Today while lookin through the local pick a parts for a dipstick i came across a 1977 Lincoln mark 4 or 5 (can't exactly remember) that was fully loaded (leather and all ) and it was in very good shape cometicly, but after lookin at the motor (main reason why I went over there) i noticed that the wheels where misin and that it had a complete ford 9 in with disc brakes and all. Anyway i go and ask and i end up paying $100 for everything (canadian too) and that included the master cyclinder, proportioning valve, 9" rear end and all the brackets, etc. I will replace the calipers, rotors, and pads.

Anyway what i want to do is to convert my truck (82 flareside, in gallery) to disk brakes. Now i know what to do to get the rotor to fit (the look like they have the 5.5 bolt pattern already, not sure though), and i know how to get the caliper brakets works to, my questions are in the master cycliner and proportioning valve. For the proportioning valve will this one from summit "http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=esearch.asp&N=110&Ntk=KeywordSe arch&Ntt=%22Proportioning+Valves%22&x=14&y=7 work? If not could the proportioning valve from the lincoln work, or is there another choice?

My other question is with the master cyclinder (current one was replaced last year). With the larger capacity of the calipers vs. the master cyclinder will i need to get a different master cyclinder? If i do need a new one will a master cyclinder off a 1 ton HD (newer like 95-98) fullfil the fluid capacities that are needed or do i need a MC of a truck with discs on all four corners?

Thanks for any help (or hints tips and tricks to make this job easier as well as any pictures) I will post pictures up once i get to doing it(once harvest is finished).

 

you will need a master cyl. off of a vehicle with 4 wheel disc, preferably the master off the lincoln.

the lincoln should have the 5 on 4.5 pattern, not 5 on 5.5. i dont think there is enough meat on the rotor to redrill for the 5.5 pattern, but i could be wrong. some had a 5 on 5 pattern also, could be that one too.

did you get the e brake cables too? nice to have it all hooked up.

 

Although the 1977 Mark V rear will "fit" the 1982 Ford F-Series, it is by a long shot, not the same. The 1977 Lincoln used 28 spline axles not 31 as on the truck which translates to low torque, no heavy towing, and no drag racing with this one. The stock 9" Lincoln gears are what really suck because Ford had to improve fleet MPG estimates. The 1977 Lincoln also has coil springs in the rear, not leaf like the F-Series trucks. The shock mounts are also different. The lug pattern is most definately 5 X 4 1/2. That particular rear end is best suited for a 1972up Torino or Thunderbird conversion rather than a truck application. Sorry to spoil your find, but I already looked into the conversion myself and decided to go with a Detroit locker, better gears, and keep the standard rear brakes.

A few more details... In 1977 Lincoln offered, as an option, what is now called ABS. I forget what it was called in 1977 but is was basically the same thing. If the option was installed on the salvage Lincoln, it will have two extra lines from the master cylinder going to a box located on the left (driver) frame rail near the power steering gear box and one extra line going to the proportioning valve. This will work on any 1980-1986 F-Series and is well worth the extra work. Just clean the all valve ports with brake cleaner before reassembly.

 

I will not be using the complete rear end out of the lincoln, just the brackets for the calipers, and as for the 28 spline axles, the strength is still better than the majority of the axles out there as well (i have 3.25s with posi and axles with new bearings and seals ready to go) As for the bolt pattern of the wheel i was going to see if the the rotors off the front of a 4x4 (i did some measuring and the rotos are very very close, close enough so that the caliper brackets can be modified to fit the rotors) and if not there is enough material (offset the 5 on 5 which i now think it is) to redrill for the 5.5 on 5 pattern.

As for the master cyclinder when i (i went back the other day and took a look) was looking at the Lincoln one i noticed that it the resivoir for the front brakes was smaller than that of the front resivior of a stock ford version, so using that one is out of the question (plus it was pretty rusted out as well) Also i noticed that on this particular car the rear bolt pattern was bigger then what the front was, i donnu though, didn't have a tape measure with me. I will be getting the e-brake cables as well as the complete brake system execpt the lines (I'm giving the housing, gears, and axles to my dad for his torino that needs a rearend)

As for the Lincoln ABS, that is a new one on me, but i will take your advice and if its there (i noticed extra lines coming from the MC so i will b e sure to get the box and extra lines and such) And as for the proportioning valve i will be buying an adjustable on from summit for $40 but i will still get the one from the lincoln as well. But now my biggest problem is finding a MC that'll work I'm thinking one of of an early superduty or 97 and newer 1/2 ton, any ideas on this part?

 

For what you have invested in the rear end, the brackets alone are worth the money. At least you have the emergency brake and spare parts.

It has been a while since I have messed with old Lincoln's so I don't remember if the rotor and hub are two piece or not, but I think not. The good point is they are still available new.

You might want to take a look at a late 90's or newer Expedition or F-150 to see if the rear rotors will match up to the Lincoln. I know they used an 8.8 rear end but the rotor and hub may work.

As far as the master cylinder goes, if it were mine, I would take everything, booster, master, proportioning valve, brake pedal, actuator rod, from a newer late 90,s + salvage vehicle. Then compare old and new to see what I needed to make it work.

 

I have one of those old lincolns sitting in my front yard. (79 Lincoln Mark V)Its the donor for the 400 going into my pickup. I tried a 5x4.5 wheel from my 89 Town car and it wouldn't fit. I tried a 5x5.5 Pickup wheel that didn't fit either. Grabbing up my tape-measure i measured across the Lincolns rear wheel hub and it came out to roughly 5x5.75. Now i may have inadvertantly picked up the wrong wheel and tried to fit it (From brand X perhaps.) but the pickup wheel didn't fit.

