Thread: 64 C10 disc brake conversion

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I pulled the trigger on a kit from ABS POWER BRAKES.com : $875 for front power disc kit. Shipping time was slower than I would have liked, almost two weeks. They only make a couple parts in house: the rest of the stuff they order and resell. AS such, the few quality problems I found weren't entirely thier fault. Nothing they couldn't have found with some good QC work though.

The disc shields had razor sharp edges, which had to be deburred before installation. Also, one was slightly damaged from shipping. Was able to straighten it out with minimal trouble.

The calipers had some 'flashing' left from incomplete or sloppy finish cuts on the casting, these had to be dressed down with a fine flat file for fit on the spindles.

One of the spindles also had to be filed down, it lacked about ten-thousandths or more of letting the caliper slide in. In fact, I got tired of trying to get there with the fine file, and switched up to a bastard cut file.

The power booster brake rod was too long by 1.25" which necessitated a call to ABS. They assured me it was ok to cut it to length; that I wasn't 'missing' anything. An instruction sheet would have saved them an extra ten minutes of phone time. I drilled two additional holes in the firewall for the booster bracket. One I thru-bolted, the other I tapped for 3/8-16 as the steering column bracket was in the way of making it a thru bolt. I'd preferred to have them both thru-bolted, but am pretty sure it is plenty strong.

The booster assembly included a bracket which mounts the proportioning valve. They plumbed it to the master cylinder with 1/4" tubing, but all three outputs are 3/16" tubing. I was expecting to use 1/4" on the front, and 3/16" on the rear. I guess I'll be returning the quarter, and hope I'll have enough of the 3/16" to finish the job.

I'm using all stainless fasteners. Would it be over-demanding of me to expect them to include the six 5/16-18 fasteners for the dust shields?

the shields, spindles , master cylinder and calipers I painted with some rattle can epoxy. White is the only color I have.. it looks real nice. Contrasts well with the rusty suspension and the black undercoat. Just couldn't bear to install it nude and let it go to rust.

No problems at all with the discs, they look nice. Dust caps look like they are chrome finish, nice touch. Too bad I was too lazy to mask off and paint the disc hubs, would have looked nice. Also included, Timpken bearings, grease seals, and castle nuts with cotter pins.

Soon as I get the hardlines for the front bent up and installed, I'll let y'all know how it does on the road!