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Well I'm flipping back in forth more than a politician on what to do. I've got a 49 ford F1 with a flathead 6 and 4 speed transmission. The first idea was to V8 it with a automatic. Brother came over and said all stock... Now I'm back to thinking V8 with auto. To do To do To do.....
I do have a couple questions.
(1) is there a brake kit that will allow me to switch to disc brakes on the front and still use my stock 16" innies? From reading and going through FTE I have yet to find someone using rims on one of these "New Disc Brake Conversions" but I would sure like to keep'm on the truck.
(2) I emailed a guy or the outfit that had the toyota gearbox power steering kit, but he said they no longer make the kit. Is there another supplier for the bracket or should I just fab it myself.
here is my old truck
finally got the front end off and the old welded on bumper off and a new used one bolted on. Another brother offered a free 289. So if I do that I'll have a flathead 6 and trainie to get rid of. But I sure to keep it stock looking as much as I can on the outside.
now to decide on what to do..... then flip flop again LOL
Hey Mike,
Nice to see another Texan on here with an old Ford Truck!
We put a 351W in our '50 F1 with an AOD transmission. I think
a stock or lightly modified 289 would be just about perfect.
The Windsor family of engines fit nicely in our trucks & are excellent cruisers.
We upgraded to (4) wheel disc brakes so I can't help you with
what brake mods can be done without changing the wheels/look.
Looking good up there in Stephenville!
Ben in Austin
1950 F1
(If you are ever down in Waco & see a nice blue F1 driving by - say hi to my son Zack).
I don't think the 16's will clear the calipers of the disc brakes. Today's wheels are built very different than those of the strictly drum brake era. In the past, once the drum was cleared, all was good. Today, wheels have to have allowance for the various separate parts of the disc brake unit. Look at the interior of your 16's and any wheel from today. You'll see the interior of the rim has a gradual slope to the center where the mounting hole are. todays wheel is almost flat on the underside. It is that flat interior that permits the clearance of the various parts.
I'm curious about the original 16" wheels and the disk brake clearance too. I'm installing a Jag IFS with disc and if I want to keep the stock rims I will need adapters that will space the rim out 1" to 1 1/2" and wonder it the adapter will provide the necessary space for the caliper.
Joe I'm gonna keep the original straight axle. I was hoping that my old rims would fit on one of the new kits, but everyone keeps emailing me back "no".... LOL surely someone makes one that'll work.
Denny I've noticed that. But I keep thinking a 16" rim should go over what a normal brake system that a 15" rim was originally used on. I may have to pull one off and run it down to the scrap yard and see if it'll fit.
Scotty I can get the kit with the larger bolt pattern for the old f1, but the calipers may be too big and thick. So I may have to take one off and just try to get it to fit.
Mike, I was just looking at a pic of the hub/disc/caliper on the Jag. I am sure that the stock 16" wouldn't clear if it bolted right to the hub, but if you look at this and figure a 1" spacer it should present no problem as long as the tire clears the fender OK.
It's not just the vertical clearance. It's also the horizontal clearance. That is, the available clearance the 16 inch rim has between the bolt/stud surface and drum or caliper behind it. The drum presents a flat surface to mount the wheel upon. The disc includes a huge bulbous caliper. Part of which projects outwardly from the axle. Look at the pic Joe has provided. A one inch spacer may be enough. And, I am reasonably certain it would not create a fender clearance problem as the 16 inch wheel is only 4.5 or 5 inches wide. That means a very narrow tire must also be used. And the rim has a positive offset, meaning it is not projected to the outside of the vehicle.
It's not just the vertical clearance. It's also the horizontal clearance. That is, the available clearance the 16 inch rim has between the bolt/stud surface and drum or caliper behind it. The drum presents a flat surface to mount the wheel upon. The disc includes a huge bulbous caliper. Part of which projects outwardly from the axle. Look at the pic Joe has provided. A one inch spacer may be enough. And, I am reasonably certain it would not create a fender clearance problem as the 16 inch wheel is only 4.5 or 5 inches wide. That means a very narrow tire must also be used. And the rim has a positive offset, meaning it is not projected to the outside of the vehicle.
Looking at wheel adapters, most are 1 1/2" but there are 1" available. If the 1" will clear I would prefer that. In my case I would like to run the stock 6.50x16 tires, especially if I don't change the rear and go with a C4 instead of the AOD.
I put this disc brake kit on the front of my '51 F1 pick-up. It retained the 5 x 5.5 bolt pattern and I was able to use my original rims. The kits are available with 5 x 4.5 or 5 x 4.75 or 5 x 5.5 studs. Be careful which kit you order. 4852CBK5.5 is the 5 x 5.5 kit
thanks guys. I've been going back through the old threads and articles. Found some stuff on a 66-67 mustang brake booster and using it on a drum/drum set up. This may be a way to go too. Gonna try to tear down the front end next weekend and see what I got. Man theres a ton of articles and threads to go through.....
Brent thanks for the info. I'll check out the kit. You didn't have issues with the stock 16" innies? thanks again for the info
found a good little thread started by smitty49 about duel resevoir master cylinders. I found more info on this info and swap. I think I'm going this rout. in fact I Just bought a 70 ford f100 with 351 w and 4 speed manual. Gonna sale the 4 speed and drop in a automatic. I plan on using the rearend out of this unit too. No flipping back and fourth now. Time to march on...
Thanks everyone for the info and input. I really appreciate and all the great info on FTE
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