Disc Brake Conversion
Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2018 6:53 pm
This fine series of articles by Stefan Steinmaier is more than 10 years old now - but full of exceptional details about how to convert your drum brakes to disc. -Dan
"Ever since I've owned my 59 Fury, the car has demanded more repair time than it's offered time on the roads. Nevertheless, there have been many hours of fun and learning over the years and there have been so many difficult things to change, repair or adjust that it is almost impossible to remember all of them.
One of the major casualties on my Fury were the brakes. When it came from the US in 1986 there was not one drum that had all threads in the hubs and the surfaces were deeply chamfered. I found it necessary to acquire new or good brake drums. Let me only say that it is something between 'very difficult' and 'almost impossible' when you don’t live in the USA.
At that time I had a friend with a 59 Flathead. He loved to show me his trust in his car, while speeding at 60 mph up to a red traffic light, putting his hands behind his back and hitting the brakes. That salmon coloured Belvedere always stopped, never leaving a trace. I couldn’t try that with my Fury. Sometimes it went to the right, sometimes it went the left. Sometimes it went to one side so hard that I had to grab the steering wheel to avoid a collision. All adjustments failed to help and a 'specialist' who tried to rework the drums on the turning lathe mounted it with the hub out of center. After that, the Fury was not only a Fury with bad brakes but a bouncing Fury with bad brakes. I decided that the only way to close this chapter of years of not knowing 'where she stops' was a Disc Brake Conversion Kit from AAJ Brakes, who offered a complete set with everything included.
This Disc Brake Conversion (DBC) is a part of the big 'Fury-Adventure' to me, as it is a winter project. It will take some time and substantial patience to complete this work -- and I'll only have the opportunity to work on it from time to time -- but I hope it will pay off in the future. Anyhow I’ll keep you informed about the progress and also about the final results."
"Ever since I've owned my 59 Fury, the car has demanded more repair time than it's offered time on the roads. Nevertheless, there have been many hours of fun and learning over the years and there have been so many difficult things to change, repair or adjust that it is almost impossible to remember all of them.
One of the major casualties on my Fury were the brakes. When it came from the US in 1986 there was not one drum that had all threads in the hubs and the surfaces were deeply chamfered. I found it necessary to acquire new or good brake drums. Let me only say that it is something between 'very difficult' and 'almost impossible' when you don’t live in the USA.
At that time I had a friend with a 59 Flathead. He loved to show me his trust in his car, while speeding at 60 mph up to a red traffic light, putting his hands behind his back and hitting the brakes. That salmon coloured Belvedere always stopped, never leaving a trace. I couldn’t try that with my Fury. Sometimes it went to the right, sometimes it went the left. Sometimes it went to one side so hard that I had to grab the steering wheel to avoid a collision. All adjustments failed to help and a 'specialist' who tried to rework the drums on the turning lathe mounted it with the hub out of center. After that, the Fury was not only a Fury with bad brakes but a bouncing Fury with bad brakes. I decided that the only way to close this chapter of years of not knowing 'where she stops' was a Disc Brake Conversion Kit from AAJ Brakes, who offered a complete set with everything included.
This Disc Brake Conversion (DBC) is a part of the big 'Fury-Adventure' to me, as it is a winter project. It will take some time and substantial patience to complete this work -- and I'll only have the opportunity to work on it from time to time -- but I hope it will pay off in the future. Anyhow I’ll keep you informed about the progress and also about the final results."