Convert your standard drum brake Mustang to power disc brakes the economical way. Ford Granadas, Mavericks, Mercury Bobcats and Monarchs all have identical spindles and only have minor brake booster mounting differences. These cars make excellent donors for power disc brakes on your 1965 or 1966 Mustang.
Tools & Materials Needed
- Assortment of Open-End Wrenches and Sockets
- Tubing Wrenches and Bender
- Air Grinder
PLEASE NOTE: This brake conversion is NOT compatible with 6 cylinder steering. If you have 6 cylinder steering, you will need to change your pitman arm and convert to V8 manual steering.
Helpful Tips
- When removing brake lines from a donor car, MARK EACH LINE, so that you will be able to remember which lines go to which port on the proportioning valve.
- Most part stores carry assorted sizes of pre-made brake lines with barrel nuts intact. This will be helpful when re-routing your brake lines.
How to Install Disc Brakes Utilizing the Power Booster
- Find a suitable donor car. Any one of these will work: 1975-1979 Ford Granada, 1970-1977 Maverick, 1970-1977 Mercury Bobcat or 1975-1979 Monarch.
- Remove spindles and outer tie rod ends from the donor car.
- Remove the proportioning valve, taking time to label which brake line goes to which wheel.
- Remove the brake booster and master cylinder.
- If the donor car was drivable and the brakes were in good condition, the installation is ready to begin. If the donor car was not operable, go to your local parts store and purchase new loaded calipers and rotors. You should also purchase a new master cylinder, brake booster and adjustable rod (sometimes, the brake boosters are fine, but the rod extending from the booster to the brake pedal is 3/4 inch too short. In this case, you will just need to purchase the adjustable rod and not the brake booster). Once the new parts are obtained from the parts store, installation is ready to begin.
- Install disc brake spindles. These will fit directly in place of the Mustang drum brake spindle without any modification.
- Install the outer tie rod ends into the existing sleeve. I recommend cutting 1/4 to 1/2 inch off the threaded end of the outer tie rod ends to ensure proper adjustment clearance.
- Install the brake booster to the firewall. This will require some modification. You will need to enlarge the hole upward by 1/2 inch, so that the brake booster will clear the steering column. Additionally, you will need to mark and drill holes in the firewall for the booster mounting studs. Next, lengthen the rod extending from the booster to the brake pedal by 3/4 inch. This can be done with using the adjustable rod that you have purchased.
- Install the proportioning valve. After marking and removing the existing brake lines from the drum brake proportioning valve, install the disc brake proportioning valve. One extra hole located under the existing mounting hole will need to be drilled to install the disc brake proportioning valve.
- Next, insert the proper lines to the proper ports (you should have marked the brake lines when removing them and now can insert into the proper ports). At this point, you may need to re-route and lengthen a few of these brake lines. On your Mustang, the brake line coming across the firewall from the passenger side wheel is not long enough to reach the correct port. You will need to get some fittings and a short section of brake line to hook it up. The brake line coming from the rear end can be bent by hand so that it lines up with the correct port. The driver side wheel brake line will need to be bent as well to line up with the correct port. The two master cylinder brake lines should be very close, with only slight bending modifications necessary.
- Now it is time to connect your front wheel brake lines to the body. If you are using the original Mustang brake lines, you will need to extend the brake lines forward along the frame rail, since the donor car’s caliper brake hose is located on the front inside portion of the wheel (and not the rear portion of the wheel). Be sure to have adequate slack in the brake hose and anchor the brake line to the frame rail securely.
- Next, fill and bleed your brake system.
Copyright 2007: FastbackStack, LLC
