I got my disk brakes installed on my '49. Everything came out great. The bearing adapters went right on with no problems. Heated them and dropped them right on. I put in new kingpins while I was at it. The top of the kingpins were a little larger than the originals, so I had to grind a very small amount off of the caliper bracket so it would drop down into place. Apparently all spindles were not created equal. My spindles had the grease fittings at 45 degrees and I did not have to drill and tap a new hole so that the fitting would clear the bracket. I compared mine with some pictures of others and they are definately different. I posted pictures in my gallery under MY 49 F-1.

 

Hi Don,

I was looking at your brake picture's you posted. Looks like a very neat install.
Where did you get your kit from? I need to do the same thing to mine. How much did the kit cost? What booster and master cylinder did you use?

Terry

 

Terry,
It is a nice installation. I am very pleased with it. I had reservations about doing it since I had read so many horror stories regarding problems installing some of the kits. I kept the 5 on 5.5 BC so my wheels would fit. You have to have 15" wheels or bigger. I got the kit from ECI. I called them a couple of times with questions and they were very helpful. It is manual brakes not power. I didn't go power because my transmission crossmember was in the way. After talking to several people, I decided the manual would be just fine. With the disks and the larger brakes on the 9" rear end, it is plenty of brake, compared to original. The master cylinder came from ECI but it is a early mustang. They give you all of the part numbers for everything. If you need them I can get them for you. I bought the complete kit, brackets, rotors, calipers, bearings,master cylinder and adapter to bolt it in place of original MC, metering valve, residual valve, hoses. The only thing I had to buy extra was the new tubing and dust covers for the bearings. The covers were only $5 at O'Reilleys. It was about $600 for everything.
Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Don for the info. I didn't think about the transmission cross member. I have a C4 automatic and a 302 V8 with a 9" ford rear end. I was wondering about not going to power also but don''t know what amount of pedal pressure would be required. Starting to get arthritis in my knees so i may need the extra help with power assist. A bunch from our truck club went to the Columbus Goodguys Nationals last weekend and with all the starting and stopping my knees haven't been the same. Must be getting old. The truck and i are the same age and i think it runs better than i do.

Terry

 

Terry,
I am 5 years older than my truck and I understand the problem of age all too well! I haven't been on the road with it yet, but it seems like the pedal pressure will be OK.
I looked at using a hydroboost unit from a chev astro van. I think I could have gotten it in, but decided to try it without power. About the only other way is to mount it on the firewall, which I didn't want to do.