill a Granada set up came up. Shopratwoody had a set for sale but it was going to cost as much as my setup cost just for shipping from one coast to the other. Marc I believe Smurfee used 77 bird set up on his car you may want to give him a yell.

T 8)M   

[FORDNUT]

I would also be interested in his reply. I just sold a 57 Custom that I ran 78 Tbird discs on for 9 years. Did not seem to experience any problem and none of the 3 alignment shops indicated they had a problem doing the alignment . I am currently running fronts from a 1970 LTD on my wagon. No problems in the year they have been on. Before I do the next, I would like to hear others experience. Thanks for the input.

[Marc]

As soon as I hear from him, I'll let you guys know!

[292dual4s]

I already bought the 75 Gran Torino brakes (same as T-bird) a couple of years ago, spindles out for 100 bucks, so I'm going for it. When I finally get off my butt to do it I'll let everybody on here know how it goes.

[JimNolan]

Gang,
   Bought the Disc Brake conversion from DC Enterpises. The parts package apparently came from SBS. Also I bought the 8 inch dual mastercylinder power brake unit. I didn't have to make any changes to the push rod going to the brake pedal either. Anyway, they were extremely easy to put on ( I kept my spindles, no drop ) except they didn't send me one of the spindle bearings and one of the bolts that hold on the flexable lines to the disc brake. Called DC Enterprises and Dick told me they would be drop shipped from SBS. Haven't arrived yet.
  Went out and bought bearing and new bolt at NAPA to finish the assembley. Bleed brakes 5 times using quart of brake fluid. Brake pedal still went all the way to the floor. Called DC Enterprises, Dick said I had bad mastercylinder and SBS would drop ship me new one. Hasn't arrived yet. My dealings with DC Enterprises have been OK but if the parts don't arrive THIS week things are going to get ugly. I realize DC Enterprises is the middleman but they took on that responsibility when they resold SBS products. I would also expect over night response to a problem the customer doesn't have control over. I didn't delay paying the $1075 for the product. If I hadn't just put 3K miles on my 57 I'd be jumping up and down by now. I want to keep this 57 Ford Forum updated on my dealings with SBS and DC Enterprises. Like I said, I'm not _issed off yet.
Jim

[briney]

Jim,

I saw from your post that it was the master cylinder after all.   I hope you got my second email that made that suggestion.  I hope you know that I wasn't questioning your skill set with some of the rudimentary diagnosis steps in my email, I was merely trying to assist you.  I am never quite sure how much experience someone has when they post or ask me questions directly.  Anyway, I am really glad that you solved the issue with the brakes.  I hope you get it back on the road soon.

You went with the kit that Dick resells whereas I went with the Granada dropped spindles and ABS power brake options.

I am sorry that you have had issues with your parts delivery.  I know that Dick, though ABS shipped me an incorrect brake booster.  I called Dick about it and it took about ten days to get it straightened out.  Other than that I really had no issues.  I guess that when I do future posts I should set everyone's expectations with respect to timeliness. 

I have never thought of the hobby having any sort of timeline before.  To me a fifty year old car is just that, a fifty year old car.  I figure most people try to get it right, I know that's their goal, sometimes they don't.  The reality is they come close which is OK with me, nobody ever goes to work to do a crappy job.  I wish I could get everything right the first time, or even the time after that.  I just move from one project  to another when working on the car. 

Based on your post you sound pretty dissatisfied.  I am very sorry to hear about your issues.   

Respectfully,

Patrick / Dallas TX   

[JimNolan]

Patrick,
   I'm OK about it for now. But I drive my car every day. Thats what I drive. I chose to invest 30K ( and still counting ) into a 57 Ford instead of driving a new car. Anyone can drive a new car, even me. When it's down, I have to drive something else. If it were the only car I had I'd be walking right now. I expect people to take my money seriously. That's why service now days has deteriorated. They don't take you seriously. If I called Mastercharge and was able to stop payment on the transaction after they sent out the product, how long do you think they'd wait before they called me to reinstate payment. Bet you it wouldn't be long. Sure to _ _ _ it wouldn't be two weeks.
   Don't get me wrong, Dick has been very nice to me about this. I'm not knocking DC Enterprises, I'm  telling the 57 Ford Forum of the experience I'm having installing disc brakes on my 57 Ford. I realize that Dick can't make SBS be any quicker. I contacted DC Enterprises because of your GOOD experience with them. I've had a good experience with them too. Now, next Monday if my car's still sitting on jacks it definitely won't be a good experience.
Jim

[cool57]

I know who ABS is....who is SBS?

[JimNolan]

Well gang,
   Got my brakes fixed. New master cylinder didn't arrive so I went out and bought one at NAPA. Installed the new master cylinder, bled the brakes as best I could and WAH LA, same problem. I checked everything but the dishwasher and couldn't figure out what was wrong. I finally broke down and called Dick at DC Enterpises to see if he could possibly figure out what was wrong. HE DID. Silly me put the brake caliper with the word LEFT forged into it on the LEFT side of the car. WRONG, I should have put the caliper marked RIGHT on the left side. Apparently ABS uses a caliper that was originally designed to be installed on the front of the wheel. That way the bleeder valve would be ABOVE the caliper piston.
   Now, would I buy from DC Enterprises again. SURE WOULD, just for the fact that Dick will stay on the phone with you a half hour trying to help you. Would I buy anything from ABS again. NO. The people packing my order couldn't count, and the instructions should have mentioned how to mount these calipers for this particular installation. I probly should have caught that during installation but I didn't think of it. Will say that thier product seems first rate though.
Anyway, Brakes work, need porportioning valve, Dick at DC Enterprises got me going.
Jim

[Frankenstein57]

I remember now a racecar brake problem where the bleeder wasn't at 12 o'clock, sure wish I would have thought of it. Mark

[meteor]

hey Briney, what is the size (width) of your front wheel? When you did the brake conversion was there any change in the track width?

thanks