Starfire drum-disc

[66starfire]

Have a 66 starfire, drums all the way around, would LOVE to get some front discs.

anyone know if I can just swap over the front spindles from a 66 or 68 delta 88? (wasnt discs an option for 68 delta 88s?) Just wondering since the brakes faaade so badly, and more stopping power is always better in my book. also would i need to change proportioning valves? or anything else for that matter?


and yes I know technically drums are better but they heat up on my car and after some highway driving they fade like mad, and fade is worse in my opiniion.

[VegasDelta]

Discs were an option starting in '67. I think '67 & '68 used a four piston caliper that's hard to get parts for. I think the spindles up to '71 or '72 will swap in. You also need the disc/drum master, prop. valve & plumbing.

[Kennybill]

1970 is the LAST year that you use Disc brakes from. I had a conversion but sold it to a fellow who needed parts because you can't buy new rotors for them. Do you have the single piston master cylinder? If so upgrade to dual master cylinder. My 1967 has all new brakes and it stops good. Runs 14:18@100MPH's. Ken

[66starfire]

so if you cant buy discs for them, would it be better and easier to switch to the dual master cylinder. Not sure what I ahve, ive been conetrating on getting it running and its snowing like mad now, cant see anyhting aha. I believe I have the 11inch drums, at least on the front, I havent yet taken off the rear wheels. So would a dual amster cylinder and new drums/shoes do wonders ya think?

[Kennybill]

I have three 1966 Dynamic/Delta 88's. Two have the single stage "one fluid reserve" if you blow a line you lose ALL brakes, the other has dual reserve master cylinder just as my 1967 Olds 98's. Ken

[66starfire]

yea I was sortof wondering about that. One of my brakelines is going, but im not worried in the fact it doesnt even drive right now
but its on the list of MUST FIX FIRST!
thanks.

[66starfire]

Does anyone know about what size drums my car has? Or should have? I got an extra set of drums with it in the trunk, I THINK they are originals for the rear, but am not sure. I mic'd them and got 11.155in. and 11.045in. Anyone know what specs are for rear drums on the 66 starfires? I am machining them now on a lathe, just wondering what the specs are. Ive found that rear drums are hard to find so an extra pair would be nice. also im asking because its hard to take off the rear wheels in my apartment parking lot...

and back to the master cylinder conversation, what master cylinder would i use? out of which car would fit? would an 88 one fit? and also does anyone know how to figure out which steering system I have? ive heard some mid 60's Olds used TRW and saginaw. how can i figure out what I ahve...because I need a new front end, and centerlink and such I need to know.

thanks guys.

[Mister]

Originally Posted by 66starfire

Does anyone know about what size drums my car has? Or should have? I got an extra set of drums with it in the trunk, I THINK they are originals for the rear, but am not sure. I mic'd them and got 11.155in. and 11.045in. Anyone know what specs are for rear drums on the 66 starfires? I am machining them now on a lathe, just wondering what the specs are. Ive found that rear drums are hard to find so an extra pair would be nice. also im asking because its hard to take off the rear wheels in my apartment parking lot...

and back to the master cylinder conversation, what master cylinder would i use? out of which car would fit? would an 88 one fit? and also does anyone know how to figure out which steering system I have? ive heard some mid 60's Olds used TRW and saginaw. how can i figure out what I ahve...because I need a new front end, and centerlink and such I need to know.

thanks guys.

Hello,

I also own a 1966 Starfire, and completed some brake work on it about 4 months ago. That followed a scary episode where the left rear wheel cylinder went from a slow leak to a really fast leak while I was on the road. Please believe Kennybill about that single/dual master cylinder business. I feared for my life for a few minutes there. Incidently, you can't put the shifter in park while the car is moving, as an emergency method of stopping the car. It just makes a grating noise, but doesn't even slow down the vehicle.

Anyway, here's what the 1966 Oldsmobile Chassis Service Manual has for Starfire brake specifications:
LINING AREA: 208.6 Sq. In

RATIO (Percentage of Braking Effect): 56% Front, 44% Rear

DRUMS---
Inside diameter: 11.00"
Out-of-Round (Total Indicator Reading): Front: 0.005" Max Rear: 0.006" Max

LININGS
Length - Primary: 9-3/8"
Length - Secondary: 12"
Width - Front: 2-3/4"
Width - Rear: 2"
Thickness - Primary: 1/4"
Thickness - Secondary: 5/16"

I also have the emergency brake cable and brake cylinder specs if you want them. According to the Service Manual, the Starfire and Delta 88 have identical brakes in every respect. However I suspect that that might not actually be the case. If you look in the USA Parts Supply catalog, http://www.usapartssupply.com you will notice that they exclude the '66 Starfire in their brake parts list. They have all the Starfires up to 1965, and all the other models in the 1966 lineup, but not the '66 Starfire. I ignored that fact when buying brake parts from NAPA. I just told them that I had a '66 Delta 88, and got a whole box of parts -- wheel cylinders, generic bend-to-fit brake tubes, brake shoes, brake shoe hardware kits, and brake shoe self adjuster parts. Some of the stuff fit, and some of it didn't. If you do similar brake work on your Starfire, I thought you might be interested in what NAPA has that you can actually USE

Here's what worked fine:
Brake shoes, front and back
Wheel cylinders, front and back
Brake lines ( we used 2 40-inch lines in the rear, as I recall, which had just enough extra length that we routed the right side line to the left side center feed, and vice versa)

And what mostly worked:
Brake shoe hardware kit, front and rear (was able to replace most but not all of the brake shoe springs. So be careful when removing a spring; you might not be able to replace it with a new one).
Rear brake shoe self-adjuster repair kit (only about half of the springs fit. Many self-adjuster parts had to be carried over from the old brakes)

And what didn't work at all:
Any self-adjuster parts for the front wheels (the car's prior owners either didn't know or failed to mention that the car's self-adjuster harware for the front brakes was COMPLETELY MISSING. Napa does not sell a self-adjuster repair kit for the front wheels, and the onesey-twosey parts that I did find were not at all sufficient to comprise a self-adjuster assembly.)

I have a suspicion that the reason the front wheel self-adjusters were missing were that they broke at one time, and the prior owners failed to find the parts to fix them. I can live without self-adjusters, I guess. It just means that every year or so we will have to take the tires off and advance the brake shoes a few notches.

Here's the NAPA part numbers for the parts that worked for me:
UP32071 -- Left front wheel cylinder
UP32072 -- Right front wheel cylinder
UP13388 -- Left rear wheel cylinder
UP13387 -- Right rear wheel cylinder
TS260 -- Front brake shoes
TS262 -- Rear brake shoes
UP2335 -- Rear brake shoe hardware kit
UP2346 -- Front brake shoe hardware kit
UP80683 -- Left rear brake shoe self-adjuster repair kit
UP80684 -- Right rear brake shoe self-adjuster repair kit