help! does anyone sell a manual disc brake conversion kit? i have seen lots of power brake kits, but prefer manual. dont see many of those advertised. i am at the stage of purchasing one for my 66. any replies would be greatly appreciated. thanks

What I did was bought a pirate jack "wheel kit". This includes all you need for disks but no master or booster. Then I bought a 68 camaro 1 1/8" master cylinder for manual brakes and a prop valve for disk/drum. I bent all my own lines, but the stock ones will work. Its that easy. This is just for the front though, you can do the same if you want 4 wheel disk, but need a diff master/prop valve. Pm me if you have any more questions.

www.Piratejack.net Great price and is still working great.

thanks. what prop valve did you use. so my stock drum lines will work? keeping rear drums. thanks

The only lines that need changing are the flexible ones at the wheel, which are included in the kit. THis is because they need to be longer. Otherwise the hard lines work. I just purchased a prop valve from pirate jack that is setup for disk drum. Easy as pie.

http://www.classicperform.com/I got a 4 wheel disk conversion kit from these guys. I had them swap the power setup for a manual set up. I also upgraded to a crossdrilled/slotted rotor. Reg ular price was $1199, got it for $1100. Still waiting for it to arrive.

http://www.classicperform.com/I got a 4 wheel disk conversion kit from these guys. I had them swap the power setup for a manual set up. I also upgraded to a crossdrilled/slotted rotor. Reg ular price was $1199, got it for $1100. Still waiting for it to arrive.

This is awfully expensive. Yes I am sure its a great performing kit, however he is asking about just front disks. My whole conversion budget was under $500 with new lines and ceramic pads. Also if you arent running big open wheels, the crossdrilled/slotted do absolutely no good. They are purely for appearance with todays brakes.

My car has a master cylinder from I believe a 65 corvette. It's for manual 4 wheel disk. Works fine.

thanks. yes i am trying to stay around $500 or so range. would love to have four wheel discs though. so i could buy wheel kit and purchase master cylinder for maybe a 74 malibu? what particular master do i need? will one from napa work for a specific model after 66? thanks.

Well many masters would work. I tried I think a 77, might have been 74 malibu master. The problem was it didnt flow enough fluid. So I got a camaro manual brake 1968 master. It has a 1 and 1/8" bore size, which is what flowed more fluid. I think the malibu one was like 15/16". I bought my master from schucks, so yes Napa would work. Like I said, I am very happy with the camaro one.

You can get whatever master you like, but it must be setup with one large reservoir and one small one, for disks/drums. Also the bore should be big enough, otherwise you will run into the same problem as I did. I am unsure of the bore size for a 74 malibu. I think I paid $12 after core for the camaro master. Very cheap.

So get a master, and get the wheel kit, and the disk/drum prop valve. Thats all you should need. Oh yea, and a big can of brake fluid. :beers:

Pirate Jacks is a great source. I've used them before. Goooood prices, especially on backing plates.

thanks. i will go with 1 1/8 bore. did you have any hookup issues with any of the parts? spindles, backing plates, master to pedal, etc? i may just go with pirate jacks. good prices i see. on small budget. thanks again to everyone.

Everything that was on the wheel side went on super easy. A very fun project too! The thing that gave me all the trouble was making my own lines. Without a double flair tool, I had to buy standard lines, order special fittings, and then ended up with a funky half ass row of couplers to get my rear line too work. If you can save your old lines, this "shouldnt" be a problem.

Other than the lines, messing with the master was a big PITA as well because I wasnt sure if the master was the problem or something else. Because the bore size was too small like I said before, the brakes were just constantly mushy unless I pumped it a bunch. Again though, everything was pretty darn simple. This was actually my first complete brake conversion too!

If you get stuck at all, just pm me, Ill even send you my number. People on this site have helped me numerous times, no reason why I shouldnt return the favor.

Doing my install right now on my 66 I purchased this Summer from "The Right Stuff" for around $500 with slotted rotors. I too elected to stay with manual.

hey, thanks guys. all great info so i can make correct decisions. i may have to pm you brettd85 for your #. anyway thanks everyone. any other advice is also much appreciated. thanks

I have manual disc/drum in my '66 also. The master cyl casting number is R2226311. A long time ago I looked up the #'s in a Raybestos buyers guide, but don't remember for sure what it came on. Something like an early '70 Nova or Monte. It came out of a wrecking yard with the proportioning valve attached.

I found the '68-'72 A Body front discs on eBay two years ago. The sellers name was "whitemanford". Several other TCer's have also bought from him since then. The kit included rotors, calipers, pads, hubs (with bearings & seals), steering arms, backing plates, brake hoses, etc.... Pretty much everything. The only issue that I had was the dust covers were a little on the tight sight. A little sand paper and they were good to go.

I think the price for the kit, minus master/booster was $349. Master and prop valve were $5. I will say that the pedal is a little on the stiff side. I'm seriously considering switching to a m/cyl with a smaller bore, more pressure from less force, but a bit longer stroke. I know my current m/cyl is over an inch, maybe as much as 1 1/8.

When I do break down and actually do something about it, I'll have to check it all out again. It's been a long time since I have been inspired by stopping. Much easier to get motivated to make it go.

I'm looking at the disc kit from pirate jacks 399.00, I want a manual master cylinder for 65ss, which would work the best?