Boilerz25

I am looking to upgrade from the stock drum system on my 69 442 to a 4 wheel disc brake kit. There are a few out there but I dont want to go too over the top with the calipers and too far from stock on the master cylinder / booster. Any suggestions which kit appears to be the most stock under the hood?

thanks
Sean

txrob779

In my thread in DRIVELINE, Henry in Austin as front discs for you model car,,,,check out that thread . Also there is a link to a Car Craft article robbing read discs off of a 1988-1987 GM F body that bolt straight in. The question is they bolt right into a 66-67 Cutlass so not sure about yours but from I have researched I bet you can outfit that car with 4 wheel discs for about 5 or $600 total. There are all kinds of options out there man so good luck.

hookem horns

Have you considered front discs only? Lots of options for factory style kits that are a fairly easy and original looking upgrade while still allowing most stock wheels to fit (early 69 SSI's don't work). I have the InLine Tube kit that fits and works well but must say their pads created a lot of dust and the metering valve failed after ~2-3 years.

Fronts do most of the stopping anyway, especially on nose heavy old American iron. Big 4 wheel discs are popular with resto-mods, but IMO a bit over the top unless your usage includes repeated hard braking from high speeds where fade is a real concern.

Mr Nick

If you plan on running larger wheels, then look at the kits that KORE3 has. He sells the needed brackets and accessories to mount C5 Corvette brakes. I have them front and rear on my 69.

RandyS

Geez, how fast do you drive........

txrob779

It's not how fast he drives but how fast he can STOP lol....

Mr Nick

It's more like the modern car in front of me that stops quickly because they dropped their Starbucks onto their iPhone, freaked out and slammed on the brakes.

Have to be able to keep up, I should say slow down, with the newer stuff.

kitfoxdave

Mr Nick sure has THAT right!

Boilerz25

The wheels I am using are the original 14" SSII's. I may consider just the front disc conversion as opposed to the 4 wheel.

Thanks guys

kitfoxdave

I think there is a thread on this site that actually has a listing of parts to use the 14" wheels for 4 disc set up... (S10 brakes for the rear perhaps?) Of course it was posted after I bought the right stuff kit and installed it... (If you go right stuff, don't get off low price ebay... talk with Todd and tell him what car etc... he can hook you up with the correct brake lines that fit fairly well) I used 15 x 7" SSI's from Specialty Wheel but still needed a 3/8 spacer on the rear wheels due to the caliper contacting the weld seam on the wheels.

DJS70cutlass

Do you happen to know the title of that thread?

kitfoxdave

this is one:
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...14-wheels.html
the rear disk adapter from scarebird is here:
https://scarebird.com/index.php?rout...product_id=146 you will need to source your parts for this...

JuzCallMeDee

Nick, did you buy replacement parts from a parts store? what all would i need convert the rear to disc? front is already disc. thanks.

sicky olds

I just did a conversion on my 70 Cutlass, I used the right stuff brake kit and it bolts on with little to no adjusting of the lines.

Message Amesolds (email amesolds@yahoo.com) about disc brake spindles.

I bought a set spindles rotors and calipers from someone. Tore it all down and used just the spindle parts (sandblasted and painted.) bought new backplates, calipers, rotor/hubs, dust caps, etc. Assembled those the night before the job. Next day i took the car and put it on the lift, removed the drum hub in one piece (used a transmission jack to hold the spring into place) and slid on the new disc brake hub. If i had more time i would have swapped out the boots as the pitman arm does some damage (awaiting til i redo the front suspension though). swapped out the lines. Remember that in 69 you will need a metering valve that goes right off of the master cylinder (71 they started to combine them).

Somethings to remember:
new calipers or the rubber hoses DO NOT come with the bolt that holds them together, save those from your old calipers or find a set before you start....

-Make sure to assemble the spindle kit properly, i had mine all together and then realized the one piece was on the wrong side so had to disassemble the entire thing to fix it.

Probably more details then you wanted but this was my experience with the stock disc conversion that i just did.

Mr Nick

Do you have factory disc up front? If so, you probably wouldn't want/need C5 brakes on the back, it wouldn't be very balanced.

But to answer your question, I got every from Tobin at KORE3, except the rotors. I got the rotors from work, I wholesale auto parts. I wanted his calipers with CORVETTE ground off, and Hawk pads, and of course the brakes and odds n ends came from him.

Tobi is a great guy to work with, and he'll change his kits around a little bit to suit your needs.