disc brakes an steering gear

G

GSM

New member
has anyone used disc brakes an steering gear from a 1977 maverick any help would appreciated on a 1954 ford skyliner
thanks
 
The disc brakes would be the same as Granada. The lower ball joint hole will need to be reamed to accept the lower '54 ball joint. By steering gear, do you mean the steering box? The box itself will not bolt up without EXTENSIVE modification. The Maverick drag link and tie rod ends will mount into your '54 as a complete assembly by adding a 1" spacer block between the frame and the idler arm on the passenger side. Use the Maverick pitman arm and your original box. A bracket will need to be fabricated to bolt the steering ram to the frame on the driver side. Us the Maverick hoses and connect a power steering pump on your engine and you have it. Use grade 8 bolts everywhere!!
 
Check with Borgeson, they have a bolt in box for the 54 - 64 full sized Fords, Mustangs and Fairlanes. They sell an entire kit with pump and lines for 700 +.
 
There was an article in The Y Block magazine a few years back on how to do the Granad discs. It takes a little looking, and some chasing to get machine work done, but costs about 1/3 what the kits cost.
 
Speedway has offered the tapered ream for several years and recently Summit (maybe Jegs) also offers the ream. It does not take a mill to open the tapered holes. A little turning by hand will do the job!!!
 
I have made the Granada to '57 swap several times but not on a '54. The Granada to '57-'64 and on early Mustangs has been documented several times. You can even buy new Granada stuff on a web site. I have also done the rack and pinion swap on '57-'64 but never the tie rod thing on '54. I even have an extra Granada set up laying around. If you are handy enough to do the proposed swap, you might want to study up on a R&P upgrade. You will be really happy with it.
 
gasman826 said:
I have made the Granada to '57 swap several times but not on a '54. The Granada to '57-'64 and on early Mustangs has been documented several times. You can even buy new Granada stuff on a web site. I have also done the rack and pinion swap on '57-'64. You will be really happy with it.
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How much did the R&P increase the turning radius? Been told it's a PITA
 
The install for the Borgeson box is a bolt in. I believe they furnish the pitman arm, you have to go different steering column or modify the stock unit just as you have to with the R & P kits. The R & P kit requires some fabrication. The R & P kits run in the 1200 range.

I know of one R & P install and his turning radius was reduced.
 
gasman826 said:
Speedway has offered the tapered ream for several years and recently Summit (maybe Jegs) also offers the ream. It does not take a mill to open the tapered holes. A little turning by hand will do the job!!!
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Versailles discs are the same but the spindle has a larger bottom hole for the ball joint.FWIW
 
I used the reamer from Speedway, chucked it up in a 1/2" electric drill, put my spindle in a vise, measured the depth I wanted and drilled it. Worked really out pretty good.
 
I'm the guy who bad mouthed the rack idea. I put on on my car and it took two cuts to get out of my own driveway. Off it came. I bought a tri five chev 605 box. It bolts right on, but should have another bracket welded on the frame on top. It wont work with the stock clutch linkage. I like my five speed. Back went the 605. I got lucky and found a factory P/S unit. Works great. Leaks a little, the bottom of the car wont get rusty. Hey, I never called it a show car. I love it!
 
I did forget to mention that the turn radius is increased. I would have had to put stops into the spindles anyway for the fender well headers.
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Noswal said:
I used the reamer from Speedway, chucked it up in a 1/2" electric drill, put my spindle in a vise, measured the depth I wanted and drilled it. Worked really out pretty good.
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It would be hard to muck up the ream job. Bottom line the hole needs to be larger so you can get the needed thread engagement with the castle nut.
 
Call me stupid or just a novice, but what do you mean by reaming out the spindle? I'm a visual learner so if you have pictures of this it would help me out. Actually if you have pictures of the entire set up and how it all goes together, that would be awesome too.
 
The hole for the lower ball joint in the Granada spindle is smaller than the ball joint stud. The hole must be made larger and must be tapered at the same angle as the stud on the joint (7 degrees taper). Speedway sells the reamer. It's not a really hard job to do if you have an electric drill to accept the reamer and a vise to chuck up the spindle. Be careful and don't run the reamer too deep. The deeper the reamer, the larger the hole. Or, any competent machine shop should be able to drill out the spindle hole. Can't imagine it could cost much to have it done. If you can find spindles from a Versailles, they are already the size you need.
 
When I had my Granada spindles reamed, I found a local shop that makes roundy-round cars out of a rack of tubing. He had the correct tool and charged me 20 bucks.
 
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