Last time around the old drum brake hardware was removed on the front of the 1961 Pontiac Laurentian. This time the shiny and new disc hardware gets mounted.
After cleaning the old and very gross grease off the spindle the caliper mounting bracket from the kit goes on making use of the existing hard points.
The bracket uses spacers on two out of three bolts so it adds 1/2″ of additional track on each side. Certainly not a problem for a narrow track Canadian Pontiac.
The brake rotor needs the inner bearing greased, installed and a dust cover added.
The disc placed on the spindle then the smaller inner bearing installed.
Unfortunately there was a bit broken off the vacuum input on my booster as delivered. I glued it back on. Time will tell if the repair will hold. Since I ordered this in the US and had shipped it to the border I cannot practically return it. The backup plan is to swap the master cylinder to manual brake mode if the glue fix does not hold. I have since seen this small piece is available in most parts stores quite cheaply so I will likely buy a replacement.
The calipers came unpainted so something needed to be done about that.
A lick of paint gets the caliper looking better and should hopefully stop it from rusting.
The brake pads also came with a couple clips but no instructions. Eventually I figured out the bigger one hooks to one of the pads to hold it to the caliper. The other pad just floats in the caliper. After a rather large amount of puzzling I found out the smaller one is not necessary.
The aftermarket oil filter position fouled with with the larger brake booster and master cylinder combination. It was secured to the intake manifold with a couple U-bolts.
One of the very old oil lines tore when removing the filter housing. I have heard mixed reviews of using an aftermarket oil filter with the 261cid engine. It can cause a drop in oil pressure so another line of thinking is to skip the add-on filter and just change the oil more regularly. So I either need to replace the lines or block them off.
Now that is looking better now. The cotter pin is not yet bent and dust cap not installed just in case I need to take it apart. I still need to adjust the track rod ends for the additional track width. I could not get the adjuster to move so this will need some further attention. So far the all the pieces of the kit fit very well but the instructions are very, very brief.
Unfortunately the stock 14″ wheels do not fit as the wheel as it fouls with the caliper. The replacement junkyard wheels do fit however. I believe with a clean up and a bit of paint they will work. I suspect the stock wheels could be made to fit if a spacer was used.
The next step was some new brake lines which involved building the longer lines and flaring the ends. My friend Rod joined me for this job as we combined the best of his two flaring kits with a piece of mine to get a reasonable set of tools.
The kit came with a manual proportioning valve that operates only on the rear brakes.
We were able to source some pre-built lines where they came out of the master cylinder and stepped down in fitting size. They just need to be bent to fit. The rear goes to the proportioning valve then off to the rear of the car. The front goes to a T connector then for there to each front wheel.
We ran out of tubing for one last small run so we called it a day on the Pontiac at least. Later that evening we helped install a new windshield in a 1966 Dodge Panel truck that belonged to a fellow Beater Challenge alumni. As for next steps there is still brake work to be done as the lines are currently floating freely and need to be secured to the body but the overall the brakes are getting there if a little slowly. Additionally the booster needs to be connected to a vacuum port. The rear brakes will also likely require a little attention with a wheel cylinder a probable replacement candidate. After those tasks are complete the master cylinder can be bleed followed by the whole brake system. Hopefully nothing leaks. If the weather here ever warms up I can finally tackle the water pump as well.
The whole Affordable Classic series:
Wonderful to see. One quibble…..I think the calipers would have looked better in Brembo red!
Great upgrade, brakes that actually work after going through deep puddles or steep mountain passes are good to have.
The front end will be subject to a lot more stress during a panic stop with these upgraded binders, new balljoints, bushings and tierod ends hopefully are on the to do list as well.
Looking forward to future updates.
Looks stunning! Sounds silly but make sure that the bleeder is at the top of the caliper. Can’t bled the system otherwise
What about Australian brakes?
I saw what you did there…
It took me a minute or two, but I finally got it!
