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options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ?

Posted By: SSAAHemiFan

options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/14/10 06:25 PM

Contemplating a front disc upgrade on the 65 Belvedere I just picked up.

Alot of companies are offering kits these days but it's hard to keep up with the quality of them.

Has 10" drums and stops well but.. I have had a couple of panic situations already.

Just a mild driver so no need for any type of racing or oversized setup. I was hoping to keep it simple (all mopar) so parts are easy to get.

I'd like to retain the stock 14" rims if possible.

Suggestions ? Thanks

I would consider piecing together OEM stuff or buying a kit.
Posted By: Pentastar440

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/14/10 06:44 PM

I have '79 Cordoba discs on my '65 and they work great. Any mid-late 80s 5th Avenue-Diplomat also work. The Cordobas have larger rotors (heavier)than the Diplomat brakes. Either should work fine. Find a donor car and get everything between the upper and lower ball joints and bolt it together. While doing the conversion replace everything you can with new stuff like calipers,hoses etc.
Posted By: rrunner

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/14/10 06:45 PM

73-76 A body, 70-74 E body and 70-72 B body, will all bolt up just fine. Some are using 73-74 B body with the taller spindle now, but way back when that was said to be a no no. I have never done the 73-74 B body swap as it was always easy enough for me to find all the others I listed.
Posted By: rrunner

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/14/10 06:47 PM

Quote:

I have '79 Cordoba discs on my '65 and they work great. Any mid-late 80s 5th Avenue-Diplomat also work. The Cordobas have larger rotors (heavier)than the Diplomat brakes. Either should work fine. Find a donor car and get everything between the upper and lower ball joints and bolt it together. While doing the conversion replace everything you can with new stuff like calipers,hoses etc.


Didn't think the larger rotor would allow the use of the 14" rims.
Posted By: Pentastar440

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/14/10 06:56 PM

You will also need to upgrade to a dual master cylinder. I got mine from Mancini (DrDiff and others on here have them too) and I don't have a proportioning valve, mine works fine without one. I would get everything installed without a proportioning valve and see how it works. If you don't have any premature wheel lockup you won't need one.
Posted By: nomore65BelvJim

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/14/10 07:12 PM

I have the entire front end from a 72 coronet under my 65 Belvedere. Direct swap, simple. IIRC 62-72 B body is a direct swap. 73-76 A body is also good.
You can use the F,M,J and late B set-up without problems and they are probably the most plentiful swap still available in a lot of JY's. I have sold at least a dozen sets from parted F bodies with no issues and used them myself on a 72 Demon.
Posted By: AndyF

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/14/10 07:44 PM

The factory stuff from 1973 or newer is the best to use if you can find the necessary parts in a wrecking yard. All you really need are the knuckles and the caliper brackets, everything else is available new at any auto parts store for really cheap prices.

If you don't want to turn any wrenches then the kit from Master Power is probably the best. It is basically a 1973 A body reproduction kit. It just costs a lot more than wrecking yard parts because the parts are all new.

There are lots of kits available but for what you want to do, there isn't really any reason to use anything but factory parts.
Posted By: Andrewh

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/14/10 08:01 PM

65 coronet, used the parts off an m-body. Full size 80's full size. With the small rotors and kept my 14'inch wheels.

Going to upgrade to the 11 inch rotors in the near future, which will require 15 inch wheels.
Posted By: SSAAHemiFan

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/15/10 01:23 AM

Thanks for the suggestions and advice everyone !!

My hope was to keep the stock 14" rims and it looks like I can do that as long as I use the 10.87 rotor's.

I'm leaning towards the OEM stuff as most kit's are saying 15" and up rims are needed.

Is a "m" body like a 5th avenue, diplomat or volare??

Are those style calipers and adapters any smaller physically than those used on 73-75 A-Bodies??

Thanks Again
Posted By: RobX4406

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/15/10 01:27 AM

FMJ or 73-76 A body spindles work fins

PM me if you are interested in either set. I have both types of spindles.

New rotors, calipers, hoses, bearing and you're in around $400 total
Posted By: Andrewh

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/15/10 02:46 AM

5th ave, gran fury and diplomat are m bodies.
volarie is an F body I think.

I don't know how they compare to the abody. the caliper bracket is the only difference between the 11 inch and 10 inch rotors for those spindles.
Should be fairly common. I think I got both sides for like 40 bucks. Don't bother keeping the rotors. you should take the calipers as cores as long as they don't run more than the core charge for new one's.
Posted By: pinkmeepmeep

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere - 03/15/10 04:42 AM

I have a 65 belvedere that I put disk brakes using newer A body stuff cuz I couldn't find the cordoba caliper brackets. Changed to an a body manual disc master cylinder but there are different bore sizes and I used the larger bore. next time I replace the master cylinder I am going to try the smaller bore cylinder because I have heard that although you have to move the pedal farther to displace the same amount of fluid, pedal pressure is lighter. Don't get me wrong my brakes work great, but it would be nice to have a little softer pedal.
Posted By: @#$%&*!

Re: options for front disc conversion for 65 Belvedere ? - 03/15/10 06:07 AM

You may be not be able to use your stock 14" wheels, they likely don't have the recess for the calipers (not '65 wheels). A good wheel shop can swap on later style rims onto your centers so you can use the stock hubcaps. For full wheel covers it doesn't matter, just use later wheels.
Cory
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