I have a 1965 Buick Special convertible with the 225 V6 and 14" wheels. I *thought* I could buy any drum to disc conversion kit for an A body and then buy the 14" wheels with the right back spacing from here- http://www.ss396.com/chevelle/FM-1790AS.html and the wheels - http://www.ss396.com/chevelle/NCE-8985.html BUT - when I called them and checked to make sure, they said the reccomend using 15" wheels with that conversion kit. (I wanted the correct power kit that would look right for the car with the 11" booster, Delco etc) Then they said I might be able to use it if I grind a little off the caliper brackets to fit my 14" wheels, and maybe won't have to buy new 14s to begin with. I believe that in 1965 power brakes with discs up front, drum rear was an option on the Special/Skylark/GS - but not sure about the wheel sizes. If you ordered the power setup, did the car indeed then come with 15" wheels? OPGI and YearOne claim to have a kit that will allow you to utilize your 14" wheels, but it doesn't look OEM to me at all. Any thoughts or help on this is appreciated. I also want to get a full front end suspension rebuild kit for the car, but now I need to go measure my lower control arm bushings to see if they are 1.9" or the bigger ones (so I can decide what kit to buy) Don't know what's on there, but I think I am going to go with 7/8 everything and regular bushings and hope it's right? OH - and finding a good radiator for the car has been impossible as well. I don't want to get one of those plastic cheap-O ones and I figured that any of the 300-400 CU V8 brass/copper radiators will fit? TA Performance is expensive, but I also am looking at US Radiator models. Could use some help here as well. So, brake conversion, suspension, and radiator are the 3 things I'm needing to get...just in info overload lately and the more I read from vendors...the more confused I am about what will fit, what won't, and what I really need. TIA for your time here. Cary
I for the disc brake conversions, you might be hard pressed to find one that is correct for the car. Main reason being the disc brakes in the mid-late 60's were not as reliable as what became available a little later. At least this is what I found looking for a conversion for my 66 GS. I haven't done the conversion yet, but when I do I will probably go with the kit from Inline Tube. They appear to have all the parts needed and the correct distribution block that mounts in the correct location down on the frame rather than this huge brass block mounted directly under the master cylinder. The Inline Tube kit claims to fit the factory 14" wheels (I'm sure which were designed for disc brakes, but you might call them to verify). It all looks pretty factory except they use the single piston caliper verusus the dual from the late 60's that wasn't as reliable. They have a lot of good information on their site and reasoning behind having the kit the way it is. Below is the link to their disc conversion page. Scroll down a little bit and you will find the section called Factory Style Kits. Then the next section you come to will be the '64-'66 GM A Body section. That should put you where you want to be. http://inlinetube.com/disc brake conversion/dbrake.htm When I redid the suspension on my 66 I didn't order a full kit from one place. I bought most of it from NAPA then bought the bearings and races for the front end from Autozone because they carry Timken bearings. I haven't done the radiator yet cause the one in the GS is still good. But US Radiator I hear is a good source. Unless you can find a used one cheap and have it recored, then US Radiator may be the best way to go. Unless you can get an original for next to nothing then it becomes a wash by the time you pay someone to recore a used one.
cool! I'm going to pull a wheel tonight and check the stamping (14 x ?) on the back side and then call these people. hadn't seen this one yet, thanks! suspension kit - also going to measure the bushings to see what's on the car and go from there radiator - going to measure what was in there first also, but I want to upgrade to at least a 2 or 3 row V8 style brass/copper radiator. Someday I want to put a V8 in the car, so might as well get a decent radiator now.
