Putting disc brakes on my 68 300?

[strokerpost]

To keep it factory, what car/year would be a good candidate to be a donor for the parts I need? What all will I need to take off a donor car? Thanks for any input/ideas/experiences.

The front drum brakes grab TERRIBLE on this car. I've been told that this is not uncommon. Why?

 

[Furyos George]

The factory front disk swap is very easy, i put 72 c-body stubs, disks,bearings and calipers on my 67, you can also put 73 setup on aswell. The 72 set up is easier to find, but if you need to replace the rotors they are at least twice the price of the 73. The 73 setup is harder to find (cause thats the one everyone wants!) but uses rotors that are used on later model dodge vans, thus making them cheaper. Its up to you, you will need to do some research, i went a 72 setup because i could not find a 73 easily, but you may have better luck then me. Be aware that all parts are different between 72 and 73 , but they will both fit a 68, it is just a matter of splitting the ball joints and swapping the stubs over.

P.s. they work MUCH better then the drums

 

[strokerpost]

The factory front disk swap is very easy, i put 72 c-body stubs, disks,bearings and calipers on my 67, you can also put 73 setup on aswell. The 72 set up is easier to find, but if you need to replace the rotors they are at least twice the price of the 73. The 73 setup is harder to find (cause thats the one everyone wants!) but uses rotors that are used on later model dodge vans, thus making them cheaper. Its up to you, you will need to do some research, i went a 72 setup because i could not find a 73 easily, but you may have better luck then me. Be aware that all parts are different between 72 and 73 , but they will both fit a 68, it is just a matter of splitting the ball joints and swapping the stubs over.

P.s. they work MUCH better then the drums

Thanks for the info. How about the master cyl and prop valve, change them too, or....?

 

[Furyos George]

I used the same type of m/cylnder, but a new raybestos one, if your original is still good you can use it, you need to remove the residual pressure valve from the master cylnder front line outlet, i know how i got mine out, but i dont know if its the "correct"way. when you take the lines out of the master cylnder and you look in there, you will see a cone of brass, i woiund a longish self tapping screw just in to the opening, then pulled the screw (with the cone attached) out with pliers, the residual pressure valve is located behind the brass cone, its a rubber thinnggee with a spring on it, you then clean up any marks you may have made on the brass cone and push it back in. You can use the same prop valve.

hope ive got that right?

 

[moparjoe2012]

I used the same type of m/cylnder, but a new raybestos one, if your original is still good you can use it, you need to remove the residual pressure valve from the master cylnder front line outlet, i know how i got mine out, but i dont know if its the "correct"way. when you take the lines out of the master cylnder and you look in there, you will see a cone of brass, i woiund a longish self tapping screw just in to the opening, then pulled the screw (with the cone attached) out with pliers, the residual pressure valve is located behind the brass cone, its a rubber thinnggee with a spring on it, you then clean up any marks you may have made on the brass cone and push it back in. You can use the same prop valve.

hope ive got that right?

According to Richard Ehrenberg, SAE of Mopar Action Magazine, drum brake cars of this era did not have proportioning valves. When putting disks on the front it is best to install an adjustable proportioning valve, and that should be in the rear system. I located mine under the dash on my '69 Dart, and it's very handy for when I'm towing or chaining up for the snow.

 

[Big_John]

The front drum brakes grab TERRIBLE on this car. I've been told that this is not uncommon. Why?

Most times the drum brakes don't work correctly because they weren't put together right. The big drums on the C-bodies can do a good job as long as you take a little care with them and do things right.

Issues with your brakes could be (in no particular order) shoes on backwards (this happens a lot!), contaminated linings (brake fluid, assembled with greasy hands), bad adjusters, bad wheel cylinders or even bad hardware.

I'm not trying to start a debate here. Discs are a good upgrade, but drums can be made to work quite satisfactory if you take the time to do them right.

 

[commando1]

I wouldn't mind trashing my Booster and just having manual drums on my 67 Newport.
I prefer the feel and I don't find it difficult.

Now, if changing the brake pedal assy. wasn't such a pain in the ***...

 

[saylor]

I wanted to jump in here, as a person who has done a frontal swap from drum to disc.

this forum helped keep me from dying a fiery death more than once, so if I can help someone else not die, I will


if the car has dual MC, there is probably a prop valve/balancer/combo-block in there already... below the MC follow the lines down and see.

change your drum/drum MC to a disc/drum MC. they are different.

the spring pressure valve thing taken out of the MC - that all sounds pretty sketchy. I think you need that. the M/C I used was $14.95 at vatozone and just bolts on and go.

I used the ECI kit instead of chasing unobtainium parts.

lots of people use the scarebird kit too.

I didn't add any prop valve or anything. bolt on and go.

call ralph @ ECI. tell him we sent you.

- saylor

 

[68plymouth383]

Now that's a true story. It takes several hours to swap out the pedals, and get everything adjusted right. I've driven manual brake cars before. There not as bad as some people think.

I wouldn't mind trashing my Booster and just having manual drums on my 67 Newport.
I prefer the feel and I don't find it difficult.

Now, if changing the brake pedal assy. wasn't such a pain in the ***...

 

[blackmamba]

Yeah that's a good idea you got there Improvise, Adapt, Overcome! I did the same thing, then I found out they make a slick little tool to do this.