Disc Brake Conversion
 

Looking for opinions on doing a 4 wheel disc conversion for my 68 Camaro stocker. Car currently has drums all the way around. It stops well. but very hard to hold on the line. Just looking at all the options by Wildwood, Aerospace, Baer, SSBC, and Strange. Any pros or cons would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Everyone will recommend what they run. That said, I've had Wilwood on my former ride and Mark Williams on my current. If I was to swap factory drum brakes or disc/drum again, my choice would be Mark Williams.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

I have Strange all around on my car, and they work great. a friend has Aerospace on his L/SA Olds and another has Wilwood on his R/SA car. They all work great. SSBC doesn't pay contingency and their stuff is heavier than your current drum set up.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

We put Aerospace brakes on our car this year but I would NOT recommend them.

From a few feet away they look so good, all shiny machined aluminum. But when we installed them we found every tapped hole very rough and full of machining chips. We had to run a tap through every hole to clean them out. Following their instructions, one front caliper was way out of tolerance for being centered on the rotor. It had to be sent back to be machined an additional .080 inches so it would fit properly costing additional us freight charges and time.

To avoid finger pointing if we should run into any problems, we also bought the master cylinder and pushrod from them. After getting everything installed we started bleeding the brakes. Several minor leaks and several hours later the brakes still would not hold pressure. We finally removed the master cylinder and took it apart. There was a huge gouge in the cylinder bore! No wonder it would not hold pressure. Went to the local parts store and bought a master cylinder for a Dodge pickup and installed it. Had the brakes bled in 10 minutes.

To add insult to injury I called Aerospace, told them what had transpired, and asked to return the master cylinder for credit. No problem was their reply. When I got my credit card statement they had dinged me a 10% restocking fee on the defective master cylinder. Not my idea of good customer service.

The brakes work great, but the whole episode left a bad taste in my mouth. I would go with some other brand next time.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Call Mike at MPR and order a set of Mark Williams. He will give you a good price and service. Remember, you get what you pay for, and you do not want "cheap" in your brakes. Dyno

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

hi mark how are you. I use the Strange disc all the way around on my 68 camaro with their soft pads, been pleased with them. also use their master cylinder as the wilwood leaked at the caps.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Going to a 4 wheel disc set up will not help your starting line issues. What you're explaining is how I would explain 4 wheel discs. Stops great, but doesn't hold very good on the starting line.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

In the process of installing Aerospace 2-piston on the front of our '67 E/SA Camaro atm. There was some minor rotor/caliper body clearance issues where we had to use a file to remedy. Seems the adage "you get what you pay for" does not mean much anymore.

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps93c34f21.jpg

Next weekend will bring the install of a 4-piston Aerospace system on the rear. We will be using a Strange master cylinder with a 1.032 bore as recommended by Aerospace...time will tell if that was the correct advice.

Sorry I can't be of more help on the subject as we are still in process. I did use Aerospace in the late nineties on a '69 B/SA Camaro without issues which is why I chose them this go around.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Thanks for your reply Jody, can you elaborate on your comment on what does it take to hold a car on the starting line? My only issues is the starting line, if I get up on the convertor much more than 2200 the car wants to push through the beams. the car on the top end stops well.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

If I'm not mistaken Aerospace offers some soft pads which might make a difference in holding on the line, but it's just conjecture on my part. http://shop.aerospacecomponents.com/...brakepads.aspx

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

I spoke with one of the tech guys at Aerospace. Their position is to use the 4 piston calibers on the front and to convert the drums in the rear to their disc set up. They felt the car would not stop as well as the drums currently on the car now by only converting to front discs. They also said that it's critical to get the right pedal ratio.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Mark, we've got aerospace on both our cars, only problem we've had was one caliper leaked between the halves, they overnighted us another one.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Mark


I had the "Push through the beams problem (2500rpm on 2 step)" as I struggled to get 750lbs., brake pressure with my hand controls. I changed my MC to a 1.030 bore piece and increased my pedal ratio to 7.4:1. Wah lah, 1200+ psi pressure with hand controls, and no more pushing through the beams. Using your leg would probably bury the gauge on my car.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

