Old guy44

Forgot something. I planned to knock out the studs and replace them but they had been swaged and were expanded. With out the benefit of a press they were not about to come out. So I bought a good 5/8 hole saw which has a 1/2 in ID and put it in the drill press. it took about 5 minutes to cut the shoulder down to size and another 15 minutes to run a die over them and thread them down to the mounting surface. Problem solved

OK guys here is a template of the two brackets. I also showed the final mock up to make sure that everything fits and clears. It is ready to weld in the morning, this old body is tired. These brackets are not something you want on your show car but I guarantee that they will be the last thing to fail on the front brake system (depending on your welding ability) The 9/16 bolt that screws into the top of the spindle will need to be ground down for rotor clearance as will the nuts welded onto the caliper bracket. with two brackets you can fit and shim. The only thing I needed to shim was the caliper bracket which is held on with the 9 1/6 bolt. you need to shim it so the rotor sits in the middle of the caliper. The caliper is a solid mount and you only have about .080 to work with. With everything fit and tightened I plan to weld it bolted to the spindle and let it cool in the atmosphere to hopefully reduce warpage. Just for giggles I took picture of my Fred Flintstone working conditions. Out here you don't just run out and buy another garage. This is So CAL where three hole outhouses are in the low six figures. I would love to have a beer but I used up my lifetime supply of alcohol by my 25th birthday. Should have the front brakes on by this weekend so will be able to see how they work. I am going to poke around a couple of places and see if I can find a posi somewhere before doing the rear. wilwoodtemplate.pdf

No reason in particular I just mounted it as High as I could to get it as close to the metal line as possible

Now it begins. Spent all day roughing out the two brackets. Only had to throw away half of the first attempt. Turns out that two pieces is the way to go. If you look at 1264 I still need to do some detailing but once all the extra is cut off a piece of half inch solid square is just the right size for a filler. The caliper bracket was drilled and tapped and just to make sure I welded a grade 8 nut on so there is about a half inch of threads. With a grade 8 bolt it is not going anywhere. Once I get all the excess off and clean them up I will lay them on top of a piece of 1/4 square graph paper and it will be easy for someone to transfer the picture onto a clean piece of graph paper and duplicate the final product. 1266 is where the caliper bracket bolts onto the spindle. A 1/8 inch spacer centers the caliper perfectly. I am using the original hub out of the brake drum. I will need to replace the studs with something that does not have any shoulder sticking out of the mating face. I had to drive them back to get the rotor to mount properly. It seems that it will be a lot easier than I anticipated. Once I get these tailored it should not take more than a couple of hours to duplicate them, another hour or so to weld everything up and they should be on the car by this weekend. Barring more plumbing problems or who knows what the next disaster will be I should have them ready to install tomorrow. since the spindle fits either side the brackets are mirror image of one another.

OK got home and drug out a rotor and caliper. Bolted the rotor to the hub put it on the spindle and set the caliper on looks like the bracket will not be too difficult. Everything lines up pretty well. I did drop the rotor and caliper into the spare and everything clears so maybe in a day or two. I will lay everything out and take pictures and I will post the receipt with all the part numbers so there will be no question what I am using. Kitchen faucet broke so I had to stop and put on my plumbers hat.

Just got back from Wilwood. With brake hoses I have 2K in parts in my trunk. I want to do a quick mock up before I post pictures and numbers. Will try to do that this afternoon. I know the rears will fit because the kit is made for the 9.3 drop out but the fronts at this point are a crapshoot. Something occurred to me while I was sitting at Wilwood. To put the rear brakes on I will need to pull the axles. It would be the perfect time to drop out the carrier and put in a posi. Anyone know of one sitting around getting lonely? I found someone that makes a new posi but for a daily driver being retired and on a fixed income 800+ is just a bit rich for my wallet for something that I really do not need but would like to have.

TEST RESULTS NEGATIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your kind thoughts. I was feeling like I had been run over by a truck last night and was understandably concerned, but apparently it was just a reaction to working on an old Chrysler that belongs to a friend in Australia. She left it with me the last time she was here and I have been fixing things on it ever since. The master cylinder kept going dry so I replaced it, not the fix. Yesterday I replaced the wheel cylinders, the rears were both leaking. At my age doing brake work on a jack is a painful experience and apparently my body decided to scream at me that I am no longer 25. Bottom line is that I had a really good nights sleep and woke up feeling great. If the testing comes back negative I can drive out to Wilwood pick up the parts and get moving.

Yes, We were both vaccinated but so was our daughter. I am not feeling real comfortable about this particularly for my wife who is diabetic.

Another road block. My parts are ready for pickup at Wilwood but we were exposed to COVID this weekend and are quarantined for 10 days. I anticipate picking up the parts as soon as I get the results from the COVID test if it turns out negative. I am not absolutely certain that am not in trouble because it was the youngest daughter that came down with it on the 24th and she spent the whole weekend here. Tune in for the next episode.

Yes with the hub off. I just stuck it in my bucket of what they pass off as carburetor cleaner until the rest of the brake parts get here. Don't know how much good it will do but it can't hurt

Frosty, The spindle just arrived, it came from Big M Automotive in Williams Ca. It looks like they drug it up out of a swamp but it should clean up and work fine.

