Hi everyone I have not posted in a long while I am starting back to work on my 68 cutlass convertible s and had the opportunity to buy a set of disk brakes taken right off a 68 442 that was being scraped the guy took them off from the upper and lower ball joints they are factory dual piston calipers he charged me $200 and my question is do I have to modify anything going from drum to disk brake other than the booster which I do not have having manual drum brakes.
any thoughts or comments would be great . take care

 

What all did you get? There is a hold off valve that mounts next to the master on one of the bolts that holds it to the booster. If you did not then I suggest you get an adjustable porportioning valve and put it after the block on the rear brake side. If you mount it with the **** pointing down it is easier to reach to adjust. Once you set it up it should be good from then on. The factory calipers for 67 and 68 are kind of a pain some times. They might need to be sleeved and rebuilt. If you got the spindles, and mounting brackets with the calipers it is a bolt on swap.

Hope this helps.

Larry

 

Hi thanks for your reply what I got was the complete disk brake from both sides he gave me everything spindles,rotors,calipers,everything from the ball joint out including the rubber brake lines complete and assembled. I did not get the block you mentioned so I will go to NAPA and order one thank you for telling me about that. I am getting the brake booster and new master cylinder on Saturday.

 

Count again. Those calipers have FOUR pistons each, not two. More importantly, they are very expensive to rebuild or replace as compared to the 1969-up single piston calipers. If you want them for optical correctness on a 68, fine, but be aware. If you care about cost and performance, sell them to someone who wants a correct restoration, buy 69-up single piston calipers and brackets, and pocket about $100 profit.

Also, in addition to the cost, the four piston calipers are fixed, as opposed to the sliding single piston design. This makes the four-piston calipers very sensitive to rotor runout. Any slight warpage side-to-side will push the brake pads and pistons back into the calipers. This significantly increases pedal stroke the next time you go to use the brakes. It can be exciting if you aren't expecting it.

Finally, the four piston calipers use seals mounted on the pistons that slide in the caliper bores. This means that any minor rust or pitting in the bores chews up the seals and causes leakage. The single piston calipers reversed this, with the seals fixed in grooves in the bore. The pistons slide in the seals. The pistons are chrome plated to prevent rust, and are very easy to replace if they do get pitted or worn. The four-piston calipers usually require an expensive stainless steel sleeving process to prevent leaks.

 

I stand corrected there is only one piston so mostly likely it is for a newer car but it came off a 68 so I know it will fit.

 

All 1964-1972 A-body front spindles interchange, so yes they will work. If you do have the single piston sliding calipers, that's better for you anyway. Parts are significantly less expensive. Just be sure to plumb in either a metering valve as used on the 67-70 cars or a combo valve as used on the 71-up cars. They are functionally equivalent, so either way works.

 

Joe just change your name back to Dr Oldsmobile and get it over with. Good stuff