I was searching the internet and came across this 39 dodge with front disc brake off a Volare. Has anyone heard of this? I found a kit that comes with everything but I am interested to see if there is truth to this swap. Thank you

http://www.carbuffs.com/dodge39.htm

Yes, there is a guy here that has them http://www.scarebird.com/index.php?id=1

I got mine from another company years ago. They are under transition, and I don't know if they are your best source.

There is also a guy over on HAMB that has a good name http://www.rustyhope.com/page2.html

No such thing as a "72 Volare".

If he meant 72 Valiant, then the front bolt pattern wouldn't match the rear.

I used a disc brake kit from PLyDo, do not know if they are still around. I used the original axle and spindles, slide a spacer on for the new bearings. The calipers are late 70's mid size GM. The kit calls for disc from the same but I wanted the 4 1/2 inch bolt pattern so I used a disc from 68-69 Fairlane. Sounds weird but it works and works well.

I have used www.rustyhope.com brakes and would use them again. He gives you brackets, bolts, spacers and a list of parts with numbers you take to the parts store of your choice and buy the parts locally. Gene

Well, the 39 has kingpins, the Volare has ball joints, so brakes from the latter aren't gonna just bolt up without some kind of adaptors.

I used a Plydo kit on my 49 Dodge; it used Mopar rotors and GM calipers plus a spacer for the spindle and a caliper bracket cut from a steel plate. Don't know if Plydo is still in business, but I'm sure the Rusty Hope deal is MOL the same kind of setup.

do you guys know what rotors fit the early spindle and do you know how big the spacer is????
and is the spindle the same from a 37 dodge axle?

thinking about making the race truck gasser style and I have a good 37 dodge axle thanks, Ron...

Ron, I'd suggest talking to rusty hope and scarebird. It sounds like you want to fab yourself, not buy the kit, but they may stil help you out. I have the Ply-Do setup in front. I'm hoping to get the exhaust done today, but might be able pull a wheel this weekend and take pics and measurements. I've got '46 spindles, since I didn't want the GM pattern.

I have a pair of rotors here that came off some early 70's chrysler that I pounded out the studs and the hub and the rotor separated and the rotor looks like something you would use for rear disc brakes so I kept them around in case I wanted to make a rear disc brake setup.
I think I can remove the front brake drum from the 37 hub and then fit the chrysler rotor to it and then make the bracket for the gm pin type caliper. but If I could find a rotor with a hub that would fit the 37 spindle I would go that way. thanks, Ron...

Ron is the rotor from a rear disc imperial setup? I just bought a 74 imperial disc rear...I don't have it in hand yet so I can't look at it.

Regarding the 37...I think 39-47 trucks are different than earlier. As I recall there is a special e-mail list for the 39-47 trucks on yahoo, I used to be a subscriber but I changed email addresses a while back and haven't rejoined. I think that list was started by the people from Rusyhope.com

I did find this from a link list on the home page.
Hot Rod Superstore site

The rotors that I have came off the front of some chrysler

and when i knocked out the studs the hub and rotor came apart, so I figured I would use them to make a rear disc kit but now I think I can use them on the 37 axel

I know that new rotors for a must II or granada cost less than $100. for the pr and the flame cut plates to mount the GM caliper is around $125. that seams pretty fair to me. I cant justify $500-$600. for a brake kit from some of these guys Ron....

ron, is that 37 axle from a car ? i have one of those apart here and i can measure the od. of the spindle for the inner & outer bearings. maybe then i can find a bearing to fit whatever hub/rotor in a bearing book i have ?

Ron,
I had an axle from a 37 Plymouth coupe here I put a set of rotors from a mid 80s 5th Ave on just to roll it around. The bearings fit the spindles great, but without a spacer, the inside of the rotors were up against the backing plate bolt heads.

I installed a conversion kit from Rusty Hope on my 39 Plymouth. The kit contains the flame cut plate, the bearing spacer, 2- 5/8" fine thread bolts, 1 or 2- 3/8" (I think) fine thread bolts as required, and a list of parts needed for the swap. When I bought the kit, about 3 years ago, it was $175 + shipping. The spacer bassically sets the inner bearing out about a 1/4" from the original bearing stop and has a sep up over the original stop to provide a sealing surface for the grease seal.

According to Rusty Hope, there are 2 different spindle types used on Mopars from the mid 30s through the mid 50s. There is one that has 3 bolts that mount the brake backing plate and one that has 4 bolts that mount the brake backing plate. The two require different spacers and have a different flame cut plate that use different GM calipers. Apparently, the change over took place around 39-40, as the wrong kit was sent for my 39, my car had the older version, the 3 bolt design. Gene

the axle I have is from a 367 dodge 4 dr sedan, its still on the frame right now any measuremen would be cool


Gene thanks for the information
I have a machinest friend that could make me the spacers,
and I am sure I could make the caliper plates.
This would be the cheapest way for me to go.


the plan is to make the race truck like a gasser with the nose a little high in the front but I want to do it as cheap(but safe) as possible because if it does not ride or handle well I could change it over to a mustang II frontend in a weekend at a later date


thanks for the info so far guys Ron....

well, it took me longer than i thought to dig out the spindles to compare, but take a look. the "new" spindle is the common aspen,volare,dart, b body , etc. spindle used for drum to disc conversions. the "old" spindle is from a mid 30's plymouth. 37, i think. 38 should be the same, and i believe 33 would be very similar in regards to length and bearing surfaces. the outer bearing surface is .749 diameter on both spindles with the length of threads being .937 on both, and the threads are identicle at 3/4x16. the bearing seat length on both is .678 long. the key slot is .187 on both, with both being the same length.
the inner bearing od. is 1.249 on the "old" vs 1.3745 for the "new". the bearing seat length is .958 from the seal surface to where the "taper" begins on both.
the seal surface od. is 1.7375 x .375-.400 long[approx] on the old vs 1.943 x .570[approx] on the "new".
the length of the spindles from the front to the seat of the inner bearing is 4.767 for the "old" vs 4.700 for the "new. it appears the length difference is in the taper area, and should be , for all practicle purposes, not of any concern.
however, the chamfer at the inner bearing seat is different between the two spindles. if a "spacer" were to be machined to use the factory inner bearing of the 10 3/4 or 11 3/4 rotor, you would have to take that into consideration for a proper fitment. you could also incorporate an inner seal adapter with the bearing adapter. this would be a somewhat simple item to fab. i haven't had time to research a conversion inner bearing or seal[ if such exists], but i will try to do so soon. hope this info helps.

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