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..