66 front disc brakes?

[Chevystep]

with ORIGINAL 15” 6 lug wheels.....does anyone make ‘em? My drums are fine and I’ve split the lines with a dual MC, but front discs would be nice and I know everyone raves about the difference, but my original wheels look really great all powder coated with the original hub covers painted up. I had hope that Scarebird’s kit would work, but they said their original fab job was from a 66 panel truck with 16” 6 lug wheels and say the calipers will hit on original 15” 6 lugs. They don’t hold out hope that they’ll fab up a disc conversion that will work on 15’s, although it would seem THAT would be the most prevalent model out there!

[vin63]

Do you have a photo of the backside of your front wheels?

[LostMy65]

There's a thread here that debates this topic - Disc vs Drums.
If you have drums adjusted correctly, and you skid in a straight line, how will discs help you skid better?
I have drums all around with a dual pot MC . I've been putting off switching to discs for easily 4 years now.
Have you thought about putting on a vacuum booster for power drum brakes?
Because, I think that's why some think discs made the difference, but when it could very likely be that they added power to their brakes when they went to discs.

[luvbowties]

You asked, "If you have drums adjusted correctly, and you skid in a straight line, how will discs help you skid better?" Where discs outperform is when you have to "skid" several times back-to-back/or stop where brakes must be applied for a long period of time : drums-and-shoes get hot very quickly and 'fade', giving you NO stopping power at all; discs avoid such quick fading. After 'fading' thru an intersection at the end of a high speed run, showing my a** to 4 friends riding with me what it would do on top end, our combined weight and drum brakes just would not stop AT ALL! **Otherwise I could follow your logic and loved your term "skid better".

This was in the sixties when I was younger and foolish'er and downright DUMB--not to mention being highly embarrassed.
Sam

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by luvbowties

You asked, "If you have drums adjusted correctly, and you skid in a straight line, how will discs help you skid better?" Where discs outperform is when you have to "skid" several times back-to-back/or stop where brakes must be applied for a long period of time : drums-and-shoes get hot very quickly and 'fade', giving you NO stopping power at all; discs avoid such quick fading. After 'fading' thru an intersection at the end of a high speed run, showing my a** to 4 friends riding with me what it would do on top end, our combined weight and drum brakes just would not stop AT ALL! **Otherwise I could follow your logic and loved your term "skid better".

This was in the sixties when I was younger and foolish'er and downright DUMB--not to mention being highly embarrassed.
Sam

Ok fine! So you can skid with style.

[Chevystep]

Well, I don’t think there is any doubting the technology and performance advantage of discs v drums. But my truck still stops, and one does have to adjust and be alert that stopping distances and times are a little longer. But my other car hobby is Model T’s (3 pedals, 2 hand levers to drive it, 3 levers if you count the parking brake), so having to stay on my toes while driving my hobbies is no problem. I guess they make similar 15” 6 lug steel wheels that work with discs, but having to buy and powder coat 3 more is a pain in the wallet....more research is needed....

[LostMy65]

Vin63 asked if you had a pic of the backside of your wheel.

[vin63]

Oh, well. Just in case anyone else runs into an issue of a drum brake-type wheel that the back of the wheel is tapered to the center, but would like to keep the wheel center when switching to disc brakes...I have, in the past, used a local steel wheel place to swap the centers to a newer disc brake-type rim. Usually, I can also request a particular backspace dimension at that time. This was important for a few customers not only using a full wheel cover, but especially the ones using a specific poverty or hub cap. A lot of steel wheel repair and custom wheel places offer this service.

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Vin63 asked if you had a pic of the backside of your wheel.

[Chevystep]

Originally Posted by vin63

Do you have a photo of the backside of your front wheels?

Sure....two inside picts..

[LostMy65]

From another thread :

Originally Posted by theastronaut

I used bolt on spacers on the front of my old '66 since I had already repainted the wheels to match.