I have a 68 skylark special, and am looking into doing a disk brake conversion on the front. I was told by a local "expert" that I would need to change my wheels to do this. It currently has the 14" buick rally wheels on it. I really dont want to change them unless there is no choice as the wheels are in quite good shape. Is the "expert" accurate, or full of "poo" like a lot of "experts" seem to be. Thanks for your advise, input, direction, self experiences, or any other info any of you can supply!
Unfortunately he is right. To go to discs you have to switch to 15(or bigger) inch wheels. I've been doing alot of research on this lately as I plan on going to discs also. Good time just to rebuild the whole front end if it has never been done.
the expert and Capt. are right. I just bought a stock replacement for my 68, from opgi, but for whatever reason they have to be run with a 15" or bigger disk brake rim. I want to say that I've seen a disc brake kit that you can run 14's I look into it Jeff
okay found it check yearone.com I'm looking in their catalog and DK25 drop spindle front brake kit says that it may not fit with all 14" rims. Which says to me some 14" wheels work. Keep your fingers crossed goodluck, Jeff
I remember some posts over a year ago (maybe two) that stated in effect that discs would fit in certain 14" wheels and gave a wheel code to look for. I don't remember the code but someone out there knows it. Might be good to post this in the Bench forum, for better exposure. I remember thinking at the time, that if some factory installed discs were installed with 14" wheels, that this wheel might not fit with the repop/later disc kits...dunno.o No: Gene
i believe that baer makes a disk brake conversion for the a-bodies for 14" wheels (JJ code buick rallyes?)
Thanks for the replies, I will look for a code on the wheels I have, I was told they came from a newer model buick, they are the buick 5 spoke style. I will pull one off later when I get home from work and look.
Okay, maybe I am blind, but I am not seeing any codes stamped on my wheels. Am I missing something? Is hidden in a secret spot? Or is it inside the wheel and I need to take it to a shop to have the tire pulled off? Here is a pic of one of my wheels, but I suppose its already known what they look like. I will pull another one to see if I can see any markings. I really appreciate the help so far. Nothing like Buick friends.
Well "insert dirty word here", looks like if I want disks I will need to get different wheels. Not happy about that, but thats the way it is. Better I know now than later as I need to get new tires either way. Thanks for all the help.
there s/b date codes around the lip of the rim on the brake side. if your rims are dates 1972 (maybe 71) then they are disk brake functional no matter what.
It is not the OEM way to go, but if you want tostick with 14" wheels and upgrade to front discs, the look at Scarebird Mechanical You can look up threads on their product and service here on v8b, they make an adapter kit for 64-72 GM a bodies. I have heard nothing but good things about them. When I do my front disc upgrade, I will use their product.
I have a 1972 GS parts car, disc on the front with 14" wheels. wheel code ? Have A parts 71, GS 14" wheels, drum drakes. I'm going to compare wheels.
I havent been able to find any code on any part of the wheels, Ive gone through all four now, buffing, wire wheeling every part of the wheel and I will be "insert four letter word here"ed if I can find any stampings or markings. I really didnt care whether or not they were 14 inch or fifteen inch wheels, I really just didnt want to buy new ones if I didnt need to since the ones that are on it now are in very good shape, either way I was going to need to buy new tires, would have been nice not to need to purchace new wheels too. So, I read somewhere that there is an outfit that reproduces the buick wheel new, but I have not been able to locate it in my searches here for some reason. Does anyone know off the top of their head who makes the wheel?
They are made by a company called wheel vintiques. You can buy them straight through them or through Year One, Summit etc....
