Disc Brake Conversion and Parking Brake

[MrTruck805]

Hi All,

The previous owner of my 68 Charger had a disc brake conversion done in the front and rear. From the limited documentation that I have on it, it appears as if the calipers and pads are from a Lincoln Mark IV. Unfortunately the conversion did not result in a working parking brake.

Anyone have any insight into how I can get my parking brake working again? I wouldn't be opposed to buying the Wilwood or Master Power Brakes conversion kit but perhaps there is an easier way. I'm particularly interested in getting this working because I believe the Parking Pawl in the transmission is busted.

Sorry if it's a faux pas to post about an old Mopar here, but you guys are by far the most useful message board I've come across, and I know 14 bolt disc brake conversions are popular here.

Here are a couple pics.

Thanks for any help!

 

[scottystills]

My buddy has an 89 burb with a corp14 rear and s disc conversion. To pass inspection in Alberta needed a mechanical parking brake so we ended up ordering one of these guys:

http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/wil-120-1360

Fabbed a bracket and cable retainer for it on the driver's side. Sounded like hell the first couple days but once it seated itself quiet as a mouse and holds great.

 

[K85 Octane]

Do the calipers have a parking brake built in? If so, it's just a matter of getting a cable that fits, make up a bracket to hold it, and attach to the existing cable with cable clamps.

 

[rebelgregory]

Have any pics of back of caliper? I'm assuming theres a ratchet arm on the back. I have a 14b with Eldorado calipers and was able to make it work well, but it took some effort.

 

[sweetk30]

what rear axle ?

if mopar is it converted to ford outer flanges with press on bearings ?

reason I ask is ford 8" & 9" or ford flanges on custom built then use ford 8.8 rear disk brake parts from said ford axle and there 95% bolt on other than a gender bender spacer ring ..

we need more pics and info please .

 

[MrTruck805]

Thanks a lot for the replies, I really appreciate it!

Here are a couple pics of the back of the caliper (and the car, since it's more interesting than old Lincoln Mark IV disc brakes )

The rear axle is a Chrysler 8 3/4. Standard for 68 Chargers, however I'm not sure if it has the Ford outer flange, and press on bearings.

scottystills - thanks for that link. It looks very promising if I can't make what I got work.

Sorry if these are painful newb questions... I've just always taken parking brakes for granted.

 

[sweetk30]

those are mech arm ebrake calipers . just need to find way to hook them up and have a way to hold the cable housing .

I have not seen them before my self . but old linc cars in my rust belt area are super rare unless car show stuff.

appears to be bendix brake style like our dana 60 axles use in the front . with wedge / spring and retainer bolt . and I know for years ford / bendix were hand and hand used together.

 

[dremu]

Visually those remind me of the Cadillac calipers with a parking brake. My personal experience with those is negative, but others like 'em.

Note I don't know Ford or Mopar from squat, so I'm gonna show you what the Caddy is like and let you draw your own conclusions from there.

Anyway, on those, there's a spring, like a throttle return spring, to hold the lever one way, and the cable then pulls the lever the other direction.

I'm thinking there should be a dimple or a hole in the casting somewhere for the spring to hook into, and then opposite that, a notch in the lever for the spring to fit into.

Hard to tell from the pic you posted, but here's a pic with some places to look for the dimple in the casting (red), notch (green) and then the cable should connect on the blue. I could be totally wrong on the spring location; maybe it's supposed to go from the top up by the bleeder to the lever. Anyway, give it the old "visual inspection" (i.e. look closely at it ) and see if there's not a ~1/8" hole somewhere in the casting.

Then there's the matching pic of the Caddy calipers used on the 14bff conversion, give you an idea of what I'm on about.

-- A

 

[MrTruck805]

Whoa dremu..... Thanks a million for those pics! Your calipers look exactly like mine, which are from a Lincoln Mark IV.

I will inspect them closely when I get home from work. Any idea where I can get the appropriate hardware to hook up my cable to it? I guess I'll just need the spring, and then extend my cable somehow as I don't think it's long enough to reach.

Thanks again, and I'm a big fan of your K5!

 

[dremu]

The cable proper is easy; it's just your basic "aircraft" cable as sold with the chain links by-the-foot at your local Ace, TruValue, or other decent hardware store. Use a caliper (the other, measuring kind ) to judge diameter.

Then you get the round stops for the caliper ends, crimp those on in a vise. Connecting the other end is a bit trickier. On the older K5's, the various cables had the cylindrical stop on each end, and then used a coupler. LMC sells the couplers

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/csb/full.aspx?Page=174

lower page section, item #5, part # 34-3800. I actually made my own out of flat stock 'cuz I needed a longer one than stock. I drilled a hole in the center, cut a slot down the middle with the angle grinder, then bent the ends around, et voila, custom piece. I can prolly find a picture on request.

You might choose to do something different, based on what your existing cables look like and what the hardware store has.

For the springs I used a Dorman part, their #071-005. You might want a different size or hook style; I think I used those as it's what the parts house had two of the day I went in Anyway, you can prolly find one that's about right for your caliper...

http://www.dormanproducts.com/catalog/hardware2006/028-028_Sec2.pdf

Or, again, a well-stocked local hardware store will have something. You want a seriously tight spring, one you can't move by hand, at least easily (which I know is a highly numeric quantification of the force involved, but hey, it's a start )

And finally, thanks for the good words. The Blazer is ... well, she's been a learning experience, let's just say that

-- A

 

[frankin5]

This is a shot of the rear Cadillac disk on a Warn Full Float, 1980 Eldorado. It has a bracket and a spring factory setup

http://coloradok5.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=25066&title=cadillac-rear-disks&cat=508

 

[rebelgregory]

You may have to get creative with a way to anchor the wheel-end of the e-brake cable sleeve. You have to have it anchored for it to work. Otherwise, when you actuate the e-brake, it just tries to straighten out the turn in the cable. Ordinarily, the cable sleeve is anchored by the drum brake backing plate. I wanted everything on my axle mounted above the centerline, so I swapped the calipers side to side and had to come up with something for the e-brake. I tried a couple different methods, but ended up fabbing some 1" angle iron to the spring plate. It works really well. Especially since a lot of people have poor luck with effective e-brakes using these calipers.

Point is: Find a way to anchor the end of the sleeve. And that may require some creativity.