Bottom Line… Just wanna know if this comment is legit?

[GoneLoco99]

“‘66-'69 full size Chrysler, Dodge or Plymouth with the Budd Discs, the same conversion will work by using '70-'73 full size Chrysler, Dodge or Plymouth parts. The Calipers are shared with Imperial, but the suspension parts are different since the Imperial is heavier and the Imperial has a larger bolt pattern for the wheels.”

Seen this on a Imperial website. Is it legit & has anyone personally do it?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Davea Lux]

Both the Budd dual piston discs and The '70-'73 (also some '69's) single piston disc parts can be used to convert from drum brakes on a C-Body. The Budd brake system uses a different caliper mount and spindle so the parts do not interchange between the two systems. The lower ball joint is also different on the Budd system and those ball joints are no longer available. The Imperial for 69 shows a different part number for the calipers and brake pads. You can download the parts book for free at www.mymopar.com. Manuals are in the tools/reference section.

Dave

 

[1970FuryConv]

Budd calipers are 4 piston. Many $ compared to single piston.
Many people here have done 66 to 69 cars with single piston set up.
I thought 65 c-bodies could also use the 1969-72 and 1973 single piston set ups. Correct me if I misremember.

 

[Davea Lux]

Budd calipers are 4 piston. Many $ compared to single piston.
Many people here have done 66 to 69 cars with single piston set up.
I thought 65 c-bodies could also use the 1969-72 and 1973 single piston set ups. Correct me if I misremember.

'65 can also use the '69-73 single piston calipers for a conversion.

Dave

 

[69PHOENIX]

Hi Fellas,
Just a Quick Comment in Passing.
Never Driven a 4 Piston Budd System But have Converted a Few 65-68 Drum Cars to 69-72 Single Piston Disc.
AND the Result has ALWAYS Been Brilliant.
For Such a Simple Design, the Brakes, even Compared to Modern 4 Wheel Disc Brake Cars, Still hold their own.
And converting the Rear to Disc does Not provide any "Vast" Improvement.
New Piston Seals Last Time I Purchased were Cheap as Chips, Simple to Work on Etc.
The Only Downside, (For Some People) is Having to Upsize to 15" Wheels.
Anyway My 2 Cents Worth!
Regards Tony.M

 

[GoneLoco99]

So for clarification, if one wanted to take his/her 67-68 Imperial, front disc brake BUDD system off, and replace it with a 69-73 NON BUDD Imperial disc brake system…he/she could? Without any issues?
As long as he/she used the “donor / parts car” spindles instead of the 67-68 Imperial spindles?

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

So for clarification, if one wanted to take his/her 67-68 Imperial, front disc brake BUDD system off, and replace it with a 69-73 NON BUDD Imperial disc brake system…he/she could? Without any issues?
As long as he/she used the “donor / parts car” spindles instead of the 67-68 Imperial spindles?

I assume you meant to say "...and replace it with a 69-73 C body NON BUDD disc brake system..." - in a word, NO. According to others (@detmatt being among those who I would qualify as an expert on the Imperial Budd disc systems), since the caliper brackets and mounting stuff and spindle geometry are all quite different between C body and Imperial, it's near impossible to use the 70-73 C body non-Budd disc system stuff on an Imperial. Perhaps there is another swap (truck?), but if so, I've not heard of it. C body 70-73 stuff does not interchange to Imperial, sadly. If the 69-73 Imperial disc brake setup is a NON-Budd system (I thought they still used Budd components for those years), I don't know of the swapability to a 67-68 Imperial. @detmatt could answer that.

However, many claim that recent improvements in Budd caliper rebuilding affords those willing to pay for the job get excellent and long lasting results with their rebuilt Budd calipers. The final fly in the ointment is the scarcity of the lower ball joints (which are Budd disc system specific), and the fact that the rebuilt ones are NOT long lasting. Someone needs to repop those lowers, and then there will be potentially another source of good disc brake upgrades for C bodies. That and the current positive words about the repro Bendix dual diaphragm boosters, which is encouraging.

