[1stGenFB]

Can someone give me a good qualified recommendation on what kit to buy for front disc brake conversion.

I have a '68 Firebird Convertible. Currently have 14" Rally wheels

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Would like to get this project going before spring arrives.

Thanks

[Fishin2Deep4U]

I am running a Scarebird conversion inside my 14" Cragar wheels. I do not have a set of rally 2's to try it in. but you could get a rotor and caliper and see if it'll at least drop in.

Dave

[Cammer-6]

14 inch RallyIIs are going to really limit your options.
with that said you cant be sure that the wheels you have will work with any.
What code are they?

[pmdclassics]

Most of the kits you buy all come from the same supplier. I wish I could remember the name of the company I bought mine from and will do some checking, long story short all went well and the upgrade is well worth it.

['ol Pinion head]

1stGenFB, on your rally II's, what is the stamped two letter code next to the valvestem?

Duplicating the '69 F-body single piston disc set-up is what I've always used when converting '67-69 F-bodys & '68+ Novas to disc. There are several manufacturers of the caliper brackets & disc spindles. Have examined several of the cheap chinese spindles w problems & I won't use them. When one sees a cheap conversions on a website or eBay, it will include chinese spindles & caliper brackets.

The last two set-ups I put together used stock disc spindles, nice used caliper brackets, repro dust shields, repro hose brackets (Rick's First Gen Camaro) & new rotors, hoses, & timken bearings & national grease seals from local parts store.

[Cammer-6]

ditto on the POS Chinese spindles,rotors and hubs. Ive seen them so bad they will ruin new RallyII lugnuts. Need to chase threads on all the studs.Also Chinese bearings have a high failure rate.

[1stGenFB]

Hey guys...

Thanks for the responses. I have no clue what the code on the wheels are but i think they are a matching set.

Will be checking the codes this evening and will post it up.

[crab]

We bought a set from a place in cali online, I will have to look again at the manufacture, but they clear the rally 2 14" wheels and I didn't expect them to. Nice stuff for sure.

[Squidward]

I also did a Scarebird conversion. Running 15" Cragar SS rims. It used the original drum spindles. The only part that is obviously not original is the master cylinder. The rest would require more close inspection to discern that the parts are from later year cars. Send Scarebird an email. I am sure he could address your concerns. And btw, the Scarebird conversion was at least $100 to $200 cheaper than other conversion kits.

[crab]

mattsclassicbowties, don't remember the kit but its nice. http://mattsclassicbowties.com/contents/en-us/d690.html Don't waste your money on anything less...

[MoonShiner]

Anyone have any experience with Master Power Brakes? I've heard good things and they are somewhat local for me.

[67 455 Bird ragtop]

Will the stock single piston setup off like a 70/71 Chevelle, like I have on mine, work with 14" wheels ???
I don't have 14" wheels so I don't know. Just a thought.

['ol Pinion head]

Here's the deal with 14" wheels & disc brakes.

- original 14" '64-68 GM wheels were either 14x5's or 14x6's.
All the 14x5's in these years were drum brake only. All the '64-66 14x6 wheels were drum only.

- in '67 & 68 there were 14x6 GM drum brake wheels & 14x6 GM disc wheels, in both plain steel & Rally II versions. The disc wheels from these years were designed to clear factory 4 piston disc calipers. These '67 & 68 14x6 disc wheels will also clear '69+ single piston disc set-ups. As an oddity, JC coded 14x6 rallyII drum brake A-body wheels were actually used on factory disc brake '68 Firebirds. Original early Firebird 4 piston calipers did not rub on the inside of a JC coded Rally II like the A-body 4 piston calipers did.

-For at least the last 20- years, there have been $700 -850 aftermarket '69 single piston caliper disc changeovers (Stainless Steel Brakes), etc, using new (non Chinese) disc spindles & the near $160 a pair (non Chinese) stamped steel caliper brackets. with these kits there have admonishments that they will not 14" wheels. Well, that depends on what 14" wheels. '69 + later GM 14" wheels will fit fit fine with the quality stock single piston changeovers. Some early aftermarket 14" wheels will not. On these factory single piston style disc set-ups, by stating one needs 15" wheels, that is not always true.

