I am doing the front disk brake swap on my '72 302 using 11" disks from a donor ('77?) Maverick. Brakes will not go together and now I'm wondering if I'm assembling them correctly and if the rebuilt calipers are correct. (Shouldn't have turned in the cores till rebuilts were installed.) I can put the caliper in place without the flat spring but not if the flat spring is in place. Am I putting it together correctly? If the flat spring is in place I could force it together but the caliper would never slide. When the calipers are in place the bleeder is not at the top of the caliper, but rather about 30* down. It doesn't look to me like the air can be bled out with the bleeder in that position. Looks like the caliper is intended to be mounted at the top of the disk so the bleeder would be on top of the caliper. Can anyone get me straightened out here?
You may have left and right calipers on wrong sides...This could explain bleeder location. As for the slider (metal spring) you drive it in place with the retainer, after the pads are installed then put the lock bolt in place. Its supposed to be tight so it cant walk out. Put a little silicone grease on the contact point at top of caliper bracket where the caliper sits against it...Lube spring/bracket assy too with silicone based grease.
Definitely looks like its on the wrong side. And as he said, a little lube on the keys and keyways along with a couple taps from a hammer and it should slide together pretty easily. I think I used assembly lube, and then blasted everything down with brake cleaner afterwards just to be sure.
Yes, that caliper belongs on the other side. That was the first thing I checked. Looked up the numbers on CarQuest and am SURE that number is for the left side. Oh well. That problem solved. Not doubting you guys but I can't see how the caliper can move when I pound that retainer in place. One thing I always check when doing disk brakes is to make sure the caliper moves, usually on a bolt. This one is not going to move freely. Next question: can you tell me where the pictured clip goes?
Thats the anti rattle clip and goes to the rear of the inner pad. Also, when you put your outer pads on, make sure the tabs on the pads hold it tightly to the caliper, otherwise it can rattle.
Also, go here, and download this PDF. Its a life saver, I promise. http://www.discbrakeswap.com/instructions/file/3-granada-swap
T H A N K Y O U ! ! ! ! I looked for some instructions like that but didn't find anything. No '74-'77 Maverick Repair Manual on AutoZone.com. None on a commercial site I have access to either. The discbrakeswap.com instructions answer all my questions.
Dont feel silly about the calipers. i had a Jeep towed in that the guy had replaced everything including a few masters and still couldnt get a pedal. As soon as I pulled the wheels I noticed the bleeders. Calipers on the wrong sides so he couldnt bleed the air out. No big deal right. Anyone can make that mistake. Wrong. This guy was an Aviation mechanic. Glad I dont fly out of Brantford airport.
I was watching for the switched calipers because I'd seen it before. Friend put his on wrong sides and we bled that thing a few times before he figured it out. Either CarQuest had the numbers switched in their online listing or parts were switched in the boxes. When I tried to picture the caliper on the other side it seemed like it wouldn't be right there either. But, when I held the other one up to the brake assembly it looked right. Anyone who hasn't done these disk brakes before would benefit from the instructions http://www.discbrakeswap.com/instruc...3-granada-swap recommended by b_ryce70Mav. Still don't understand how those calipers are going to move to apply pressure from both pads but now I know they're supposed to be tight. Things should go smoothly now, right?
To make matters worse on calipers for our cars some LS calipers have an R cast into them and the RS has an L cast into them. As was the case on my calipers. I bought Bendix loaded calipers and they were marked as above. It confused me because this was the first time that I had ever done a conversion. I just check out the online pictures from some web sites and it helped me through the changeover ...
Hydraulic Lines I saved all the front brake lines, hoses, brackets, proportioning valve and master cyl from the donor car. Also bought new disk brake rubber lines and the pre-bent front disk brake line kit. The old lines help to id the new pre-bent ones and show where to take out the bends that were made for shipping. Looks like the disk brake lines take a very different path than the path of the drum brake lines. While the drum brake brackets mount under the upper control arm, the disk brake brackets appear to mount 10 or 12 inches forward of that. And, the DS disk brake line doesn't seem to go thru the shock tower in the same place as the drum brake line. Anyone dealt with those issues? Have any pictures of the OE disk brake line routing? Pictures below show the differences. Both the drum and disk lines are shown for the DS. The PS disk line goes thru the shock tower in the same place as the drum line but again runs 10-12" farther forward.
If you look at the article I wrote about power disc brakes, you can see how the lines our routed. I thought that only the driver's side changed shock tower holes For POWER disc brake cars. As long as it gets plummed correctly into the prop valve...that is all that matters.
YES!! Exactly what I was looking for. Didn't want to make a new hole in the shock tower without confirmation it was needed. Your pictures will help locate the new hole and the brackets. Yes, only the DS line goes thru the shock tower in a different place -- on manual disks same as power disks. Looks like your article will answer a bunch of questions on swapping proportional valves too when I get to that. Thanks for writing it. Very helpful article!!
Have another question about the disk brake assembly. The instructions for the Granada disk brake swap says this: but the 1972 Ford Shop Manual says "slide" the support key assembly into place. I had to drive it into place and can not move the caliper when brakes are assembled. I'm concerned that the caliper won't move to press the outside pad against the rotor or, if it does, it won't retract and will drag and overheat. Just took the Mav for a 2.5 mile drive at 30 MPH using the brakes very little and couldn't hold my hand on the rotors when I got back. Should I do something to clearance the key assembly?
