59 Caddy Scarebird Disc Brake Conversion

[EZ]

I have 4 wheel disc braks on my Jaguar and LOVE it!!  I also had 4 wheel disc brakes on my Lincoln Mark VIII.  Best stopping cars I've ever owned.  I was hoping to make my old Caddy stop as well but it looks like I may have to design my own disc brake bracket if I want discs on the rear of my '66 Coupe DeVille. 

[GCaddy59]

Zephyr, I was given the advice by the purists that a brand new set of properly adjusted drum brakes installed on the front will stop just fine.  Everything on my car was 'properly adjusted', and I felt that I had too many close calls, particularly one time I was slowing down for an offramp when traffic came to an abrupt stop....I stopped just in time, but not in a straight line.  Before the car came to a complete stop, I veered into the left lane, then into the breakdown lane.  Often times when braking hard, the car did not stop straight, and you really needed to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times.  To me, the safety concern wasn't worth keeping originality.  I believe that 1959 was the last year before automatic self adjusters were introduced, as well, so I think the 1960 model was the first year to have this feature - maybe someone can elaborate on that?  Also, yes, the 12" rotors went on without a problem - almost silly how easy it was. 
STDog - thanks for the advice on setting the proportioning valve.  I'm off next week, so as long as there's no snow, I'm going to check it out!

[The Tassie Devil (Bruce Reynolds)]

Yes, the '60 was the first year with Self Adjusting Brakes.

To adjust them automatically, simply travel in reverse and hit the brake pedal.   Do this a couple of times, and you are good to go forward.

Bruce.

[BadBoyRipper]

GCaddy,

Nice work! I think that I'll be doing the exact same set up on my 64 when the time comes.

Also, ABS also has a rear disc conversion available; at least for 64 they do.

[EZ]

Really?  If that's the case then it might fit my '66.  I was told that the Cadillac rear axle was the same from about '64 thru '69 or '70.
Maybe I'll check with ABS and see what they say.  I'd really like to have rear disc brakes too.

[STDog]

thru '69 or '70.

I know there was a big change from '69 to '70.

[EZ]

I know there was a big change from '69 to '70.

OK then maybe it was from '64 thru '69 then.  When I talked to Scarebird they told me that if they made the rear disc brake brackets it would fit
a whole lot of years and not just the '65-'66 like I have.

[BadBoyRipper]

Hey GCaddy,

Any chance you have a part number on that MC/Booster combo? I had found one in a while ago, but now can't find it and am having a hard time finding the right parts for the front disc. Thanks.

Brandon

[GCaddy59]

Hi Brandon -
I have my receipts from Advanced Auto right here - Although I shopped around for combo kits and got Advanced to price-match based on the combo, the receipt shows the individual Cardone part numbers:  10-1398 is the part number for the Master Cylinder, and 5481117 is the part number for the booster.  Hope that helps!  Let us know how it goes!

George

[BadBoyRipper]

Great thanks George! I'm hoping to get started on it pretty soon. I just bagged my 64 and now I want to work on the brakes. I plan on getting the ABS kit and the MC/Booster from Advance or somewhere similar. Hopefully it goes smooth. I really hate drum brakes. Thanks again.

Brandon

[EZ]

Please post pics and a report on what you end up with for disc brakes on the rear of your Cadillac.
I'd love to see how you did it and to hear your impressions when you are finished.  Thanks!