As for having the lincoln 9" under my pickup...it would be sweet looking, but just for the aforementioned hang-ups. I think its best left alone.

 

If i were to use the rearend (i have time now cause the distubor broke on me today) from the lincoln i would use airbags and weld 2 new crossmembers in to mount the three link/shocks and trac bar/airbags, i have another rear end out of a grand marquis (this is whee i got the 3.25's) that is setup is the same as the lincoln and it wouldn't take much to do, but unless you are going to have an all out show truck (i don't have the money to do a full airbag set-up) then it would be a great way to go, but that takes a lot of money.

I know that the rotor's on the expeditions and such are different becuase the 8.8 rear end housing is quite a bit different then the 9 inch, and because of that the rotors have a weird backspace. But i remember that someone (on here somewhere, haven't turned up anything in the search either) was able to find a MC from some ford truck that bolted right up in place of the stock MC, also anyone know what those rear disc brakes conversion kits use?

 

If i had the budget and were building a show truck, indeed that 9" from the Lincoln would make its way out back under my truck. Or if i absolutely had to replace the rear then i would bother with it.

Maybe you can pull the axles from the lincoln rear and swap them into your current 9"..?

 

You can't swap car axles under a truck due to the fact that the axles are different lenghts (one is longer than the other) for 9" rearends anyway, but right know i am going to get a hold of one of the companies that make the rear disc brake conversions and see what they use for a MC.

 

Ok, so after contacting Jeff Bronco Graveyard (they sell kits for this) and thery said that all i had to do was pull the residual check valve out of the rear side of the master cylinder. Now what would this do?

 

mustange70,

Did you ever figure out what might need done to ensure the front and rear axle braking is applied evenly after converting from rear drum brakes to rear disk brakes.

I converted my 1980 F-350 from drum to disk brakes. My truck has the Dana 61 rear axle, and I found a caliper mounting flange for sale on eBay for a Dana 60. Turns out it was a real pain in the ___ to complete my conversion, as the Dana 60 and 61 are enough different that some cutting, pounding, lathe work, refabrication and welding were required.

Anyhow, the conversion turned out well but I'm pretty certain I'm not getting enough braking from the rear disk brakes, and I suspect that this is due to the larger brake fluid capacity of the rear brake caliper for the disk brakes compared to the original wheel brake cylinder from the drum brakes. And I haven't done anything to modify the brake system to correct for this.

So after using the disk brake conversion for the past couple of years, I'd now like to figure out what I should be doing to correctly balance the front / rear axle braking on my F350.

Any suggestions? Do I need to put in a different MC? An adjustable proportioning valve?

Thanks for any help you may be able to offer...

 

wow, old thread, coompletely forgot about this lol.

Um yeah i still haven't got around to doing the conversion but i think i've gotten the theory down pretty well. (btw the d61 is closer to a d70 once you get past the center section)

The fluid capacity shouldn't have anything to do with the balance, unless the the mc is physically running out of fluid (to test try pulling the rear calipers off and press the pedal till you run out of travel on the caliper piston and then check to see if you ran out of fluid). Now what i'd do would be to completely redo the p-valves and lines from the mc to the p-valves. Instead of using the factory valves i'd get rid of them completely. Then get some adjustable ones, (one for the rear and either one with ones input/2 outputs or 2 individual ones) and plumb them in line and adjust them till you get it just the way you like it.

 

Hey, thanks for your response.

You're saying control both the front axle and rear axle brake fluid pressure with separate adjustable p-valves? From the research I had done, I was planning on doing away with the factory p-valve assembly as you suggested, but installing only one adjustable p-valve in the rear brake line circuit. Then simply adjusting the rear brake fluid pressure somewhere from full pressure, to less than the full pressure, being applied out of the MC to the front brake cylinders. This way I should be able to control the front to rear braking forces relative to the full front brake fluid pressures, and as I understand it, the rear brakes usually require less braking force than the front brakes.

So... last question... is there some benefit to being able to reduce the front brake fluid pressures to less than full MC pressure? Are you thinking that the rear brakes may need higher fluid pressure than my front brakes? I guess that's possible since my front calipers are the two large-piston variety, whereas the rear calipers are the single-piston version used on the front brakes of the 1980s vintage Chevy trucks. But I know the front brakes do more than 50% of vehicle braking, so I was thinking not.

Yes - it was an old post... lol. Just hoping you'd respond since you had already prepared for a rear axle disk brake conversion.

I wish I'd known the Dana 61 was closer to the Dana 70 before I started my disk brake conversion. There were some serious modifications required. Many times I questioned why I ever started my conversion. If I hadn't had access to a buddy with a large metal lathe, I wouldn't have been able to complete the project. The primary reason I converted to disk brakes was because of the river crossings I run my truck through. Disk brakes are much nicer in that application. The drums used to collect and trap sand and gravel, grinding away at the drums and shoes, whereas the disk brakes are more or less self-cleaning.

Now if I can just get the front / rear braking forces better balanced, I'll have it licked. Thanks again.

 

I menetioned one for the front just because the pressure may cause them to lock prematurly, or stay locked or something, its just some added assurance to add some consistancy to the system.

 

You should only need the manual proportioning valve to the rear for the reasons you are thinking. It's hard to get much braking force out of the rear brakes on a pickup when it's unloaded. It's so light in the rearend, they lock very easy.

All factory proportioning valves are calibrated for the certain vehicle they go to, because of weight distribution. A truck is always a problem though, since when it's loaded, the wieght distribution is different. That's why in later years they went with RABS, and then a full blown ABS system.