This is a great series of articles. I’m not much of a mechanic myself, and it’s fun to live vicariously through someone who is. I love the sheer, unadulterated practicality of this safety-first restomod.
Same here; it’s a pleasure to watch an expert at work. I am surprised at the quality issues experienced with the replacement parts: it’s sad the companies involved didn’t take more time writing useful instructions or making sure their parts weren’t broken from the factory. Glad you were able to make things work in spite of those problems.
One quick question: are you upgrading the seat belts as well? This might’ve been answered already and I just missed it.
Seatbelts are likely to come but no firm plans yet.
+1
+2
Nice job! Back in the Dark Ages, I did the disc brake swap on my ’69 Bonneville convertible, sourcing most of the parts off a junkyard ’70 B’ville. It all worked fine but I’d rather have an all-new kit like yours.
Great series of articles. Keep ’em comin’!
It is sure a lot more fun to put clean shiny things on than to take filthy rusty things off.
I recall snapping one of those oil filter line fittings off in the block of my buddy’s 62 Bel Air’s 235 six. It was really stuck good, as we proved when we snapped the EZ Out off in the hole too. Oddly, it didn’t leak oil. I guess if you snap off enough pieces in a hole it will seal somehow.
Nice, my problem would be that the new bracket makes the spindle carrier look bad, so that could be painted black.
Then the tie rods, and the A-arm, then the fenderwells, then the end of the frame.
Next thing I’m looking at a pile of parts and a gigantic 10 year project. Great that you’re doing what is required, although I wouldn’t trust that vacuum fitting…
Excellent work David..
As someone who has a passion for early 60’s Canadian Pontiacs , I’m lov’in this series .
I really hope you’ll consider spacers to adapt the stock wheels. The ones you’re putting on are really ruining this wonderful car for me. Sorry.
I hope to as well. It might happen after the rally. We will see.
My understanding is that spacers are considered dangerous. Even really expensive ones.
What is recommended is a wheel with proper offset for the new setup.
In this day and age you can get whatever you want if you are willing to pay.
Myself, I would use the wheels that fit to drive it to a pick and pull and find something that I like that works.
Also carefully check alignment etc.
I think Prof Niedemeyer is being quite nutty about those stock wheels. The fact I share his neurosis to the extent that I consider “ruining” an inadequate verb is irrelevant. Ignore him.
Actually I like those wheels, they remind me of highschool when you might see an old Pontiac just like that.
At any rate, once you’re clear of the $700 budget for the rally you might be able to find some 15″ steelies that will accept the stock hubcap.
For the true Beater Challenge spirit, in fact, you really need four different wheels, each with its own non-matching hubcap. 😉
What a fun project and that old girl actually looks pretty solid! I suspect those amber reflectors aren’t stock items (I assume there’s one on the other side) I think they mess up the lines and I’d have to remove them. Good Luck and I look forward to future installments.
If I removed them I would have to do some paint work which I am trying to avoid.
Lovely work. I can’t see from here: did you create loop-de-loop-de-loops in the hardlines that run from the last body-mounted component to the first frame-mounted component or retainer? That’s important to give these lines adequate flex.
As to the oil filter issue: looks like the ’58-up 261 engine had full-flow oil filtration, but used a replaceable-element oil filter. This page has what looks like sound suggestions for converting to a more easily found, less messily changed spin-on filter without running hoses or lines all over the engine bay and getting in the way of the brake hardware.
Thanks for that link. It requires a bit more research on my part.
Ahhhh, I see! (Think of long noise made by person who gets the punchline very late). I often wondered why those loopy bits were in brake systems. And not just BOF, I think, perhaps to account for vibration?
Yup. The idea is to avoid concentrating stress and strain (whether by dint of vibration or flex induced by body/chassis movement) anywhere in the brake line. That would lead to localised work-hardening, embrittlement, and failure (breakage), with bad results. The loop-de-loop-de-loop spreads the stress and strain over a large enough area to turn it into a nonproblem.
