opinions on 56 vicky brake conversion

D

drchip

Member
I need my 56 vicky to stop better and looking for opinions and reasons. Power brake conversion? Disk brake conversion? Granada spindles? Recommended sources. I know there has been quite a bit of discussion on this but I'm still uncertain on the best route to take. Thank you.
 
I used Granada spindles on my car. that was about 1999 when the price if scrap was down, and such things were common in scrap yards. There was a nice article in Y Block Magazine then on what you need to buy, where to get it, and how little it cost.
 
I agree with Don I did the Granada setup on my wagon along with an explorer disk rear 7 in booster and corvette 1in bore master the Granada stuff is getting harder to find and price is crazy on e-!!y disks are the way to go it will make a big difference do your research to see what suites you best good luck there are companies that make a bolt on conversion that use your old spindles and over the counter parts you'll have to google that
 
I just converted my '54 Merc by using a Midland remote booster ('55-'57 T-Bird). I'm very happy with the results, but I don't expect to be driving the freeways at 80 MPH either. The difference is night and day and the old Merc has good sized drums that do just fine. The installation is ultra-simple, but you still end up with a single master system. Bruce
 
Back in 1999, I did the disc brakes on the front of my bird, stock spindles. I think they are the same. As I recall, it was a machined spacer on the spindle first, a set of bearings, Granada disc, and Fairlane calipers. And brackets, hoses, misc parts. It moved the wheels out a slight amount, no more than 1/4 ", probably less. The rotor hub was turned down to allow the small center hole on the original wheel to mount. I'm sure these are still available. They worked well, and still do. They easily locked the stock front tires, and will lock the 225/60's on the front now. I don't recall there being new rear brake cylinders, but I'm told some kits had them. Apparently to restore brake balance. I did a dual master at the same time, and added a proportioning valve.

The thing I remember is you need to keep the rear brakes carefully adjusted to maintain balance. There's a posting over at y blocks forever about updating the rears to self adjust. I wish I would have known that before I did rear disc, which are not the answer on a Dana rear end.

I believe the Granada spindles lower the front, someone above can confirm that. If you want the car lower, go seach Aerostar springs. At least one guy did both, and felt it was too low, as in the dragged in his driveway. Best and least money I ever spent.
 
I'm looking at the bolt on kits on ebay, but wondering how "deep" into the conversion I should get. One of the old threads I read mentioned that the stock drums had a lot of surface area and just converting to power booster would be all you would need. I'm not especially interested in lowering the front (unless there are benefits to stopping) . I know the junkyard stuff is getting tough to find and I really dont want to get into machining . I appreciate the input.
 
The main reason I changed is because of brake fade. Driving the car on the Interstate at modern speeds, when you step on the brake at 70, by the time you are down to 45 the brakes are gone. The good shoe material is no longer made so far as I could find. The discs made that go away, and they work good in the rain too.
 
You can look for a clutch and brake re-builder in your local yellow pages and have your shoes relined with ceramic or Kevlar material this will reduce fade by about 25% and decrease wear on your drums a bunch.While you are at it you should convert your manual brakes to self adjusting,very EZ to do here is an example: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&discussionid=20141 Several of the guys in the 1952-59 Ford Group have used these:http://www.ebay.com/itm/1954-1955-1956-ford-brake-booster-dual-diaphram-/230620193371? There are some of these cheaper with a single booster DO Not use them folks that did were not happy.
 
I put on a dual master cylinder (non power) years ago because my wife drove it often and I was concerned about blowing a brake line and wanted her to have a "safety net". It just takes too long to get stopped. Hadnt considered self adjusters so I'll include that into possible solutions as well.
 
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I just bought the Fatman dropped spindles with the disk brakes and rack and pinion kit. I have not installed it yet, but looks good. The downside is the price.
 
The 52-59 group on the HAMB has a lot of ideas and "been there, done that" info. One in particular that stig did - a '72 LTD setup works; he has a lot of detailed info & pics on it. It's what I intend to do soon. My son picked up a complete setup - spindles to wheels - off a '72 Merc Colony Park wagon last summer for $150 so it might be a less expensive alternative to consider. Got it mostly for the spindles & will replace the bearings, rotors, calipers etc. as needed, but still might be cheaper than some of those kits.

Link to the thread in the HAMB '52-'59 group:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&discussionid=35863&pp=20
 
Ole Don said:
The main reason I changed is because of brake fade. Driving the car on the Interstate at modern speeds, when you step on the brake at 70, by the time you are down to 45 the brakes are gone. The good shoe material is no longer made so far as I could find. The discs made that go away, and they work good in the rain too.
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How far oversize are your drums? New drums might solve your fade problem if they are too far oversize but you can't beat discs for the rain if you are diving through deep water.


Charlie Stephens
 
Yea I been on 52-59 group often, but a lot of different options and directions to go and gets a little confusing. Thanks for all the input everyone.
 
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