Working on the disc brake upgrade

[Vin Man]

After months of planning, purchasing parts, setting up the garage, and reading the posts, I started the brake upgrade today on my 67 Mustang Hardtop.

The car has 4 lug drums in front and back. The current rear end is a 3.2 :1 small (7 1/4"?) rear end.

I installed a power brake booster earlier this year and definitely appreciated the improvement in stopping power. As I drive this car often, I decided for saftey, front disc was the way to go. Since I'm changing the front to 5 lug, a new rear end needed to be installed as well.

I found a local guy that is really into Cougars. I purchase complete front disc assemblies including calipers, rotors, spindles splash plates - basically everything - from a 68 Cougar. He also sold me an 8" rear end out of a 67 with bigger drum brakes than what I have now. The new rear end is 3.0:1.

I purchased the parts for the rear end rebuild, and had a local guy do all the work to rebuild. He is an expert at gears and stuff, so the rebuild was no issue.

The disc setups I've done myself. No surprises there either which has been nice. Most of the parts I was able to get from either Autozone or online. I did wind up getting the splash plate gaskets from a Mustang catalog.

My buddy Bob came over about 10 am today and we got to work. Had to finish detailing the rear end, as well as rebuild one of the disc assemblies that we had not yet started on.

By the end of the day, we had both disc assemblies bolted on, but have not yet connected brake lines.

Lots more to do, but its a start. My back is killing me!

I'll take some pics and post tomorrow.

[Vin Man]

Here are some pics:

[fordconvert]

Those are Ford front brakes? Got a better pic of what the caliper mounts on?

[Vin Man]

Those are Ford front brakes? Got a better pic of what the caliper mounts on?

Yes, they are ford. Came right of a 68 Mercury Cougar. The calipers bolt to the spindle. I don't have a better picture. When I go to bleed the brakes, I'll try and get a shot from behind the spindle with better lighting.

[Ronbo]

Looking good Vin! Just a wee bit of jealousy here

Ron

[jsevern]

Looks great. If you don't mind my asking, how much did you spend on the disc brakes from the cougar? I have been pricing out disc brakes myself. You can give me a ball park figure it you don't want to disclose the exact amount.

[Vin Man]

He charged me $300 for the complete setup right off the car ($150) per side. I haven't added up how much I've invested to rebuild them. I got all the parts I needed from Autozone and had the rotors turned at a brakeshop.

He has more if you're interested.

[Asa]

Looks great. If you don't mind my asking, how much did you spend on the disc brakes from the cougar? I have been pricing out disc brakes myself. You can give me a ball park figure it you don't want to disclose the exact amount.

i can't remember, do you have a '67 or a '68?
if so, the spindles for a '67 are the same no matter the engine or brake combo, and for the '68 the spindles on the drum equipped cars (no matter the engine) are the same as the '67 spindles
then all you need to do is go to National Parts Depot and buy 2B135-1A and 2B134-1A, which allow the calipers to be bolted to the spindles, they're about $50 each, then you can save money by installing stock V8 discs

i think people are using the '67 spindles for the earlier cars as well, but i'm not sure

[Vin Man]

I have a set of 67 disc brake spindles (extra set) that I can sell as well.