Want to convert to front disc and 5 lug wheels on a 62 skylark and rears to 5 lug too. Anyone with some advise??
I went through this same exercise when I had a '63 Special. Although I ended up converting the rear to a 8.5" 10-bolt and aftermarket discs, this is what I recall. This was about 10 years ago, so my memory is a bit dusty. The Olds F85 is very similar to the Skylarks and Specials, although not 100%. I believe the V8 models came with 5-lug axles and hubs. Off the top of my head, I can't verify whether the axles are exactly the same length, but you can research this a bit on the 215 Buick and Olds restoration websites. I also recall that you can have the Buick axles redrilled for 5 x 4.5" wheels, which is the Ford bolt pattern. For a while I ran Weld Wheels with the '80s Mustang 4-bolt pattern. The front end conversion was a completely custom drag car set up with r&p steering. I went this route after spending dozens of hours looking through old wheel bearing books to see if I could get a handle on possible swaps. It's such a small spindle that I could find anthing that looked like an easy swap. One option was having the spindles machined to a length and diameter that could fit an Anglia disc brake kit. But again, once you start down that path, you're looking at custom work and cost. Most of the Anglia stuff is for racing purposes also. Mark
Hello. Am going through a similiar front disc conversion on my '63 LeMans. Rear discs are coming later but have to tackle one end at a time p Do not believe the '63 Tempest-LeMans complete "knuckle" asms are the same in the ancient Hollander, but who knows, if the spindles themselves are similiar. Even if different, will relay what several of us building '63 Tempests & LeMans are using, so it gives you a good idea. The process is similiar to what is being today done for many late 50's & 60's big cars by "the big brake guys", but we are using lighter weight race oriented calipers & lighter rotors. On the '63 LeMans when one removes the drums & front drum brake backing plates, one is left with a spindle that is square (ie, in the same plane up & down) on the mtg points that held the "loaded" drum asm. A good friend in KS designed caliper mtg brackets for this spindle & had them cut out of 1/4" thick steel plate with a lazer. These mount flawlessly on the spindle, then a Willwood rear disc change over for big bearing Ford 9" is bolted on to stock hubs. The rest is plumbing, an aftermarket mastercylinder, proportioning valve & brake pedal geometry changes. If can help in anyway feel free & shoot me a PM. Roger
roger, id appreciate any help you can give me in doing the same brake conversion to my 62 special wagon
I'm researching disc brakes for my '62 Special also. Roger, do you have any pics of your conversion so we can see if the spindles are the same on the '62? Did the conversion change the offset? Obviously I want to have the same offset after discs so I don't have to buy new wheels. Travis
travis, did you just buy your special or did you list it on ebay? i remember seeing it. I assumed it had a disc conversion since the wheels are so big. Do you have 5 on 4.75 bolt pattern or the original 4 on 4.5? im looking for a trick set of wheels like that for my wagon.
Joe, I found the car on eBay and had my dad pick it up from the seller in Texas. It's on the way to California now, I get it on Saturday :beer As far as I know everything is original except the Air Ride and the wheels. They're Billet Specialties Vintec, I won't know for sure what the bolt pattern is until I get it home and pull a wheel off. Got any pictures of your wagon??
Does anybody else have any info on disk conversions? I finally got the tool to remove the center caps from my wheels and they do have 5 lug, appears to be 5 x 4.5. Does this mean the hubs were changed at some point, or were V8 specials available with 5 bolt hubs? I'm heading to the Good Guys show in Pleasanton next month, hopefully I can find some more info from the vendors there. Travis
Disc Conversion There is a company in WNY that deals with disc brake conversions. I'm not sure if they can help, but here is their info. Stainless Steel Brake Corp. - www.ssbrakes.com. Phone - 800-448-7722.
