4/18/11 - this is one of the many upgrades I planned to do to this Scout over time and the shoes running themselves into the drum was more than enough motivation to initiate the front disc brake upgrade... Gonna be sharing info and pictures as I go.... The job began yesterday fyi....
1977 cj7 rotors.. About 35 bucks each at the local parts store. The studs are dorman part number 610-174 and the shoulder profile of the new stud is a perfect fit into the new rotor and old hub... Different hole size in each....
4/19/11 -- got it all back together -- took her for a test drive, and it worked like a charm.
I was pleasantly surprised that the original master worked with the new Chevy calipers so I didn't have to get into changing that out just yet... The pedal engages at about 2".... So that means there is plenty of volume to feed the disc calipers and this little 63 Scout model 80 stops damn near on a dime with no pulling or fading whatsoever.
I plan to change the master down the line with a dual circuit master. Probably from a later Scout so I don't have to cut and fab the fender well for fitment. Going to disc on the rear as well once the new Ford 9" I am building is complete....
end note - this was a total bolt on upgrade that cost me well under $200. The only real fab and hardware changes I needed to make were clearancing the backside of the knuckle for caliper clearance (easy cheesy), changed the 1/2 plug on the back of the knuckle to a recess type so as to clear the caliper, new brake lines that went from the existing hard lines to the caliper (banjo fitting), and slightly longer grade "8" bolts for fastening the new backing plates and spindle to the knuckle....
Thanks. Found out after the fact that there was a wider cj7 rotor that I could have gone with that was 1 1/8" wide. The Scout II rotor will work perfectly with this setup too.
Now that I've been through the process and found out how simple it was to do versus how much better it performs than the drum brakes, I would not hesitate to make the change.
Stock Chevy 1/2 ton backing plates - junk yard $15 each. 2wd or 4wd work just the same.
They have the exact same 6 bolt pattern as the d25, d27, d30 and d44 spindle. You want to make sure to use slightly longer grade 8 bolts and lock washers when you install the disc backing plates. Sorry I didn't have any pics up of that. I was hauling butt trying to get it done and my photo person was no where in sight.....
everything bolts right up and the only thing we had to do custom was the hoses. But I have a friend with a hose shop, so he fabbed them up in a jiffy and the whole system continues to work perfectly. Its great to have disc brakes!
