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Has anyone installed the disc brake conversion kit from www.abspowerbrake.com If so please advise on how it went and if you would recommend it to others.
I went to the web link you listed and am very interested in their conversion for my '63.
Was really hoping you would get some feedback!
Have you gotten any additional info via any other means? If so, I would really appreciate knowing. If not, I would suggest that you try posting on the Vintage Thunderbird Club International forum (it is significantly larger). I would post it there, but don't want to "steal" your post.
Hey there,
I just joined this forum yesterday and found your post. I hope you're still in the market for a system.
I did over a years worth of research to find the folks that could build the custom disc brake system I wanted for my 63. And let me tell you, after trying on several ocations to work with them, ABS Power Brakes ended up at the absolute bottom of the list. In thirty years of dealing with different vendors, I've never dealt with such a POOR group of people. They represent EVERY THING I hate when it comes to dealing with a company. But that's just been my experience trying to work with them.
I ended up going to a company called Master Power Brakes (mpbrakes.com). I worked with a guy named Fred Rupert. Fred's an old school parts guy that number one, knows his stuff. But unlike those other guys (ABS), he won't just make crap up to get the sale, or to get you off the phone. He was happy to get tech info from his vendors for me, he pulled parts off the shelf to describe to me, he took measurements, he even took pictures and emailed them to me. For all you youngsters out there that don't know any better, this is how we used to do business "back in the day".
I can't say enough good about these guys (Master Power Brakes), and all I can say about ABS is RUN don't walk away as fast as you can. If they're this nasty and arrogant before they have your cash, how must they treat you when you have a problem!
My two cents worth,
Clint
I'm a Squarebirder but check "todays posts" every so often. I saw "Disc brakes" so I had to follow the thread. Hope you don't mind my 2 cents.
Not sure what problems you guys have converting the Bullet birds but Master Power Brakes was a real help with my Squarebird conversion. Super bunch of folks - there was no kit for the Squarebird when I did mine but they worked very hard to build a setup for my 60. Had a Galaxie master cyl bracket,one of their 7 "dual action boosters, their standard disc drum GM master cyl, and a proportioning valve. Was going to have to drill holes in the firewall for the galaxie bracket to work right on the Tbird firewall but stumbled on a fellow that could change my original booster to accept a modern 2 stud disc drum master cyl ( the squarebird booster has the old 4 stud drum only master). Didn't want to drill holes in my original 1 owner car so I took everything back to MP except the prop. valve and had no problem getting my money back even though it clearly states on their recipt - no refunds on special or custom setups.
I went with Granada spindles, rotors, and calipers, a "secret" master cyl and the Master Power prop. valve. Works super great. Here's a link to my conversion. Good luck with yours!! (best thing I've done to my Tbird along with the radials). Makes it a very good driver & stopper. Let me know if I can help.
Hey there DKheld,
I'm glad they did a good job for you. It's good to see they aren't all bad there.
I didn't have such a pleasant time with those guys. Since they didn't have a tried and true set up for my car and I had performance in mind instead of staying stock (or close to it) I needed a little cooperation out of them for measurements and such. They refused to supply me dimentions, they wouldn't get me any information on the components they used. They just kept telling me "they're experts" and just buy it! But "No Refunds" if it won't work. I won't bore you with the stories of the rude atitudes, no call backs, getting hung up on, left on hold for close to an hour (toll free so I'll wait em out!) and so on. With all those red flags a flyin I moved on RAPIDLY.
I'm glad I did. My system is a bit different than most. I went with a S/S 7"dual diaphram booster with a large GM style master cilynder. Then I went with 11.5" drilled and sloted rotors and a dual piston caliper on the rear. Then on the front it's 13.5" cross drilled and slotted rotors with 4 piston aluminum calipers. So this wasn't an out of the box kit. But all I can tell you is Fred at Master Power Brakes just breezed right on through the job. They're on the car now and they look great. I'll know soon how well they work.
Clint
The only reason I went so crazy on the brakes is I drove this car every day back and fourth (75 mi) to work for years. And I promised my self that if I ever had the bucks to up date the "Old Girl", I'd never again CRAP myself due to the "stock brakes"!
Clint
Hey there Alistar,
I did the Shockwaves on the front because of the wheel/tire size I'm wanting to run, and the 10 qt oil pan. I didn't want to have to keep pulling and trimming on those stock "Locomotive springs" to get the ride height correct.
I met a guy from Texas that had Shockwaves on his bird for the last several years and he LOVES them. So I'm going to give em a try.
I didn't plan on running them in th rear, but from what I hear, I'll like the fronts so much that I'll end up doing the rear. I already have the valving and plumbing wired and installed so all I need to do is insall the rears, and hook up the air line.
Is there a chance of getting you to start a thread on "Bagging your Bird" and post a bunch of pics? I may want to start on mine right away instead of waiting.
Clint
I met a guy from Texas that had Shockwaves on his bird for the last several years and he LOVES them. So I'm going to give em a try.
Is there a chance of getting you to start a thread on "Bagging your Bird" and post a bunch of pics? I may want to start on mine right away instead of waiting.
Clint
Hi ya Clint
I am 100% rapt with the Shockwaves in my '62 too, they're effortless, ride well and handle beautifully. Now that have a couple of months' and a heap of miles on the car I'm not quite as thrilled with the Air Over leaf set-up at the rear. Despite adding rear control arms the leafs have taken on a bit of a 's' shaped set and I'm having issues with pinion angle.
I'm off to a show in a couple of days, a 600 mile round trip. when I get back next week I'll start a thread and post a few photos.
Bob, if you are asking that question of Petrolhead or tbirder I can tell you that Alistair has not been active on the Forum since May, and tbirder not for the last couple of years. If you are asking about the MP Brakes system, check their website out.
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