77 T-Bird front disc brake swap

CableguyJJS3 · 2013-09-03 19:49

Wel maybe you guys can help clarify something for me. At this stage of things it's more for piece of mind than anything else. I got the whole system plumbed and so on. I went to fill the system and bleed it out, ran into a couple of leaky fittings that I had to sort out and then I moved on to bleeding the system. That's where I hit the wall......hard. I couldn't get good pedal pressure to save my life, no matter what I did. I know I had issue as I didn't bench bleed the master, so I pulled the lines back off and did that. Then I did a 4 wheel gravity bleed, everything looked ok there. Then I had a helper and did the bleeding that way. I would get all the air out of the line and move on until I got all the way to the front. The pedal would pump up and firm up no problem, as soon as I stopped pumping and hit it again, it went straight to the floor. It wouldn't lose pedal once i had it pumped up, it stayed hard, but as soon as I let go and hit the pedal again, straight to the floor.

I bashed my head on the fenders for a week and a half trying to figure out was going on. I could almost taste brake fluid in my mouth I had absorbed so much through my hands. Then this past weekend a friend of mine who I grew up working on cars with ame to visit for the Nascar race, and him and I got into it a little bit. This was around 4 am Friday and needless to say we were rather inebriated, he looked under the car for 35 seconds and said your rear calipers are upside down, bleeders below the line and it'll never bleed. So we swapped calipers side to side and 20 minutes later system is bled and feels fine. No driving yet but still, feels like good pedal to me.

My question is this, in looking at the pics, I can see what he meant on the rear, bleeders under the line. But I look at the front, and the bleeder is under the line as well, yet they seem to be fine. I can vouch without question that the front calipers cannot be swapped side to side up there. I know that because I had them swapped side to side originally and the brake line fitting was acting as a steering stop hitting the lower control arms. Something different on the front or the angles that I'm missing that allows the front to work that way???

hiball3985 · 2013-09-03 20:40

I think it's just an optical illusion. Looking at your picture I would say the bleeder is at least as high or higher then the line entrance. A small level should confirm that.

CableguyJJS3 · 2013-09-03 21:01

I see what your saying there. It could be that, looks that way in fact. It was a long weekend, so I haven't been back down there, just something I was sitting here thinking about is all. Thanks.

gasman826 · 2013-09-04 19:22

If the piston was removed, you could see that the inlet hole (hose side) into the piston cavity is lower than the bled screw opening.

Dave_S · 2013-09-05 03:10

The bleeder screw MUST be at the top of the system (caliper or cylinder) on each wheel otherwise you'll never get all the air out of the system.

gasman826 · 2013-09-05 06:59

Thanks for all the pictures. I noticed the lack of shields. Several times, I've considered pitching them but have always installed them for the extra cooling. I also noticed the lack of brake lube. It is critical to add brake lube to the slide points.

CableguyJJS3 · 2013-09-05 13:36

No shields simply because they were rotted out and I can't find any more to replace them. And yeah everything will get a healthy dose of never seize before I finalize it, I just wanted to get everything together and working. No problem on the pics, they speak a thousand words and most threads are useless without pics lol.

gasman826 · 2013-09-05 19:48

Brand new repop sheilds...........
http://www.discbrakeswap.com/

CableguyJJS3 · 2013-09-05 21:51

Dang $124 bucks...I paid less than that for the spindles!! But if ya gotta have em, not much choice I guess.

hiball3985 · 2013-09-05 23:51

That sounds outrageous, Id be hunting junk yards

gasman826 · 2013-09-06 19:18

dust/splash sheilds are $69 for pair and install hardware. Still pricey when compared to used price...then again much cheaper than NOS.

Frankenstein57 · 2013-09-06 21:04

I have a new pair for a granada, never installed. $50 + ship Mark

F570RD · 2013-09-07 07:51

Have you had the car on the ground with the suspenion loaded? You may have a camber issue as I did with the Tbird units unless your after a low rider look.

CableguyJJS3 · 2013-09-07 23:26

The car has not hit the ground yet, still going through some other systems yet. In my research I did see mention of camber issues, then I saw no issues, so no telling yet. Hopefully no issues, but we shall see I guess.

CableguyJJS3 · 2014-09-01 13:10

I got an email from someone looking for some part numbers, so I went through and assembled a parts list with numbers for the entire system should someone want to duplicate what I did or use some of it. Either way here you guys go, enjoy.

All parts in stock and available from Summit. NiCopp brake line I got off eBay (cheaper and comes with all the flare nuts) and master cylinder from Rockauto.
front brakes
-3an 90* female to -3an straight female
18" - EAR-63011718ERL x2
caliper fitting - RUS-641311x2
frame fitting - RUS-641291 x 3 1 fitting to be used where the hard line ends before the rear end
rear brakes
hoses - 30" female thread straight fitting - EAR-63010130ERL x 3
caliper fittings - RUS-643961 x5 3 fittings to be used in the tee block
tee - EAR-972050ERL x1
prop valve - SUM-G3910 x1
25' 3/16 copper nickel line
3/8-24 flare nuts x 9
7/16 -24 flare nut x1
Granada master - Rockauto Cardone Select - 131602

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77 T-Bird front disc brake swap

F570RD