1968 Polara wagon - front discs?

[70DartMike]

Hey guys, I went to look at a '68 Polara wagon last night, the owners want to trade me for a '74 Scamp I've got. It all looked pretty good, frame rails, floors, rockers all looked solid. Gonna need some lower quarter repair. 9 passenger, 318 auto. My concern though wah it had front drums. I thought all wagons as of 1967 came standard with front discs. I am located in Canada, was the standard different up here? Or do you figure someone has taken the discs in the past and then threw a set of drums on it to keep it a roller?
Or is my info totally wrong?

Thanks

 

[commando1]

Or is my info totally wrong?

Totally. Budd disk brakes were an option.

 

[detmatt]

Yep, drums were standard.

 

[GJS]

I looked at a number of 67 and 68 wagons while living in BC and all of em were drums. Sounds like a cool car! I've had 68 and 67 Monacos and always wanted to get a sister wagon.

 

[mr. fix it]

Drums are good once they are bedded in and you're not in the habit of resting your left foot on the brake pedal...

 

[70DartMike]

Don't get me wrong, I've got no problem with drums. I've got 15 other Mopars all pre '74, drums are normal around here. My wife however will also be driving it to haul the dog around and load it up with gardening supplies, so I'll be doing a disc swap.

 

[live4theking]

We'll need pictures once you secure it.

 

[65sporty]

Start a thread on your disc swap

 

[commando1]

Start a thread on your disc swap

Yes. For some strange reason, brake swap threads usually end up going Epic.

 

[70DartMike]

Ok, I used a set of discs from a '72 New Yorker. They're all mounted, good to go. Do I need to use the proportioning valve from the '72? Or the one from the '68? It was drum/drum.

 

[twostick]

Use the one from the 72 if it's salvageable or get a manual one from Wilwood or similar.

The one on a drum car isn't a proportioning valve per se. It's the doodad they used to turn the emerg brake light in the dash on if the front or rear brakes lost pressure from a broken line.

Kevin

 

[mr. fix it]

Ok, I used a set of discs from a '72 New Yorker. They're all mounted, good to go. Do I need to use the proportioning valve from the '72? Or the one from the '68? It was drum/drum.

You will need a proper proportioning valve.
Whether you try to use the 72 which is a good trial to start with, it may not be 100% effective.
You have to be sure that the rear brakes are the same as the 72 setup (ie" 11"x2" ) or the OE proportioning valve wont be good enough
(I did that exact thing with my setup from 66 to a 67 setup and it works well.)

An aftermarket valve will allow you to dial in the perfect amount but it won't look stock.

 

[Zymurgy]

Yes. For some strange reason, brake swap threads usually end up going Epic.

I wonder who you were referring to Stan. Worth it in the end, and you can save a lot of time reviewing my "epic" conversion.