I'm committed at this point to the 2-piston in the front and 4-piston in the rear...will see how it works out. Will also be using the Strange 1.032 master cylinder.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Those 2piston fronts are for a really light car, 2400lbs or less. I have never seen them on a stocker. We have 4wheel aerospace on both my car and Andrew's and have had no problems. I can hold my car at 4000 plus rpm's on the starting line.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

None the less, they are already on the car and I will give them a chance. I don't envision using anywhere near 4000rpm on the starting line.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

2200 is very low for drums to say the least. Discs will be a safer system (no pulling to one side). You still should be able to stall a drum setup higher than a disc.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Greg that just what I wanted to hear, both cars are very competitive and I'm sure if there was a better product out there you would use it

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Thanks Jody for the reply, I am still using the OE style master cylinder, there within is part of my problem. I will be changing the master cylinder when I do the disc conversion

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

This was my experience as well with my 1967 Camaro E/SA car as well as my 1970 Nova. Both cars were originally 6 cylinder manual brake cars. I rebuilt the complete system including wheel cylinders, master cylinder, springs, etc but they are only small 9 1/2" x 2 1/2" brakes( from memory). Nevertheless, I could hold the car on the line and launch at 3400-3500 with no problems. My cars were big block, but stopped fine as well. On the other hand, my buddy with his '70's Camaro and factory disc front setup could not hold his car on the line above 2200. He tried 3 different sizes of master cylinders, lots of time and effort trying to solve the problem.
From what others have posted, sounds like you really need to get the right sizing of calipers and parts if you choose to go the disc route, not the super light stuff. I was not convinced that the weight saving over the 9 1/2" drums was worth the considerable cost, especially considering the starting line issues some have mentioned , just my experience, hope it works out for you...
Grant Eldridge
E/SA 6650

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Any thoughts on juggling the proportioning valve settings on the disc systems to aid holding on the starting line?

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

My own experience is not the starting line that will be the problem. Quick story I bought a set of willwood front brakes for my chevelle from a speed shop. The counter person did not listen to what my car was and I ended up with a set of brakes for a 2400 pound chevelle (a tube chassis car, mine is a 3500 pound stocker). The brakes worked pretty good until I tried to haul it down from 115 MPH.....left the backside puckered a little bit. Called up willwood and they speced out the proper front set, got that set installed no problems. I have a disc front and drum rear setup currently and have two stepped up to 3200 rpms with around 800 pounds brake pressure with this configuration. FWIW

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

This one will have the 2-piston up front along with the 4-piston rear. It won't take long to find if it's going to be a problem. Putting a brake pressure gauge alongside the proportioning valve so I will know what's what. With the PG the car was pushing just below 3000rpm with drums, but come spring it will have a 3-speed metric and another convertor.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Greg, which master cylinder are you using?

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Strange with the bore diameter a little bigger than 1 inch.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Same here.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Hope I am not stepping on this post, but I would like to know if a "typical race", rear disc brake conversion kit, changes the rear wheel spacing?
I want to use one of these kits on my GM "A" body with a 12 bolt with "C" clip eliminators, but I have no room to move the wheels out..... TIA

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

I believe the proportion valve goes on the rear brake line to limit the pressure to rrears as to not get rear lock up, and equal brake bias for correct stopping.
If you switch from rear drums to rotors I think it is based on the thickness of the rotor where it goes over the axle hub, which should be very close to the thickness of the drom, just slightly thicker, in the thouanths range. That is my take on it. I do not think it would be a problem. Hope someone who performed it already will chime in.
Chris

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

I just went thru this conversion. I had 4 wheel drum brakes on my Fairlane and the car stopped fine at 130mph but it would push thru the burn out every once an a while if you didn't jump on the gas to get it going. I had always heard that drum brakes hold better and disc brakes stop better. That was not true the disc brakes do every thing better. No more 1 wheel lock ups trying to wheel race no more pushing thru the burn out no matter how slow I bring the RPMs up and you can stage on a flee if you want to. Plus I loss 67 lbs. I have strange 4 wheel disc and started with the stock 1" bore MC but switched to a 1 3/32" MC for a Mopar from NAPA.

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

Just got the the rear system installed last night Bob and we found the spacing to be nearly identical to original. Going to work on the master cylinder today.

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps13a77deb.jpg

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps00d3668c.jpg

Front -

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...pse6416a15.jpg

Re: Disc Brake Conversion
 

HandOverFist.... Good to hear. Thanks.