Drum to disk conversion

[NoMope Greg]

I purchased the Master Power Brakes kit a few years ago and everything bolted up with no problem, except the master cylinder / power booster.  I believe it's a GM booster and required drilling the firewall to mount, but I think they changed the design so that it uses the stock mounting bolt locations now.  The biggest pain in the a$$ is unbolting the pedal assembly from the booster underneath the dash.    Anyway, the kit sells for $995 complete with booster.  http://www.mpbrakes.com/index.cfm

Greg

[ViperMan]

May I jump in and ask a question?  No?  TOO BAD!!!  Brouhahahahah...

Okay now serioulsy. 

What is the comparitive quality of the stock disc setup on the 74's?  My 'cuda has discs up front, drums in the rear - everytime I have to hit the brakes hard the fronts just lock up on me anyways.  I hardly see the benefit of IMPROVING the front brakes to just make them lock up quicker!  They seem like beefy sons'O'bishes - would I benefit from just upgrading the rears to a disc setup?  The only thing I can think is that by going with a modern caliper I can probably drop some weight from the front, but I doubt it'd be much...

Jeff

[HP2]

That would be, IMO, inadequate gripping power by the tires combined with inadequate rear brake pressure to equalize the force. '74 came with the 10.87 set up, which is not too bad a street set up. I'd also bet you have 10" drums on the rear.

First off I'd check and verify that your rears are correctly adjusted, are getting sufficient pressure to expand tha  shoes, and that all the hardware internal to the drums is in good shape.

The biggest benefit of discs, front or rear, is not that they provide greater braking force than drums, but rather that they do not fade as quickly when subjected to repeated hard braking situations.

[ViperMan]

Right - drums in fact benefit from larger surface areas where friction is applied, but the somewhat sealed unit causes rapid heat build up and lousy transfer.

Actually the funny thing is we discovered that my 'Cuda does not have the hardware for the auto adjuster - the adjusting screw is there, but no spring-loaded arm to automatically adjust the shoes.  Problem is, most hardware kits come with springs, but they do not come with the adjusting arm that holds onto the teeth of the adjusting screw.  So I have to go in there every once in a while and give the adjust a twist or two.  For as little as I drive it, it's not a problem, but that'll probably be on my "help me find at Carlisle" list.

By the way tires are actually brand new, 235/65/15's - wider than stock with no real power upgrades to compromise their traction stopping OR going...

Jeff

[miketyler]

I too was looking at rear disc conversions for my 72 Cuda. When I talked to Dr Diff, he recommended upgrading both front and rear since I was running bigger 17's. I was only considering rears for the look.

BTW, there is a guy on Moparts that just listed a complete OEM front disc brake assemblies for 72 Cuda including rotors, calipers, spindles, dustshields, and all correct hardware. $150 for pair

Post is here and listed by user Jasonjacoby

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=E&Number=4069335&page=0&fpart=all

[422STROKER]

I got the 10.87 factory stuff on there now.  I talked to DRdiff as well about some upgrades.  13" mustang rotors and calipers to use on factory spindles in the 900 dollar range.  11.75 upgrade was 400 bucks without calipers.  I will keep the factory stuff for now.

Tom

[Hopalong]

Realitivly cheap conversion, but no master cylinder.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/3793,961_Mopar-Disc-Brake-Kit.html

Something for the rear too.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/1999,351_Speedway-Rear-Disc-Brake-Kit-with-Emergency-Brake.html?itemNo=rear%20disc%20brakes