Just to be clear, the rear is a complete bolt on kit for the olds pontiac 9.3 drop out carrier. The front is just rotors and calipers I will need to build everything else. But I will lay everything out and take pictures with part numbers, and pictures with detailed size instructions of the front brake caliper mounts. If things get here as they are scheduled I will probably be starting next weekend.

Kiwi, I ordered the brake parts they have everything but the rear rotors. They are hoping that they will be in by next Friday. Looks like the spindle and brake parts might be in around the same time. Cost was about $1800.00 which I did not think was that bad for a complete Wilwood system, front and rears with parking brake. That does not include master cylinder or booster. I changed that when I put on the current front discs, or shipping to New Zealand. It also does not include shipping because they are only about 30 miles from me.

Kiwi, I ordered the brake parts they have everything but the rear rotors. They are hoping that they will be in by next Friday. Looks like the spindle and brake parts might be in around the same time. Cost was about $1800.00 which I did not think was that bad for a complete Wilwood system, front and rears with parking brake. That does not include master cylinder or booster. I changed that when I put on the current front discs, or shipping to New Zealand. It also does not include shipping because they are only about 30 miles from me.

It is my understanding that it started with the COVID shut down. My suspicion is that now in the Peoples Republic of California they are paying so many people to just sit on their ass that they can't find workers. I know that many other people I talk to are finding it hard to find employees

Frosty next week some time. Let you know as soon as it gets here. I should call Wilwood to see if they have everything I need in stock. Last time I talked to them they did not have the rear kit in stock. I have not been down there so haven't seen it myself but I have heard from more than one person that there are container ships anchored outside the Port of Los Angeles almost all the way to Catalina. So whatever you are looking for it is probably there somewhere. a

Frosty, I honestly don't know at this point. I left messages with those that did not pick up the phone and about 4 hours later one of them called back to tell me that they had the part. I did not ask any questions just gave them a card number and called it a day. I will let you know when the part gets here if you want to know. Kiwi, As memory serves the 8 luggers have a shoe that is a half inch wider than the standard. My problem with the drum brakes was that when stopping you never knew which way they were going to dive. Had the drums resurfaced tried two different sets of shoes one bonded one riveted and never did cure it. I have a substandard disc kit I found on ebay that does not work as well as the drum brakes but at least it stops straight. I am careful not to get too close to whatever is in front of me. My experience with Wilwood is that it should not take too much pedal pressure to lock up all 4 so I will need to learn to drive all over again.

Kiwi thanks for the offer but frosty's list yielded results. One guy called back has a 63 Catalina and Bonneville. Have one on the way, when I get all the brake brackets done I will just put it on ebay and get my money back. I will be posting the build on the forum in case someone wants to go the Wilwood route.

Thanks Frosty, Gives me more places to try.

Finally got all the automobile BS done that ganged up on me several months ago. Granddaughters new beetle convert is finally done, found and fixed the heavy rattle on my wifes Lexus RS, I am just going to sell the SL for what I have invested trying to get it running or part it out, replaced the park brake cable on the truck, got the engine back together on the Catalina (thanks Comp cams NOT) So I am finally going to dive into the Wilwood brakes but I am looking for a front spindle. I want to bolt it to the welding table. It will simplify the fabrication of all the brackets and not disable the Indian while I am building the system. Problem is I can't find one. Have tried all the usual sources, Franks in so cal, Fatman, Ebay, google and no luck. It does not even need to be a usable spindle, if it has a chewed up spindle from a bearing burn out or whatever I can still use it for a mock up. Any suggestions?

I actually heard on a news broadcast that when Trump was in office all illegals at the border were sent home. Now that Biden and Commie La Harris are in office 100,000 illegals were allowed in last month alone!! The news caster actually said that these illegals broke our laws coming across the border and were rewarded for breaking the law. Not that he was in anyway incorrect in what he said, I was just shocked to hear it on TV. You are right we do not stand a chance.

This new delta strain is rampant in the SW US also. But we are not on lockdown. Maybe they are hoping that all the jerks that will not get vaccinated get covid and die and we can be through with this stuff. I just got my Pontiac back together and am not looking for a rematch!

You could be right on the issue of availability. I do know for a fact that Scat gets all of its crank cores from China and they are having a dickens of a time getting cores for their kits. Their delivery times are astronomical right now because of it. I am not sure that cost is an issue, considering the cost of building an engine now days I do not know anyone that would not be willing to spend an extra 70 to 100 dollars for quality retainers that will last the life of the engine as opposed to something that is subject to early failure. My engine has less than 10,000 miles on it and you have seen the results. It cost me 400+ just for the parts to put mine back together, given a choice at the time of the original build would I have been willing to spend slightly more for quality retainers? In a heartbeat!

In the case of valve spring retainers I just asked the manufacturer or looked on their website. Ruben over at Valley Head Service told me that a lot of manufacturers are going to tool steel and I cannot imagine why. So if the industry is swinging in that direction I can only say be very cautious. If for some reason you need retainers for something check the PAC website. They have a good reputation and seem to have springs and retainers for almost everything and mine are listed as chromoly.