 

[detmatt]

I honestly am not the right guy to ask because I wouldn’t think of changing out the budd system on any of my cars so I haven’t researched it for myself. I think(not sure) that ‘69 was the last year for the Budd 4 piston calipers?
I also have my feet firmly planted in the slabside era and really don’t dabble much in the later years.

 

[69PHOENIX]

Back Again and After Extracting My Foot from My Mouth I Apologise.
I Missed the Point Entirely!
I was Thinking in Terms of "C" Bodies Only.
As I Remember Imperials have Heavier Duty Suspension Components.
I Had a Similar Problem when I Converted a 59 Dodge C/R to Discs using 73 Monaco Components.
Had to have a Local Machine Shop Turn Up Some Ball Joint Sleeves to Adapt the Stub Axles.
Anyway Apologies Once Again & All the Best Sorting Out Your Problem.
Regards Tony.M

 

[1970FuryConv]

So for clarification, if one wanted to take his/her 67-68 Imperial, front disc brake BUDD system off, and replace it with a 69-73 NON BUDD Imperial disc brake system…he/she could? Without any issues?
As long as he/she used the “donor / parts car” spindles instead of the 67-68 Imperial spindles?

Hi Gone Loco,
To begin to answer your question as asked
1973 FSM page 5-85 shows that Imperials were single piston floating caliper in 1973, so a transition did occur away from the Budd system in Imperial.

If you did find a later Imperial single-piston caliper steering knuckle/spindle disc brake set up, since the Budd lower ball joint is different, you would need to know if the single piston LBJ would install on your lower control arm. Barring that, lower control arms did change length between 1969 and 1973 for non-Imp c-body cars. I measured 1969 Monaco vs 1973 New Yorker. New Yorker was longer. So, you need to know if the donor car has same length lower control arm, as yours as you may need to use the LCA from the donor. To answer whether your LCA is compatible with Single piston LBJ, you might try NAPA. Ask for the Manager. Preferably one with some grey in his beard. Another source might be Moog tech support. I would not bother with Advance or AutoZone.
Once you answer that question, we know from the answer above, the later single piston steering knuckle/spindle set up will install on your upper ball joint. Then it's a matter of tie rod ends and brake hoses, which should IMO be easy. Ben

 

[Mr C]

I honestly am not the right guy to ask because I wouldn’t think of changing out the budd system on any of my cars so I haven’t researched it for myself. I think(not sure) that ‘69 was the last year for the Budd 4 piston calipers?
I also have my feet firmly planted in the slabside era and really don’t dabble much in the later years.

Yes, Budd brakes ended in 69.

 

[vdk2010]

I replaced the BUDD Brakes on my '69 Imperial with a complete Kelsey Hayes single piston floating caliper setup from my '72 Imperial parts car.

It's basically plug and play as you can just swap all the parts over from the donor car.
To be exact, I replaced the following parts which are all different from the BUDD parts:
- Spindles
- Caliper Brackets
- Calipers
- Hubs
- Discs
- Dust Shields
- Brake Lines
- Brake Pads
- Proportioning Valve / Metering Valve (Combination Valve in 72)
I changed that as well because a friend who did the conversion before told me with the original '69 Proportioning Valve, the K/H Calipers would drag.
Later I decided to rather go with a brand new wilwood proportioning Valve instead since I can adjust the preasure on that.

Beside these original parts, I replaced all the wear parts which are readily available EXCEPT the Rotors with the 5x5 Imperial Bolt Pattern.
These are not available at all, but the 5x4.5 Chrysler Discs are the same, available and a mashine shop can drill the 5x5 bolt pattern into them.

You can check my Dropbox for pictures of all the '72 donor Parts if you want:
And/or you can check my build thread for the overhauled parts.

I hope these information are what you are looking for.