New big brakes

Discussion in '1947-1954' started by sweet50, Jun 13, 2008.

  1. sweet50

    sweet50 Member

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    A R I Z O N A
    At the end of April, I ordered a big brake kit from that other company (Speedway Motors) for the Mustang II front end on my Chevy. The 9 inch rotors that were designed by Ford to stop a little Mustang II were not cutting it with this big ole fat fendered Chevy truck.

    I told Speedway that I had a Mustang II front with a Chevy bolt pattern. They sent me a big brake kit with a FORD bolt pattern. GRRR!

    So I sent everything back and waited another week and a half. Keep in mind that I already paid for this kit in advance when I ordered it. So 8 days later UPS leaves a note that I have two COD packages that I need to pay for. Excuse me? I'm not paying for the brake kit a second time. Send it back.

    So I call speedway. They say, they sent me a refund check. Well its not here. A week later the refund check arrives. So Speedway sends me yet another big brake kit and it arrives a week later COD.

    Its now June and I finally have everything ( so I think) My friend Gordon and I start taking everything apart on the Chevy. We clean up everything and do some painting to make it look all nice and purdy. I noticed the brake hoses were cracked and brittle so we get some new hoses for a 78 Mustang II.

    Get back to the house and finish re assembly. We went to put the new races in the rotor and noticed that there was a set already installed. Cool extra parts for later. We put on the rotor and the spindle was 1/4th of an inch too short. We couldn't get the spindle nut on. Six weeks of messing with getting the parts and now they are the wrong parts again.

    So we went around to some machine shops to see if they could mill the rotor down until it fit on the spindle. No such luck and I'm out of time on my days off. Put this off for another week.

    In the mean time I call Speedway Motors back and ask them about why the rotors won't fit on my spindles. They told me that I have to remove the races that they installed and re install the extra races supplied with the kit. So I call Gordon and tell him. Sure enough that fixes the problem. My question is why did they install the wrong races in the first place? Why don't they send instructions with the kit that would tell you to remove the races that they installed?

    So my truck is sitting in Gordon's drive way on jack stands blocking his garage so now his 1974 SOA Nova has to sit outside. Gordon calls me at work to tell me the new hoses are too short. The hoses for the Mustang II won't reach the hard lines on the frame and the new Chevy calipers require a banjo bolt where the ford calipers didn't.. So he ordered Chevy brake lines for me. They were even cheaper. Until he got them home and found out that they were also too short.

    Back to the parts store. Gordon ordered the extra long 18" brake lines. They were over twice the price. So they come in the next day. I get off at noon on Wednesdays and start my 3 day weekends. So I head to Gordon's house. We start to finish the brakes and the banjo bolt won't fit in the hole of the brake line. GRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!
    So we go over to Integrity Motorsports ( A restoration and performance shop). They said they could mill out the brass end to match the banjo bolt but he had three cars to finish up Wednesday night for the show this weekend. He said drop them off and he'd hone them out after work and I could pick them up in the morning.

    So Thursday morning I pick up my modified brake lines and they are perfect. Go over to Gordon's house and put the truck back together with out issue. Bleed the brakes and down the road I go.

    First ordered the big brakes on 4/25/08 and finished them on 6/12/08. Got to love getting the wrong parts from suppliers. That is why I like Classic parts better but they didn't have what I needed.



    Take Care,

    Bill


    Old Mustang brakes
    [​IMG]

    Old 9 inch Mustang rotor on the left and new 11 inch Chevy rotor on the right.
    [​IMG]


    All new parts.
    [​IMG]

    Camera phone picture of the new big brakes.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2008
  2. Zig

    Zig Member

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    Pittsburg KS
    As you say~

    SWEET!:D

    That looks SO fine!

    Way to hang in there~
     
  3. coilover

    coilover Member

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    Plano US
    I'll be darned, a REAL Mustang II front crossmember, strut rods and all. We used dozens of these before the after market folks started fabbing them up. Most were from Pintos but I always said they magically turned into MII's once they left the shop. I wish the after market people would explore making a Pacer clone, they fit an AD better than they fit the Pacer I sometimes think.
     
  4. vwnate1

    vwnate1 Member

    Joined:
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    AMERICA !
    Welcome To The World Of

    Old trucks & hot rods Bill :D

    At least you persavered and it's now done and safe .
     

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