Hello fairly new to site. I see most guys prefer to do work on their autos themselves I'm seeking a place that can do a drum to disc conversion on a 68 newport I am not physically able to do that at this time any suggestion on which national repair shops would be best to have this type of work done. I'm in Florida located near most larger chain repair shops. Thanks in advance
Suggestions
- Thread starter I84885
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IF you are wanting to do a Wilwood conversion, then seek out a speed shop that sells that kit and see if they might have some recommendations as to who can do it for you. IF you are seeking to do a factory OEM-style conversion, check with a local restoration shop to see if they might be able to do it or can recommend another shop that might. Getting all of the correct OEM parts is key, plus having them ALL together when the work is started (NOS, good used, or rebuilt/remanufactured, etc.)
Stay FAR away from the chain repair shops! Some might have some ASE certified technicians, but usually NONE will have any knowledge OR expertise in what you want to have done. You do NOT necessarily want somebody younger than your car working on it, much less knowing how to do the factory-oriented conversion. Your repair job does NOT need to be their learning curve!
By observation, unless a younger tech is attuned and involved in the vintage Chrysler C-body vehicle hobby, they might be of the orientaiton that all cars have always come with factory power disc brakes. But there are some exceptions . . .
Enjoy!
CBODY67
Stay FAR away from the chain repair shops! Some might have some ASE certified technicians, but usually NONE will have any knowledge OR expertise in what you want to have done. You do NOT necessarily want somebody younger than your car working on it, much less knowing how to do the factory-oriented conversion. Your repair job does NOT need to be their learning curve!
By observation, unless a younger tech is attuned and involved in the vintage Chrysler C-body vehicle hobby, they might be of the orientaiton that all cars have always come with factory power disc brakes. But there are some exceptions . . .
Enjoy!
CBODY67
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
Words of Golden Wisdom! If the shop isn't run by a septua- or octogenarian, then I won't let them NEAR my rides. I get out the FSM, consult Uncle Tony and THIS Forum, then go to work.
There MAY be Hope in rumors that some EV outfits like drum brakes for their relative ease of harnessing to regenerative braking schemes. I read this recently on one of the Big Manufacturing firm websites.....
Mudeblue
Well-Known Member
Get and check references. I put in disc brakes on all fours. Everybody says they can do conversions on "classic cars" but very few actually know how. Took me four shops and several months which turned out to be a nightmare and all said "oh Fred works on classic cars all the time and knows what he is going and good at it!. Ya, right. Check references!
Mudeblue
Well-Known Member
Doing a full restoration and I am going to have to get new 14" rims with a deeper depth. I want to maintain the stock look including skirts and with the stock look, the hubcaps hit the skirts when I hit a bump! Take a $30,000 car, add $50,000 and when your done (which is probably never) you have a $35,000 car. Visited the shop doing my car today and saw a Ford 150 which had $155,000 into it and still going so I figure I am doing fairly well!
Mudeblue
Well-Known Member
It took me four tries and I never got it right so I am not in a position to give good advice. I finally found someone I can trust who is doing my 65 SF restoration and from there, he has put me in touch with other people who I can trust and who do the job right. I have him to fall back on and another individual and they are the only ones I trust with my Fury and my 66 GTO. Important to have a local network. If I had to do it all over again, I would find someone in a local car club and/or talk to people, more than one. at a car show and get some advice. As my father always said, "to sune olt an to late swmarrt!"
Thanks alot. we have a classic car group that meets up about once a month in the area I think I will try to get some info from them never knew it would be this hard to try to restore a vehicle I guess that what makes them more appreciated
Mudeblue
Well-Known Member
I have been at it 816 days since I delivered it for restoration. After 658 days, I pulled the car from my first shop, highly recommended, and took it to the shop it is at now. It was originally suppose to take 6 months but turned into 22 months even though I had a written contract. Had to do a lot of body work after pulling it and do a complete repaint after the first group had painted it twice; wrong color, dirt in the paint, missed spots, different colors of white, etc. I am still retrieving parts as we are putting it together. It was a nightmare but now I am on the right track. You said you "never knew it would be this hard to try to restore a vehicle!" Truer words never said. As Rodney Dangerfield said in Back to School, "I have only one thing to say to you, today …It’s a jungle out there, You gotta look out for number one, But don’t step in number two."
LOL. Great Quote. Believe it or not your story has been inspirational I was thinking about going in another direction the thing is I can't even get this project going but now I see its not a sprint it can be a marathon
I had to get some work done on my brakes a while back. Some things I will do myself, but I never got the hang (or confidence) with the brakes. Took it to my local repair shop that gets a lot of my business. It’s a national chain, but the crew is good and have all been there a long time so it has a local feel to it. Anyhow, I am in the lobby talking with the manager and the younger tech comes in and says he can’t get the lug nuts off. That’s when I tell him the driver side is all reverse threaded by design. He looked at me like I had two heads. And that was the moment I realized they don’t teach them that at the tech school.
Now whenever I take the 300 into a shop that requires wheel work, I slap post it notes on the drivers side wheels “reverse threaded”
Now whenever I take the 300 into a shop that requires wheel work, I slap post it notes on the drivers side wheels “reverse threaded”
It is best to stay away from places like that in general, let alone bring an old car for a conversion like this. They are pretty much "parts changers" rather than mechanics. I wouldn't take my daily drivers to a place like that myself.
But here's my thoughts.... and some will agree and some will disagree.... The drum brakes on these cars are pretty good. Lot's of cars running around that have not been converted and don't need to be. Disc brakes have some advantage, mostly in fade resistance when hot (think driving down a mountain or racing) and they work better when wet (think driving through a deep puddle), but if the drum brakes are in good shape, they will stop the car pretty well. IMHO, most of the guys that say how much better their car is after the conversion never had the drum brakes working well to begin with.
The next thing is the conversion "kits" that we've seen a lot of issues with. Some work just fine, but others leave a lot to be desired. From everything I've seen and read, the easiest and one of the better conversions is to source the pieces from a later Chrysler. That will involve some new and some used parts.... Do some searches here for more info on that.
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