The brakes on this machine were dismal: Manual four wheel drums with a single reservoir master cylinder. It took both feet to stop and you had to maintain constant pressure at stop lights lest you start to creep. I upgraded to power brakes thanks to a kit available from a fellow called Todd Fields. The installation of this kit as well as the more economical Geo Metro conversion are detailed in Joesfalcon.com. This is also the site where I learned how to make my own brake lines. I replaced the front brake hoses, while I was at it. What a difference! I had been planning an upgrade to disk brakes and put that on hold.
The boosted drums are quite good performers and for many people will be more than adequate. For those who wish to keep the car original but want good performance, this booster (now also available from Dearborne Classics) involves no alteration to the car and can be paired with any number of other upgrades, including braided steel lines, drilled drums, performance shoes, cryogenically treated drums, etc. There are certainty many race cars out there running four wheel drums.
I am not one of those people and soon began to explore the limits of this system. Stopping power was adequate and comparable to many modern economy cars, but not on a par with modern performance vehicles. Also, repeated performance stops soon overheated the brakes and caused notable fading. Finally, there is the plague of uneven braking and pulling. No amount of tweaking ever seemed to get my front brakes to work in perfect harmony. Time for another upgrade.
Phase 2: Front Disks & Upgraded Drums
Installation is straightforward for anyone with experience in brake work. My kit came complete with the required spindles, so I just assembled the units off the car, and then swapped out the spindle assemblies in their entirety. Getting the old spindles off can be a chore, but don't resort to a pickle fork or you'll ruin your balljoints. Let the suspension hang and whack at the spindle with a mallet. The balljoints will soon let go.
Slightly more difficult was the installation of a Wilwood proportioning valve, which I elected to use since I wasn't going to install the correct disk/drum master cylinder that came with the kit. This involved some additional tubing bending and flaring, for which I already had the experience and tools from when I installed the power brake conversion.
I did a conversion to an 8" rear end at the same time and installed Praise Dyno Brake's stage 3 drum brake upgrade while I was at it.
Obvioulsy, the disk brake upgrade was a great mod. Still, I think the '67 Mustang conversion works just as easily and may be a better match. I'm not sure either of these would be quite good enough for a hi-po bent-8 car on a track, but they are fine for the lighter and less powerful six cylinder on the street.
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| Next time I'll go with a vintage racing brake system like this one. |
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| Cobra Automotive pairs these drums with the above disks. |
The Downsides
The spindles adapted to the stock tie-rods using conical adapters that fit inside the holes that the tie rods go into. Unfortunately, the steering arms on the Granada spindles are at a different height than those of the Falcon/Mustang. Consequently, the tie rod angle is radically altered, resulting in pronounced bumpsteer. The fix involved swapping to V-8 steering with a tiny modification, which was easy, but pricey. I had to replace my old steering assembly anyhow and the V-8 pieces are much, much stronger. Click this link to read about the conversion.
Also, the brake pedal now has a wooden feel. This is probably due to using a master cylinder that is incorrect for this application. I suspect that the residual pressure valves that are integral to this master cylinder also cause the front brakes to drag a little. I'll be replacing the installed power master cylinder with the correct non-power one that was included in the kit soon.
