Gator's Disc Brake Update

[gator2511]

The rear disc brake conversion is complete on my 72. The last time I posted I was still using the old disk/drum master cylinder and prop valve. That worked fine but I was advised to go to a disc/disc master cylinder and prop valve. I ordered those components from CPP and installed them. THEN THE FIGHT STARTED!! The origional front disc brakes started falling to pieces on me when I went to bleed them and I ended up replacing one caliper and both front flex hoses. I went through other stuff but nothing serious. Anyway, when the bleeding was complete I took it for a test ride and could definitly feel the difference in stopping power. I am extremely happy with the final results. Here are some more pics.







While I was at it I gave the old rusty booster an acid bath and painted it with Eastwood's Cadmium paint. I like the Caddy calipers and having an E brake.

[my67chevytruck]

congrats on the progress, looking good.

[big_al_71]

thanks for sharing!!

[QKENUF4U]

holy crap that booster is HUGE !!! you look at it wrong and its gonna stop !!!!!

[FingerTight]

Nice
Would you mind linking / listing part numbers and prices for your complete conversion? I'd like to do the same, starting research on it now.

[gator2511]

I chose to go the Caddy w/E brake route. The complete kit is here blackbirdscustomtrucks.com I bought the new hoses with the kit. If you go with the e brake you will have to make some brackets to replace the old backing plate. You will need them to anchor the e brake cables. For my K10 this was $485. This included the brackets, hardware, calipers, rotors and brake hoses. I reused the stock front brakes but had a bad calilper and two hoses.To make the kit right you should replace the old disc/drum MC and prop valve with new ones. I went with CPP's #M-C118-L for the MC and #PVKS-4 for the prop valve Both were $152.63 shipped. Total cost plus some brake fluid was $637.63. I had other problems associated with the front brakes that had nothing to do with the conversion. This setup works great on my K10 !!!

[FingerTight]

Originally Posted by gator2511

I chose to go the Caddy w/E brake route. The complete kit is here blackbirdscustomtrucks.com I bought the new hoses with the kit. If you go with the e brake you will have to make some brackets to replace the old backing plate. You will need them to anchor the e brake cables. For my K10 this was $485. This included the brackets, hardware, calipers, rotors and brake hoses. I reused the stock front brakes but had a bad calilper and two hoses.To make the kit right you should replace the old disc/drum MC and prop valve with new ones. I went with CPP's #M-C118-L for the MC and #PVKS-4 for the prop valve Both were $152.63 shipped. Total cost plus some brake fluid was $637.63. I had other problems associated with the front brakes that had nothing to do with the conversion. This setup works great on my K10 !!!

Awesome, thanks for the info!
Any thoughts on a front disc conversion?
I need to do both.

Appreciate the link and part numbers, very helpful!

[71meangreenc10]

Glad to here all is well,,,I cant tell you how many times Ive had to swap a caliper because the bleeder broke off...oh well, Ill get on mine again in a month or too...(moving).

Smitty

[gator2511]

Originally Posted by FingerTight

Awesome, thanks for the info!
Any thoughts on a front disc conversion?
I need to do both.

Appreciate the link and part numbers, very helpful!

My truck had disc front from the factory so I didn't have to convert anything there. I really can't make any rec for them. I got a chance to hammer down on the brakes on a rain slicked street yesterday and it stopped as straight as an arrow! Maybe do a search on disc brakes and see what comes up.

[drink2mny]

Let me know if you have any questions about our rear disc brakes.

[Lugnut64052]

Yeah-question.

Reading this board is a dangerous thing to do. I got my Dana 60 brakes all rebuilt and then started looking at a thread or two on here about making it into a disk setup. Looks almost stupid simple. Sure wish I'd have thought about it sooner.

My question is; if you're using the Caddy calipers, what E-brake cables do you use? Will they mount up using the existing bracket on the trailing arm?

[gator2511]

Originally Posted by Lugnut64052

Yeah-question.

Reading this board is a dangerous thing to do. I got my Dana 60 brakes all rebuilt and then started looking at a thread or two on here about making it into a disk setup. Looks almost stupid simple. Sure wish I'd have thought about it sooner.

My question is; if you're using the Caddy calipers, what E-brake cables do you use? Will they mount up using the existing bracket on the trailing arm?

Since My truck is a 4wd I didn't have trailing arms. In my case I used the stock brake cables but I had to make a little extension bracket to lenghtened the pull cable from the cab about two inches. Now that I'm using the e brake the cable is starting to stretch a little and I can see in the future I might be able to remove the extension bracket and just use the stock cable as is. Different people have different tastes (thats why we have so many flavors of ice cream) but this Blackbird kit works great for me and I LIKE the Caddy calipers.

[chris71]

gator, glad you got everything working good. so overall, were putting the rear disks on a big improvement over the stock rear drums? i have always had doubts on this since the rear brakes only do like 30-40% of the overall braking for the truck. happy trucking!

[gator2511]

Originally Posted by chris71

gator, glad you got everything working good. so overall, were putting the rear disks on a big improvement over the stock rear drums? i have always had doubts on this since the rear brakes only do like 30-40% of the overall braking for the truck. happy trucking!

Just by seat of the pants driving I feel like its a big difference. I know it is better in the rain. I think it will show up when I tow my trailer.

[chris71]

Awesome, does it stop as good as the Porsche?

[gator2511]

Originally Posted by chris71

Awesome, does it stop as good as the Porsche?

NOT EVEN CLOSE!!! No car I ever had stops like the Carrera. Its amazing. I bought a new Z06 Vette in 2001 and it stopped great but this little econo car stops even better. Now getting to 140 mph is a different story!