Does anyone know of any disk brake rotors that will fit on a 1954 Buick Special front spindle? I would like to put disk brakes on my 54 Special convert, but have been unable to find a rotor that has the same bearing diameters and width to fit the stock spindles. If I can clear that hurdle, mounting the calipers will not be that difficult. Has anyone done this? Brian
Your stock brakes will lock at any speed with or without power assist at least on the initial stop. After that they will start fading. If you drive in the mountains or drive very aggressively then you need better brakes. Another way do do it would be to go to a good brake lining rebuilder/maunufacturer and tell them what you want. They can put a friction material on your shoes that will stop well and not fade. The trade off will be that they will not last very long. Another way is to use all of the larger components of the 54 or 55 Roadmaster. These are things that the period stock car racers did when all they had to work with were drum brakes.
Your search would be easier if you were not concerned with keeping the stock spindles. Fatman Fabrications and many other vendors offer dropped and stock height spindles that accept MII disk setups. They arn't too bad price wise, around $160
54 disk brake conversion I tried Fatman and they supply a dropped upright that the king pin goes into, which lowers the car but has nothing to do with the spindle where the disk brakes would mount on. I also called Master Brakes and they had no kit available and were no help at all. Thanks for trying, Brian
disk brakes I'm sure a machine shop could turn the spindles , but I was wondering if any one has done this and knows what rotors will fit with the least amount of work, or are a direct fit on the stock spindles. Does any one have the spindle specs, or better yet the bearing id specs for any disk brake cars so I could compare them to my 54? It would also be nice if the rotors had the same bolt pattern as the 54. Thanks Brian
:Comp: I don't know if this guy has a solution for you but give them a try. Eleminates some of the guess work but I wish those prices were lower. It'd be wonderful if someone would publish the correct part numbers to use and which vehicles they apply to. Even better would be the Hollander interchange numbers... http://www.hotrodssuperstore.com/super-store/disbrakcon55.html JR
disk breaks Thanks for the reply, but $1200 is way to steep. Especially for about $350 worth of parts. I'll keep trying and if I ever find a reasonable fix I will post it. Brian
:beer Thanks Brian and Phil. I once e-mailed that web site about their $1200 kit. I think I still have a copy of the message on my home PC. Will sent him another request and see if he'll be willing to share the correct GM part numbers to a fella wanting to utilize used parts from a salvage yard... JR
rotors I was looking on ebay and i remember there was a conversion bracket and in the description it said that they worked with "12 71-76 full sized rotors with 90-02 astro calipers. The brackets were buy it now for 125.00 and I would think that rotors and calipers from a parts yard would be fairly inexpensive. Hope that helps
Disk Brake Kits BJR: Enter Disk Brake Kits for Classic Buicks in Search, I have posted a Kit I used and the info needed, there are many choices for applications, as well as cheaper routes, your decision...........Rick
Try scarebird classic disc brakes, He's the guy on e-bay, sounds pretty reasonable. Looks like he goes back to 52 or53. Good luck! he's got a set posted on there right now. :beer
