[GT182]

I pilled the left side apart yesterday afternoon figuring the same happened on that side as did on the passenger's side. Nope, not a mark on the rotor. But, I could hardly see between the bracket and the rotor. I'm on my way out to the geerage to put it all back together.

[Scarebird]

I would switch passenger rotor and spacer to see if the contact on the driver side. If so, you may have a bent spindle.

[Squidward]

In my situation: My replacement DS spindle visually compared to the old one in basically every way, but I necver checked the mounting pads for the drum backing plate (how different could they be?) before install. I held both on top of each other and thought "good to go".

After my scrape issue on the DS, I went back and compared the passenger and driver side mounting surfaces. I found the PS top and bottom holes (where the Scarebird bracket mounts) were basically on the same plane, as verified with a metal flat edge. When I did the same test on my DS, the upper hole mount surface protruded out 1/16 - 1/8" further than the plane of the lower hole.

My understanding is that front drum spindle plate mounting surfaces are supposed to protrude out equal amounts. That extra 1/8" was all it took to lean my bracket outward to scrape the disc.

I also initially theorized bracket flex, but that wasn't the case. Just a wanky imprecise spindle mounting surface seemed to be the cause.

I could check my old spindle for the mount pad relationship. It is still sitting in a scrap pile in the corner of the garage.

[GT182]

Mark, it doesn't look like the spindle is bent. We cut the rotor on the passenger side and it doesn't hit now. Actually we cut both rotors. The one on the passenger's side wasn't true from the factory. Chinese rotors. We could see it while it was being cut. I'm still going to grind the top conical bolt for the bracket so it's flush with the bracket if that's ok.

What I think would help even more is spacers that are 1-7/8" deep instead of 1-5/8" deep just to give 1/8" more overall clearance from the rotor to the bracket. Would you have any spacers that fit the A-body spindle (GTO B kit) that are 1-7/8ths deep?

[GT182]

The shop said the spindle is ok as far as they can tell. The car tracks strait and true and toe-in is as it should be. No tire wear on either side.

Just had a thought. Could the caliper bracket be bent or maybe twisting? It looks fine and as far as we can tell it lays flat.

[Scarebird]

no, any more and they would push the spindle nut out too far and the cotter would not engage.

Shaving the top bolt 60 thou won't hurt though... how do the gaps look between the rotor and caliper nuts - top and bottom? are they the same?

[GT182]

Originally Posted by Scarebird

no, any more and they would push the spindle nut out too far and the cotter would not engage.

Shaving the top bolt 60 thou won't hurt though... how do the gaps look between the rotor and caliper nuts - top and bottom? are they the same?

I'll have to get it all back together to see. As for the spacer, I had 2 of the 1/16" washers behind it and it worked tho I didn't try the cotter pin. Still a lot of thread to put the nut on. Using only 1 behind the spacer, it would bend when the nut was tightened. I'll try it again tomorrow and let you know.

I sent you a message on your website with my phone number. I couldn't find your number on there or I would have given you a call. Send me a PM with yours and I'll call once I get it all hooked back up.

[GT182]

I have the rotor back on the spindle. The photos are with no washer(s) behind the kit's spindle spacer. I filed the top bracket's conical bolt down as close to flush with the bracket as I could get it. All looks good so far.

In the second photo you can see there is space behind the cotter pin so the spindle spacer could be make an 1/8th inch longer just to add a bit more room between the rotor and bracket.

[Old Goat 67]

Gary,

Pursuant to our phone conversation last night, I had the idea of using one of those carpenters squares to use for checking the 90° angle of the spindle horizontal plane and caliper bracket vertical plane.

Get my drift?

Charles

[GT182]

And the outcome of that conversation is.... pull it all apart. I think Charles has the right idea. I'm going to grind down the top of the spindle bracket where the conical bolt fastens the caliper bracket to it. Seeing that the car came with drum brakes it wasn't necessary to machine it at the top to any close tolerance because of the drum brakes... right or wrong that's what we came up with. By grinding off 1/8th of an inch, the caliper bracket will go back towards the center of the car enough to give more clearance to the rotor as that's where the problem is, not the bottom of the bracket. The driver's side is fine with the clearance as it is from what I could see and measure.

Other than that I figure the only other way is to make the spacer bushing that slides on to the spindle an 1/8th of and inch longer. It would work fine and I could still get the cotter pin in to lock the castle nut... but that's not my call unless I have one made. There's nothing wrong with Mark's kit unless someone runs into the same problem as I have and needs to do some grinding. If anyone has, reply here please.

I'm pretty sure I can grind it down and keep it almost as true to being square to the bracket as it is now. I can mark it and measure it pretty close. Hopefully. We don't think it's all that critical after talking about it.

Mark, please give me a call as I can't find a phone number for you. I sent you a PM with it. We could discuss this more. You might have a better idea.

[Old Goat 67]

Being that you said the caliper bracket has a slight warp in it holding a straight edge parallel to it, that is the only logical reason for it to be that way. Grinding that mounting surface down a bit would put all the pieces in proper orientation with each other.
Check the drivers side while you are at it.

The way it is now, the caliper is not running true to the plane of the rotor. I wouldn't want that scenario on my car hitting the brake at 100 MPH.

[Old Goat 67]

Better yet.....

[Scarebird]

Where do you plan to measure one side of the square?

The two lower "pads" are not really required to be square to the pin.

Easiest way to do this is to use the rotor itself as a square. Mount it without the brackets or bolts and check the gaps between the upper boss and rotor on both sides - that will be indicative of any issues.

When I get back to the shop I can mock up a pic on Monday if needed...

Mark

[64speed]

Awful lot of trouble for a simple disc brake conversion isn’t it?

[GT182]

I received new Catalina spacers today from Mark at Scarebird Brakes LLC that have done the trick. I now have more room between the bracket and rotor.

As for a lot of trouble 64speed, the answer is a definite NO. So get over it.

Here's the passenger's side back together....

[Old Goat 67]

Ah-ha, now we're getting somewhere!

[GT182]

Here's Before and After with the new spacers(3), and showing clearance between the bracket and rotor Before and After(4).....

[GT182]

The Before and After(2) for the cotter pin.

It worked out great with the new Catalina spacers Mark sent. Everything is working great. I hope this helps for anyone having the same problem, and convince the rest this is a good kit. Mark backs up his product and it's quality.

Again, my thanks Mark. Scarebird Brakes is the best, and I'd use their kit again no matter what.

[Scarebird]

well, thanks.

We will take a look and may tweak the dimensions on the next batch of spacers to reflect this experience.

[64speed]

Originally Posted by GT182

I received new Catalina spacers today from Mark at Scarebird Brakes LLC that have done the trick. I now have more room between the bracket and rotor.

As for a lot of trouble 64speed, the answer is a definite NO. So get over it.

Here's the passenger's side back together....

Wasn’t trying to be ugly just seemed like a lot of work for something that should bolt on.