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  #1  
Old 10-28-2000, 01:18 AM
68 charger guy 68 charger guy is offline
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I just received my drum to disc brake kit and no instructions. It is a kit made by Wildwood and my supplier has no idea. I don't think it looks to difficult but the kit cost over $1000.00 canadian so I don't want to take any chances. Anyone know where I could get some help? Thanks.
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  #2  
Old 10-28-2000, 05:33 AM
451boy 451boy is offline
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Have you called Wilwood? Get a catalog from them at least. The catalog will show an exploded view and give you the replacement part numbers. It can't be too hard to go on there. The caliper adapter mounts to the knuckle, the hub slides on the spindle then the rotor goes on the hub and the caliper goes on last.
Why did you buy the Wilwood kit rather than use product parts? Is this a drag race car and you needed to take off the last bit of weight? Hopefully you aren't going to be driving with those aluminum hubs and small rotors on real roads.
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  #3  
Old 10-28-2000, 08:55 AM
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Leigh Leigh is offline
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68 Charger Guy,
You don't know it, but you got lucky by not having the MP version of the instructions! Good luck with Wilwood, I don't want to be negative, but..., I found them to be bore asses. Check disc runout before packing the wheel bearings. I'm guessing they won't exchange the warped rotors you have because it's a MP repackage. Thats what I was told. Don't turn them on a conventional lathe either, no matter what we tried, the cutter chatters like mad. You need to find a lathe with a grinding wheel attachment. This is for the solid type. Good luck.
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Old 10-28-2000, 10:22 PM
68 charger guy 68 charger guy is offline
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Now you have me concerned. I will be driving it om the street in the summer. Actually the rotors are quite heavy steel,the hubs are aluminum with steel races. Won't these be ok for occaisional street use? I don't know what could be worse than my old drum brakes.
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Old 10-28-2000, 11:19 PM
vanishPt vanishPt is offline
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I have the Wildwoods on my Challenger. They seem to work prettty well. You do need to get them trued before install. Leigh, I just took mine to Track Auto and they turned them for $7.50 each. Nothing special was needed.I did have to remove the seal.

[This message has been edited by vanishPt (edited October 28, 2000).]
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Old 10-28-2000, 11:32 PM
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Leigh Leigh is offline
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Vanish,
Do you have the lighweight race type? Thats what I have. Rotor is roughly "3/8th with vent holes drilled in them. They are steel, not cast iron. They have to be ground. I'm still trying to find a better place, as the pedal still pulsates a tad. By the way, when I asked Wilwood's stroker ace what the minimun thickness spec is, he said "as thin as you feel safe using them". What an ass. When I told him they had .15-.20 runout, he said "turn them if they have more than .007" When I told him new cutters and every speed and dampner device I could muster up wasn't keeping the cutter from chattering, he said "we grind them, you can't turn them on a conventional brake lathe" When I asked what the turn around time was for them to grind them he said, "we don't do that" Our relationship went downhill from there, including me mentioning the fact I was working on brake systems when he was still in filthy diapers etc., etc,... I truly feel he didn't give one sh.t about anything other getting off work and hitting the first bar.
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Old 10-29-2000, 01:14 AM
vanishPt vanishPt is offline
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I have the heavy duty street type. The ones for over 2800 lbs. I had a similar conversation with Wildwood. When turning the rotors I watched the guy. He did put a "big rubber band" on one of them while he was turning it. Other than that it was routine stuff. I had to take off a similar amount ,but I no longer have any pulsating.I thought the kit was pretty straight forward. i had never taken a front hub off before. Just followed the directions. The safety wiring was new to me> }:>
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  #8  
Old 10-29-2000, 01:43 AM
451boy 451boy is offline
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For a lightweight street setup I would have recommended the kit that Hershberger Motors sells. Check out the December edition of Mopar Action for the complete article. That kit uses Wilwood calipers but stock 11.75 rotors. Saves 20 lbs over the stock setup but uses mostly factory parts for easy service. Doesn't save as much weight as the complete Wilwood setup, but costs less and is much stronger.
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  #9  
Old 10-29-2000, 03:03 AM
68 charger guy 68 charger guy is offline
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Here is the dimensions of the rotors from the Mopar kit;11 3/4" diameter,3/4"overall thickness,1/4"thick surface on each side of the rotor. Also,I said they were steel,they actually are cast.Need more opinions,thanks for all the replys.
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  #10  
Old 10-29-2000, 07:58 AM
Agamemnon Agamemnon is offline
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I installed the 140-2721 kit (over 2800lbs) about 8 months ago. There should have been a tech sheet that shows the "exploded view" of the brake system.

Follow it carefully and you should be ok. Before you mount the hub and rotor assembly you can take it down to a good machine shop and have them "turn the rotors. Be sure to NOT put the hub/brake on the car before getting them turned though.

Don't worry if they put a big band on the edges...this is normally used on drum brakes when they find a warp...

These rotors do need to be turned or you'll get some pulsing. No worries about the aluminum hub. The problem there is the heat dissiptation capability of aluminum over steel. The vented rotor (if your kit matches mine) is good for daily street driving as long as you don't get carried away with heavy volume braking. By that I mean slamming on brakes every chance you get and taking corners while riding them hard. They were designed to be abused for circuit racing...where you'll get into trouble is getting the discs too hot and running through water. This will warp any brake system but the Wilwoods will do it faster. Just be aware of this.

Oh yea...and DO NOT use DOT-5 brake fluid. I suggest buying the Wilwood 570 DOT-3 brake fluid. It'll last longer, won't bubble up and won't make the peddle squishy.

One this is, the Calipers are very fickle so you will want to change the fluid at least twice a year in the brake system...don't just add more...really flush it, then add new stuff. You'll need to do it more if your exhaust runs really close to your brake lines.

Other than that maintenance...wilwoods HD brakes seem to run fine on the street.

Some notes on how to install.

1.) The carbon plate is used with the original nuts from the upper holes of the spindle. The lower hole in the carbon plate is aligned with the rear lower ball joint hole. The front ball joint hole simply retains it's original bolt and nut.

2.) You will need 1/8 in 27 NPT adapters to use the original rubber brake lines to make them fit into the wilwood caliper system. Take your caliper and rubber line to the local parts stores for fit testing.

3.) DO NOT USE teflon tape to help seal the brake lines...trust me on this one...

4.) It is suggested that you pick up a proportioning valve since the original drum/drum setup doesn't include one. This will help set the front/rear brake ratio. MP sells one for about $50.00. Have it installed for you...it's a lot easier and can be done in less than 1 hour.

5.) When installing your bearings, and please use new ones...make sure to remember the rear bearing seal.

Good luck,
Ag
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  #11  
Old 10-29-2000, 02:42 PM
1969runner 1969runner is offline
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68 charger guy

I'm not a know it all in any way however, I think you wasted your money on that setup. Unless you are racing, it is not worth the money. You can put together a system for about $600 with 11.75 rotors and it's all MOPAR parts. I doing it on my 69 Road Runner and it's working out GREAT! You can check out the swap over on my web page. http://www.hotrodder.com/nick


The link on the home page is "1962 through 1978 Mopar "B" body Disk Brake Conversion" listed in the "Technical links and Information" section. The page will also list the auto supplier that can get most of the parts for you. To make it easy for you, here is the link that will take you directly to my page that has this info. http://www.hotrodder.com/nick/diskbrakes.htm

Nick
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