1964 New Yorker gets 1978 Cordoba 11.75-disc brakes.

[Just Carbs]

This car is never going to be drive hard enough to fully evaluate changes the brake job have on the cornering abilities. Not as long as I have it.
It does stick and handle better in 40 mph curves. And the tires aren't making as much noise as soon.
My biggest complaint about late model sedans is the reduced suspension trave.

 

[live4theking]

There was a guy previously that compared the parts from a 70's 2 wheel dr dodge pick up for doing the disc brake swap and it seemed that it was very close. If I'm remembering correctly he had to put a 1/4" spacer in somewhere.

 

[kmccabe56]

Complete setup from the Cordoba. The spindles/knuckles, 11.75 disc, calipers, caliper brackets, spindle nut, spindle nut retainer, spindle dust caps and hoses.
Retained the ball joints, tie rod ends from the 64 New Yorker.

The Cordoba spindle/knuckle steering "arms" are an inch shorter than the New Yorkers. This results in faster steering response, I like it. Lock to lock is 2-3/4 turns. Much better in parking lots and turns in general. No noticeable difference on the highway. No bump steer. No detectable Ackermann Steering scrubbing problems when the wheel is turned hard over in parking lots. And I assume more stress on the steering box, idle arm, tie rods, and drag link.

The spindle/knuckle is 1 inch shorter between outer ball joint mount surfaces. The "top/upper " ball joint knuckle hole is "1 inch lower/1 inch closer" to the spindle wheel shaft. This results in 1 inch less wheel drop in suspension travel. There is no binding anywhere in the steering or suspension, not even close. Alignment is now 0-camber, 1-degree+ caster, 1/4-degree+ toe. Tires are 255/60R15 on 15x8-4 inch back spacing, no interference, could go bigger.
The steering stops "do" line up but the surface on the "knuckle" does need to be reduced (ground) 1/4 inch to achieve minimum turning radius.
The protruding threaded end of the caliper bracket bolts must be trimmed 1/4 inch to archive minimum turning radius.
The upper bump stop metal pad "must" be trimmed to clear the caliper and caliper hose when wheel is turned hard over. This leaves plenty of pad left to make full contact with the rubber bumper stop.

I'm very happy with the results. It now has a braking confidence I never had on any early 60s car that had drums. Some people say the old drums brakes are just fine. I too say they are just fine, but just not nearly fine enough.
The car had new drums and hydraulics all around and they worked just fine, just like when the car was new, but no better than when the car was new.
The "stock" 78 Cordoba 11.75 front disc brakes are a far superior system on "this" car. I'm not changing the rear drums to disc. I kept the fresh/new 67 Chrysler Newport twin chamber drum master cylinder and original 64 New Yorker drum booster. I removed the front chamber pressure maintainer valve from the master cylinder. I didn't use a proportioning valve on this car. I have had very good success with rear load adjusting valves and may add that after driving in the rain. It doesn't need it in the dry.


Salvage yard spindle/knuckle. $75 shipped.
New caliper brackets with hardware from doctordiff1. $107 shipped. Very nice brackets.
The rest came from Rock Auto with combined shipping.
New RAYBESTOS 7038R 11.75 disc/rotors.
New NUGEON 9717629A and NUGEON 9717629B calipers.
New DORMAN H99069 hose.
New disc dust caps.
New bearings.
New disc/rotor seals.
The total for "everything" with shipping was $375. And 3 hours of anticipation.
If you want to stay with drums on the 64, the 72 New Yorker drums worked good all-around on the big 64.

Sorry about the lack of glamour photos, but the scan card ain't cooperating today. I think there has been a photo program update. I hate it when that happens.

Edit, I also used the steering arm from the 78 Cordoba.

I agree whole heartedly with what you've done. If it were me (and since it isn't take it with a block of salt), I would want the steering and idler arms to be the same operating length. Firmfeel offers fast ratio idler and steering arms for Fbodies. Fbodies use the same front spindle as the '79 Cordobas, so the 11.875" disc upgrade is a snap on those cars too.

As you suggest the OE drum brakes are just fine for 1964 traffic. This aint't Kansas, and it's not 1964 any more either. Upgrading the brakes on an otherwise stock car, that's going to be driven in 2024 traffic is just a really good thing to do.

 

[Just Carbs]

I agree whole heartedly with what you've done. If it were me (and since it isn't take it with a block of salt), I would want the steering and idler arms to be the same operating length. Firmfeel offers fast ratio idler and steering arms for Fbodies. Fbodies use the same front spindle as the '79 Cordobas, so the 11.875" disc upgrade is a snap on those cars too.

As you suggest the OE drum brakes are just fine for 1964 traffic. This aint't Kansas, and it's not 1964 any more either. Upgrading the brakes on an otherwise stock car, that's going to be driven in 2024 traffic is just a really good thing to do.

Going in I did want the one pitman arm and the one idler arm to be the same operating length as the two steering arms. But I've now come to like the faster response of the shorter steering arm. That would be lost if they were all the same length. However, I would change the steering arm clocking about 5% out to get just a touch less Ackerman if it could be done without heat. I'm not experienced with heat and metallurgy.
My objective on this very healthy driver was to get consistent long-term brakes on it using readily available auto store parts while spending even less money and doing even less work than I was willing to spend or do. It was easier than anticipated. But it still cost the anticipated coin.
The only thing that wasn't anticipated was the lack of dial in, none. It came out throwing strikes. The results are good enough for me to highly recommend it for 64 full size. So, it got posted. If it wasn't the cure, it would not have.

pomonamisseli may ultimately have a better stock parts bin geometry setup in post 13.

My biggest complaint with the drums was that the star adjuster teeth are to course and the star wheel to small in diameter, resulting in each time one would adjust a tooth to take up slack, that wheel would react to brake pedal before the other side came on. Small complaint I know, but it's very annoying. And it doesn't inspire confidence at 80.

 

[fury fan]

... I kept the fresh/new 67 Chrysler Newport twin chamber drum master cylinder and original 64 New Yorker drum booster.

FWIW, general recommendations on here are to NOT use a drum-brake booster with discs as it will not provide enough boost in a hard/panic stop to maximize braking.
Most of those discussions revolve around C-bodies where the factory provided a specific booster for discs vs drums.

How a 64 booster would perform is perhaps unknown territory?
Although, Studebaker used the Kelsey dual-diaphragm booster on its 'little' cars with discs, and some early-60s Imperials used it also with drum brakes (presumably due to the car's weight).

Something to think about...

 

[Just Carbs]

FWIW, general recommendations on here are to NOT use a drum-brake booster with discs as it will not provide enough boost in a hard/panic stop to maximize braking.
Most of those discussions revolve around C-bodies where the factory provided a specific booster for discs vs drums.

How a 64 booster would perform is perhaps unknown territory?
Although, Studebaker used the Kelsey dual-diaphragm booster on its 'little' cars with discs, and some early-60s Imperials used it also with drum brakes (presumably due to the car's weight).

Something to think about...

I didn't expect the booster to provide excellent performance. But I'm not surprised that it does.
It was the usual case of start at the beginning and go until the jobs done. Fortunately, a new booster was not part of the job.