It looks like that four lug was all that was offered on the 61-63 specials and skylarks. If you have a 5 bolt pattern I would say someone did the swap already
Scarebird.com sells kits which use OEM components. If you want to switch from 4 X 4 bolt pattern to 5 X 4.75 you can use "late model" Corvair hubs which interchange with '61 - '63 Buick spindles. On the rear you have to have axles and drums redrilled by machine shop to 5 X 4.75 pattern. Scarebird may have rear disc kits also. I haven't looked lately. Doug
I know it's not exactly the same, but I swapped S-10 front spindles to my wife's 65 El Camino. She works at an auto parts store, so I had her pull up the upper and lower ball joints for the Camino and for the donor S-10. The uppers were a direct fit. The lowers were measured with a pair of digital calipers and the S-10 ball joints were a fraction of a hair larger. I pressed in the lower ball joints, bolted on the uppers, and had to swap outer tie rod ends as well. The tie rod sleeve was the same thread, so there was no modifications necessary there. The S-10 is "metric", so the taper on the ball joint shafts were different, as well as the tie rod shafts. In the end, it lowered the Camino 1 1/2 inches, pulled the wheels inward 1 1/2 inches on each side ( 3 inches total), and she has power disc brakes instead of the suicide single manual master reservoir she used to have. The bolt pattern is 5 X 4 3/4, the lugnuts are metric, and I can run 14 inch wheels if I want, because of the 10 1/2 inch rotors. I would recommend going to your local auto parts store and see if one of the counter persons can compare parts for you, to see if this is possible for your earlier cars with little or no options in the aftermarket field. -Josh
There is a BCA guy in Chicagoland with a 1962 Skylark that welded in the holes in the rear axles and had them drilled to 5 by 4.75 inch for standard Buick rally wheels, and used Corvair brake drums up front (5 by 4.75 inch lug pattern). That car looks great with those wheels.
I'm looking into this myself too. I was going to mention that I was curious about the compatibility of Corvair parts myself, them being built on what amounts to being partially the same chassis. These guys make a $125 disc mounting kit using some Caddy and S-10 parts: http://www.scarebird.com/ Basically, you machine out and drill the drums, and then add a bracket. Here's their install instructions for a 61-63 Tempest/LeMans, which should be about the same as for our 62 'Larks: http://www.scarebird.com/12802/13301.html The part I'm confused about is do I (and how do I) swap out that IRS for a solid axle? Considering that I'd expect a 45 year old differential to grenade in about a minute behind a 450 horse motor, what options do I have? I'm not much of an engineer. Could I put in an "inexpensive" IRS out of, say, a junkyard SUV and expect it to hold up with such a light car, or would I need to go find a totalled 'Vette and pull out the Dana from that? Would I be better off just narrowing an F-Body rear end? - Freed
In my post of last November I was referring to using late model Corvair hubs up front so I could use the Corvair rear brakes up front and increase braking efficiency by 25%. I then moved the Skylark front brakes to the rear and increased braking by 14% there. The braking and the 5 X 4.75 bolt pattern was the reason for conversion (also cheaper than disc brakes). If you are making 450 HP a Corvair rear IRS would not hold it just as the stock Skylark won't hold it. A narrowed F-body rear would do it. PAE down in Texas had a '62 Special 2 Dr Post Coupe with a 455 big block at the GS Nationals about 5 or 6 years ago and I think they had a 9" Ford rear. Doug
I was thinking of putting am 86-87 GN drivetrain into my '62, in my "pie in the sky" daydreams. Be after the 70 is done, unless the parts just fall in my lap, but I've already got a friend that has volunteered to help with the shoehorning. Thanks for the tips. - Freed
So has anyone made the change? I was told the early Chevy Nova parts would work but didn't they use a 4 lug 13" wheel? If anyone has made the conversion to a 14" wheel and front disc brakes I'd luv to hear from you. And how about the rear end? Will a drop replace be need here?
I'm buying the brackets from Scarebird for $125, they come with mounting hardware. The rotors are 1989 Mitisbushi Gallant and the Calb/pads or off 83-89 S10 pickup. These parts are really cheap from any local parts house. Looks like total parts cost for the front end will be around $340 including the brackets. I will let you know how it goes, and will take plenty of photos as I go. This will still be 4 stud wheels but have found plenty of wheels from other cars and have a choice of 13",14" 15" and even larger. The 240-280Z cars are the easiest choice for wheels, although I am going to put real wire wheels w/knockoffs on my little black 62 Skylark. Most of the new wheels just look goofy on my car, I not looking to make a pimpmobile. Since I can not find anything I like, the wire wheels are my choice. The price for the wires, adapters etc are about the same as high end new wheels. I am building a Saturday night cruiser only. The stroker motor is done and in the garage waiting for the engine compartment detail to be finished. I will rebuild the Dual path transmission this weekend and get that out of the way. Not sure the trannie has any problems but the car had been stored for almost 26 years so a transmission refresh was in order. I hope the little dual path will handle the stroker. Not going to the track so maybe it will be fine.
If youre looking for wheels you should contact "specialized215". He is a friend of mine and has a 62 special. The 15" wheels he has on look awesome. Im sure he would take some pics of the car and post them here or so. Further he wants to build a motor for his car. So maybe you can give him some infos on your stroker. Would be nice. I will tell him to check out this thread :TU:
