Quote:
Originally Posted by LEAZER48
I have a couple of questions: 1. can disk brakes be adapted to front & rear axles on 48 coupe chassis, if so what is a good set-up?
2. can the 8ab distributor be used on a 59ab motor
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Hey LEAZER...I'm NOT going to try to poo-poo your idea about discs all the way around your '48, but...……! Have you really thought-out the necessity for all that? Please allow me to back that question with some facts.
Let's start with the rear because it is the simplest to justify, or UN-justify, if that can be called an actual word. Firstly, the Ford rear ends through '48 (called BANJOs because of the shape of the center section) are not very receptive to disc brake adaptations. Those floating axle ends will still require some sort of hub affair to fit on the tapered axles, and some sort of disc with an inside, flat diameter large enough to sit flush on the hub's flange (that won't be easy to find) is going to have to be adapted to the hub. The disc will also need to be spaced properly (inboard/outboard) such that it lines-up in the proper relationship with whatever caliper you decide to use. Oh yeah, you'll have to design and manufacture some sort of caliper mounting plate that bolts to the axle bell flange. The design and spacing of the axle bell flange as compared to the fixed location of the hub flange could make this adaptation kind of tricky at best. I know of nobody making a disc brake kit for an old Ford banjo rear, and for good reason.
The biggest reason is that the rear, Lockheed-type brakes on a '39-'48 Ford are actually quite adequate. The REARS are adequate because they are capable of locking-up the REAR tires. Lockheed drum brakes locking-up the rear tires vs. disc brakes locking-up the rear tires ain't gonna make the car stop one foot shorter. The vehicle will actually stop in a shorter distance if the rear (or ANY) wheels DON'T lock-up. Rear brakes on a vehicle do a relatively small portion of the braking because of weight transfer. Much of the rear vehicle weight actually transfers toward the front axle of the vehicle during a hard stop. That is why you see disc brakes (for the last 55 years or so) mainly on the front of vehicles, with drums on the rears. The front brakes on a vehicle usually do something like 70-80% of the braking during a panic stop.
OK, front brakes....Yup, guys (including myself) have been adapting disc brakes to the front spindles on old Fords for better than 50 years now. There are scads of kits out there from dozens of dealers. Some are fairly-well designed while others are rather cheezy, if not totally questionable. No doubt though, discs CAN be made to work well. Trouble with discs though is that they require a lot of input pressure (heavy pushing on pedal) to grab the disc effectively. On a very light car like a T-bucket, you may get away without a power booster, but not on a '48 Ford-sized car. You'll need a booster, most guys refuse to plan that into the build (because of cost, lack of space, and general hard-headedness), and you end-up having to push the pedal ridiculously hard and STILL have a hard time getting the rig stopped....scary stuff!
The "hot tip" today for a street-driven car like you have is to spend either $400 or roughly $1,000 to put a set of MT PRODUCTS Bendix-type, self-energizing brakes on the front of that car. These are a modern re-creation of the '39 Lincoln brakes that hot rodders scoured the junk yards for until they became a very rare and expensive commodity. They worked! Those early Lincoln brakes in the front, along with the stock Ford brakes in the rear will STOP that car, no BS. The two types work very well together on one vehicle. Discs will not stop you any shorter, plus you don't need a booster.
Why the difference in cost above? Because there are a couple of ways to do this, although I would suggest the $1K way. The less-costly way is to purchase (from MT PRODUCTS) two fully loaded Lincoln backing plates. They come with all brand new shoes, wheel cylinders, springs and bits and pieces ready to bolt-on to your Ford spindle. You will only need to grind lightly on the top of each spindle for some slight wheel cylinder clearancing. You would have to stipulate the 1-3/4" shoes to run with your old Ford front drums, IF they are not worn-out. A complete front package (which is well worth springing for) consists of two additional brand new hubs and two beautiful, brand new ribbed brake drums, sized for the 2" shoes that you'll stipulate when you order the backing plates. There are quite a few guys on the forum here running this combination and every one of them seems to be happy as can be. Forget those disc brakes. They ain't all that they're cracked-up to be. Click on the link below to snoop around the MT PRODUCTS site. It's an extensive site....make sure you check it out thoroughly. DD
http://www.mtcarproducts.com/productsgrid.html