[seancarole]

I am rebuilding my 9" and the drums are junk and I'm thinking about doing ford explorer disk set up. Would this be good waste of time or a somewhat of a upgrade. the car is a 1968 Firebird sbc 383 4 sp 500 na 125 nos.

 

[PONYEATER]

I would do wilwoods... lighter..

 

[seancarole]

I would but not in the shoe string bugget

 

[PONYEATER]

then the explorers look good!

 

[staticz2229]

if you can find a set....the new ones are no-more for the time being

 

[hrracecar]

You will need new style big ford ends on your housing for the Explorer Brakes to bolt up. If not the shoe string budget is going to have to buy new ends and have then installed.

 

[seancarole]

I am narrowing the housing and new 35 spline axles and nodule center chunk 4.30 or 4.86 gears undecided yet.

 

[540IROC]

When I first did a 9", I went with drums as it was the easiest way to install brakes. I found late 60's cars such as the Custom, had a perfect lightweight drum to use (no huge cooling fins). The brakes worked fine for many years but as my speed increased, I needed more stopping power.

I considered Explorer or Crown Victoria rear disk brakes but just didn't like the setup. While walking through the junkyard one day, I spotted a late model Jimmy with rear disk brakes and aluminum PBR calipers. While studying the setup, I decided I could fabricate a way to use them on my 9". As long as you don't want or need a park brake system, this procedure could be used to install disk brakes on just about any diff.

Here's the writeup I did on the conversion. Best part was shaving 16-1/2 pounds of unsprung weight off the car and I got much better braking than drum brakes and at a fraction of the cost of an aftermarket system.

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/brake-board/556819-disk-brakes-any-differential.html

 

[PONYEATER]

Awesome writeup and great job on the brakes!

 

[seancarole]

Thanks that's what I'm talking about more than just throwing 800+ for willwoods

 

[Capt Crash]

The Explorer kits are available again. I just bought a kit from Currie. Although the car wont be on the road for awhile, so I cant give any feedback on how they work. The kit is very simple, and it seems to install easily. The only thing is that the kit comes with a small spacer to use between the bearing and the retainer so that it seats properly, and this spacer needs to be installed on the axle before the bearing, as I am going to have to have my bearings removed and then reinstalled this week.
Brian