Problems...
In the last 5-6 years, cheap & I mean dirt cheap single piston caliper disc changeovers hit the American shores. These Chinese '69 style single piston disc conversions include new spindles, new caliper brackets, new calipers. As Cammer6 & I have noted, first hand, many of the cheap Chinese disc spindles have problems. Some have even noted clearance issues with the Chinese stamped caliper brackets. Bearing sets... in rebuilding r/e's, I refuse to use low cost Chinese bearings, also refuse to buy them to use on spindles, they are junk, just like cheap import ball joints. That level of "quality" parts is what one is getting in a basic eBay bargain $289 disc brake changeover. With a small diameter power booster & a brass prop valve, that is what one is seeing in Crab's link. No thanks!

['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by 67 455 Bird ragtop

Will the stock single piston setup off like a 70/71 Chevelle, like I have on mine, work with 14" wheels ???
I don't have 14" wheels so I don't know. Just a thought.

The '69-72 GM A-body disc set-ups can be cannibalized for disc spindles & caliper brackets to use on '67-69 Bird/Camaro/68-74 Nova disc brake conversions. as the early F-body steering arms are thicker, the fine thread bolts that attach the Firebird steering arms are longer than on the factory A-body set-ups. At least two of these steering arm attaching bolts will need to be sourced if using disc parts off of a factory disc A-body. Other differences, the brake hose mounting area on '69 Firebird-Camaro calipers was machined at a different angle where the brake hose attaches than on A-body calipers. because of this, the '69 Bird-Camaro uses a different caliper. When original '69 Bird-Camaro caliper cores became hard to come up with in the late '90's, these calipers were the first to be reproduced by the US largest mass rebuilder.. Have bought quite a few of these new casting calipers through local parts stores & to date, have yet to have problems with them.

[1stGenFB]

Originally Posted by 1stGenFB

Hey guys...

Thanks for the responses. I have no clue what the code on the wheels are but i think they are a matching set.

Will be checking the codes this evening and will post it up.

Ok well I finally had a chance to check codes.

2 wheels are "JL"
1 wheel is "JC"
1 wheel is "HN" unless I read it wrong it would be "NH"

Can someone help me out and decode these wheels?

Thanks

['ol Pinion head]

Factory applications are:

JC are '67 - 68 drum brake A- body
'67 - 68 drum brake Firebird
'68 Firebird w 4 piston disc

JL were produced from mid July of '69 though 11/25/69,
used on '70 Pontiac A-body's into approx mid Dec of 69,
were used on both factory disc with 2 piece rotors & drum applications

HN were mid 70's 14x6, relatively common avail on Ventura' s & LeMans

With 69 single piston style disc, desiring to stay 14x6, easiest, to trade off the
JC or JL' s. The JL's work best w the early style (2 piece) rotors & are desired
by early 70 GTO restorers. Am always buying & trading rally II' s.

[Cammer-6]

look in the for sale section Ive got lots of Rally IIs for sale
Ill take the JC if its nice and trade what you want

[1stGenFB]

Originally Posted by 'ol Pinion head

Factory applications are:

JC are '67 - 68 drum brake A- body
'67 - 68 drum brake Firebird
'68 Firebird w 4 piston disc

JL were produced from mid July of '69 though 11/25/69,
used on '70 Pontiac A-body's into approx mid Dec of 69,
were used on both factory disc with 2 piece rotors & drum applications

HN were mid 70's 14x6, relatively common avail on Ventura' s & LeMans

With 69 single piston style disc, desiring to stay 14x6, easiest, to trade off the
JC or JL' s. The JL's work best w the early style (2 piece) rotors & are desired
by early 70 GTO restorers. Am always buying & trading rally II' s.

Great info. thanks Pinion. So if JL were used for both disc and drum would I be ok using a conversion kit or can I expect problems using the JL wheels?

Thanks a bunch

['ol Pinion head]

know there is a offset difference between the JA's & JL style 14x6 rallyII versus the following 14x6 versions that used 1 piece rotors: JT, KU, KT, HN, HL.

Later in the 70's there was even another 14x6 rallyII wheel (avail on '78 & 79 GP's, LeMans & GrandAms) which used another offset, I esp avoid those.

Usually, on the 14x6's its preferred to have the same offset wheel on each corner. Will measure wheels mid day & post back.

[Cammer-6]

just put about 50 of them in storage in basement so I cant help with measurements.
2 wks ago they were easy to get to.