Guest Mike Hogan Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Can anyone tell me what needs to be done to the spindles in converting a 63 to disc brakes? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Nothing.Go to www.scarebird.com and look at the bracket they have for bolting on the complete disk brake setup from a 76 era Riviera (ALL parts are avaiable new.) Total cost (depending on the brand of parts you buy) should be around $600-700. The last time I looked, the brackets were around $115.Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjthorson Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 If it really is $700 for all those parts - this looks like a pretty good deal, has every little nut and bolt you would need - probably save a lot of time collecting all those parts....http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1961-62-6...1QQcmdZViewItem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rnscotland Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I wanted to go with Scarebird but opted on the direct fit ebay option as there was no shopping around for parts. I think scare bird has an option where they will source everything for you, which will bring the price up to the $600-$700 range vs the $300 range. When my boxes of parts came, guess where some of it came from ... Scarebird. Good quality either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Hogan Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Thanks everyone for your advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BJM Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Mike,To be sure, disc braking performance is an improvement over drum brakes. BUT in these years, Buick had excellent drum brakes stock with big aluminum finned drums with great fade resistance. I have owned at least 10 61 to 64 Buicks and the brakes were never an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Mike,When I bought my 63 the brakes were scary bad and I seriously considered a disc conversion. In the end I decided to stay with original and did a total rebuild including stainless lines and a dual master conversion. I was lucky that my front drums were in great shape, they can be a problem to find. After a few break-in miles the system works great for normal driving and I'm glad I didn't go the other way. Just my "two cents". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bronie Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 I went with a system from Brake tech Solutions. It is a company based out of Charlotte North Carolina. You have to send them your spindles and they will custom fit a bracket for your exact make and model. Anwar, the owner who I dealt with has done many Rivieras in the past and I found him to be helpful. The price ranges from 1100 for a full system which includes, rotors, calipers, master, booster and all the hardware. The system I went with was 13 inch cross drilled, slotted vented rotors, 6 piston willwood racing calipers, chrome master and booster and steel braided lines. That entire package set me back a pricey 2600 but that was due to the rotors and calipers being so large and the parts are very high quality. Don't have to go that root but give the website a try, you'll like what u see. And dont compare drums with discs because they don't compare, we all know who will win that one. If you want pics I would be more than happy to sen them. The system looks amazing behind my custom wheels.John.1965 Riviera Custom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BJM Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 John,As I mentioned in my post, there is no doubt disc brakes are an improvement over the drum brakes. However, cost, originality, resale, installation must all be considered. It sounds like your Riviera is pretty well tricked out. I'm sure it stops great and looks great. But even if you spend half that $1200-$1300, a person has to justify that much cost in their project. In my case, I have several cars, and often must compromise some. If Buick drums had a small contact area and were cast iron, I would consider the swap more closely but they were the largest drums on the market in those years and as we know - cast aluminum. Properly set up, they perform quite well, give good performance over a long time. There is a lot of "meat" in those old drums, able to be turned. I don't disagree with your comments, but feel the original system is more then adequate for most applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex bonino Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Another alternative are cermaic shoes, matching drums and heavy duty brake hardware from companies like Praise Dyno Brakes. These have gotten pretty good reviews, and are a nice comprimise between a desire to upgrade brake performance while maintaing closer to OEM appearance.I just installed a set on all 4 wheels of my 1961 Impala, and they went on very nicely. Unfortunately, no first hand experience yet, as the restoration on the Chevy is still underway. Just maybe another possible alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rlbleeker Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 For normal driving the drums on '60s Buicks are more than adequate. I've never experienced brake fade with any of my cars. If you drive it hard, you might need discs. One problem with drum brakes, is people often don't do them correctly. You can't just buy new shoes and throw them on the car, they must be matched to the drums. Personally, I get tired of the squeaking and warped rotors. Giant discs do look cool on the right car, and I'm putting them on my MGA; just depends on the application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
page2171 Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TexRiv_63</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Mike,When I bought my 63 the brakes were scary bad and I seriously considered a disc conversion. In the end I decided to stay with original and did a total rebuild including stainless lines and a dual master conversion. I was lucky that my front drums were in great shape, they can be a problem to find. After a few break-in miles the system works great for normal driving and I'm glad I didn't go the other way. Just my "two cents". </div></div>Sorry to get a bit off topic, but I have a quick question. What dual master are you using? I am investigating doing the same to my 62 Electra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Brian,The master cylinder used is from a 67 -70 Buick Riviera, it's the same one for most all big Buicks from 1967 - 1970, as well as a large number of Olds, Pontiacs, and Cadillacs. Buick used two separate master cylinders in those years; one was a Bendix, the other was a Delco. They are NOT interchangable. You have to pull your old master cylinder first and look at the diameter of the brake rod, and the depth of the hole in the master cylinder for the brake rod. In Advance Auto Parts' online catalog (shared with Parts America) there are a number of choices - different rebuilders, different $$$$$. Bendix rebuilds both their own and the Delco unit. These are dual resevoir master cylinders for drum/drum applications. The Bendix replacement number is R11328, and the Delco replacement number is R11363. Disc brakes were an option in 67 so there is also a disc/drum master cylinder available under part number Delco 11944; you don't want this one unless you're also doing a disc brake swap. To complete this swap, you'll need to find a donor car and get the distribution block and associated lines that run from the master cylinder to the distribution block. You'll also need to fabricate a bracket to hold the distribution block as well as install some adapters in the lines to make the new parts adapt to the older lines.Switching to a dual master cylinder doesn't necessarily improve the braking, but it is a great safety factor.Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
page2171 Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Ed,Thanks! The increased safety factor would be nice. California freeway traffic freaks me out a bit when the brakes are a little less than ideal.Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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