I believe that the purpose of the so-called loop-de-loop-de-loops has to do with production. I watched loop-de-loop era vehicles on the line, where a chassis complete with master cylinder and a “wet” fully bled brake system would move on to meet its body. Meanwhile the master cylinder was in “levitation” until chassis met body.
Anyway, with that, it’s my opinion that the purpose of the loop-de-loops was to allow somewhat free movement of the master cylinder with little chance of kinking a tube during further assembly, particularly body-drop.
Nice project! It sounds like you have a good plan, but it sounded like you are going to replace the old wheel cylinders only if needed. They are so cheap and your new power brakes are going to generate much more line pressure than the old manual system that you stand a pretty good chance of blowing them out. I would just replace both rear cylinders now as preventative maintenance.
Wow…..
I don’t see how the bracket changing the location of the steering arm is going to affect the track width. It will affect the steering geometry and tie rod adjustment.
Spacers may or may not allow you to use the original wheels, however you really want to use the newer wheels. The new wheels will be wider and able to handle the forces that radial tires will put on them. You should be able to use the original hub caps on those wheels and since the newer wheels are stronger they’ll stay on. I tried modern radials on the OE Scout wheels and found that I could not keep hub caps on and had to pick them up from the side of the road a couple of times. I picked up some pretty poor looking chrome modular wheels and those same hubcaps now don’t fly off on corners anymore.
More impressive work. I do hope you can get a replacement piece for that vacuum fitting. Always a big surprise when suddenly there is no boost. How does that manual proportioning valve work, do you take the car out on County Line Road and stand on the brakes to see whathappens, and then crawl under and adjust accordingly? Sounds. like fun!
I think that is pretty much the process.
1. Do a panic stop.
2. Did the rear brakes lock up?
3. If yes adjust proportioning valve, repeat until brakes don’t lock.
No once you’ve found the point where the rear brakes don’t lock up during a panic stop you should go back to the last setting where they did lock up. You want your rear brakes to lock up before the front brakes so sawing at the wheel when you try and panic stop has a chance of actually making a difference.
That broken piece is also a check valve. If the manifold vacuum drops too low, as during hard acceleration, the check valve retains vacuum in the brake booster so you still have power brakes. You are correct; they are readily available in the aftermarket.
This has fast become a CC favourite. The excellent photos don’t leave me wondering what the text might mean – it’s near-impossible to describe mechanical shennanigans with meaningful accuracy – and they add greatly to the core pleasure, which is ofcourse the vicarious thrill. I’d swear I have a scraped knuckle here just on reading. Which I don’t, and which is the point.
That car has turned out quite the bargain, surely? Even up in the wheelwells there seems nary a touch of rust.
Please try to keep the original wheels, a bit irrational, but a bit completely necessary.
More please!
Thanks for the sharing, David Saunders, great article.
A couple of random thoughts…
Pad fit – The pad that now “floats” in the caliper, it actually needs to have its “cleats” bent to make tight contact with the caliper to eliminate the float, otherwise it will rattle.
Master cylinder plumbing – Did the master cylinder include instructions which indicate how the ports should be connected to front and rear tubes? Some of that type master cylinder used the front port for rear brake supply.
You want power brakes as disk brakes are not “self energising”, but drum bakes are. Even my 1972 Honda Z 600 had power disk brakes.
Drum brake Mopars had 2 front wheel cylinders and thus 2 “leading brake shoes” for more self energizing. They stopped poorly in reverse.
Interestingly, my 1971 Chevy C10 pickup with a GVWR of 5600lbs did not have power assist with front disc brakes. While pedal pressure required was a bit higher than what most people expect, it still stopped just fine.
Since the steering was also non-assisted and the clutch linkage mechanical, there was a certain “control harmony”, equally high effort for all.
Looking good ! .
That by pass typ oil filter is indeed very important and it’s designed to be mounted on the same intake manifold just forward of the carby….
-Nate