My '63 Front Disc Conversion

[drogers]

If I had to do it again, I would find a donor truck with 1 1/4” rotors and just pull the entire cross-member, booster, and anything else I might need and just replace the 5 lug with the 6 lug. I would then rebuild it, pull the engine, slide it under and be done. Guess you could brace the engine in place but I wouldn't risk it.

Or I would just buy a complete front disc kit. I think I saved about $500 not buying the kit but who knows. Once you start buying bolts and other crap it adds up quick.

I was able to take the $500 I saved (or think I saved) and buy new shock/coils and a sway bar kit for the front and the rear. I haven't installed the rear shocks or coils or the sway bars. That will take place in a week or two.

All my parts came off a '79 HD pickup or I bought new. I'll hang on to the 5 lug rotors from the salvage yard and use them when I upgrade the rear end.

Here are the things I know, or at least think I know... The upper, lower, and outer tie rod ends are the same for the '79 HD and regular braking system. The only thing you really need is the caliper, spindle, rotor (if you're going to 5 lug). I'm not ready to buy new rims or upgrade the rear end so I purchased a pair of 6 lug rotors from CPP.

The modifications I had to make,
1)Drill hole to attach the brake line to the upper control arm.. (See picture)
2)Drill hole through frame for end of brake hose. (See picture)
3)I also had to drill new holes for the power booster. (Save time and a clean install, Captain Fab offers a bracket that will bolt directly to the frame.)

O'Reilly Auto Parts
Lower Ball Joint – MPC K6117 (for 1979 ½ Ton Heavy Duty Pickup with 1 1/4” Rotors)
Upper Ball Joint – MPC K6136 (for 1979 ½ Ton Heavy Duty Pickup with 1 1/4” Rotors)
Tie Rod End, Outer – MPC ES409R (for 1979 ½ Ton Heavy Duty Pickup with 1 1/4” Rotors)
Brake Hose – BH177187 &731 (for 1979 ½ Ton Heavy Duty Pickup with 1 1/4” Rotors)
Brake Caliper – A1 18-4126 &27 (for 1979 ½ Ton Heavy Duty Pickup with 1 1/4” Rotors)
Brake Pads – BB MKD52 (for 1979 ½ Ton Heavy Duty Pickup with 1 1/4” Rotors)
Wheel Bearings – BCA A3 &A5 (for 1979 ½ Ton Heavy Duty Pickup with 1 1/4” Rotors)
Wheel Seal – NAT 8871 (for 1979 ½ Ton Heavy Duty Pickup with 1 1/4” Rotors)
They also have a Compatibility database when looking up parts.
3/16 brake line for the front and ¼ for the back.

LMC
Tie Rod End, Outer – 34-2001 (Because of the threads in the adjusting sleeve, this outer tie rod end will become the inner tie rod end.)

Classic Performance Parts
6-Lug Rotors – _CP4R6

Performance Online
High Performance Tie Rod Adjusting Sleeves (63-70 for disc conv. Using 73-87 spindles) HPAS6370

1979 ½ Ton Heavy Duty Pickup with 1 1/4” Rotors
Spindles
Calipers
5 lug rotors

1985 C10 (These parts would have worked but I went with the CPP setup)
Mast Cylinder
Power Booster
Proportioning Valve

$65 for a new front end alignment. Took the guy at Hibdon over an hour to get it right and he was not happy...

Oh yea, have fun getting the lower ball joint off. Took me 4-5 hours of hammering, a small bottle of propane, scissor jack, 2 broken forks, and a lot of cussing to get them off.

Torque Specs
Upper ball joint to a-arm - 45 ft/lbs
Upper ball joint to spindle - 40 to 60 ft/lbs. maximum of 90 ft/lbs to align cotter pin hole

Lower ball joint to spindle - 80 to 100 ft/lbs. maximum of 130 ft/lbs to align cotter pin hole


Here's a picture of how sits now.. Got to get busy on the body work now..

[drogers]

Pictures of the holes I had to make for the new booster..

[drogers]

The holes I had to drill in the frame. Then of the hose on the wheel site and the hard brake line on the inside.

[drogers]

Picture of the hose connected to the control arm and the power booster...

[drogers]

It doesn't stop on a dime but it's night and day to the old drums.

Hope this helps someone and if you have any questions just let me know.

Thanks

[62gmc910]

Excelent thread , if you want a more powerful booster the dual diaphram from a C20 will give more pressure for the same amount of pedal force

[Alan's Classic]

Originally Posted by drogers

Picture of the hose connected to the control arm and the power booster...

Nice write up. I have a question. I have the same prop valve. Where is the line going off of the top/front of the valve? I was going to plug mine.

[drogers]

Originally Posted by 62gmc910

Excelent thread , if you want a more powerful booster the dual diaphram from a C20 will give more pressure for the same amount of pedal force

Thanks.. I'm extremly happy and done messing with it for now.

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Nice write up. I have a question. I have the same prop valve. Where is the line going off of the top/front of the valve? I was going to plug mine.

Thanks Alan.. That line runs to the passenger side. I was going to plug it also but figured to go ahead and run it. I didn't want the big loop on the front so getting it to bend backwards, to the side, and down was the tricky part.

[Alan's Classic]

So the bottom line is going to the passenger side front, right.

[drogers]

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

So the bottom line is going to the passenger side front, right.

I messed up.. The top goes to the passenger side and the bottom to the drivers... I'm including a picture from the instructions..

Sorry about that...

[Alan's Classic]

Mine didn't have any instructions.

[drogers]

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Mine didn't have any instructions.

Here's a link to the doc that came with my unit... http://www.classicperform.com/Instructions/PDF/PVK.pdf

[Alan's Classic]

Originally Posted by drogers

Here's a link to the doc that came with my unit... http://www.classicperform.com/Instructions/PDF/PVK.pdf

Cool, Thanks

[spr85gmc]

this thread has helped me a great deal in purchasing the parts i need thanks for the great write up...

[Sick5]

Great thread I like it
I'll soon do mine too

[drogers]

Glad to hear it and happy to share. I've gotten a lot of great info from this site..

[LostMy65]

Posting here also because it's in one of the links in lolife99's "Drum to Disc" conversions 60-66 FAQ thread.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=443871

Pics that helped me with routing: