The disc brake conversion is complete (mostly).
Once I got all of the parts in, the first thing I did was replace the pads and cylinders on the rear brakes. This was fairly simple, but there was quite a bit of grime on all of the parts. The pads were not completely worn, but the wear was uneven, probably because the springs were not installed correctly.
Once I had the rear pads replaced, with the new cylinders from the disc brake conversion kit installed, I replaced the brake lines on the rear axle. This took a bit more time than I thought, since I had failed to order the flexible rubber hose that attached the brake line on the frame to the rear axle.
Next, I painted and mounted the rebuilt power brake booster. I did this first to get an idea for how all of the new brake lines needed to be installed.
Next, I removed all of the parts from the front drum brakes. Since these were not going to be reinstalled, I didn't bother cleaning them, but I did keep them (since replacement drums are quite expensive).
Finally, I removed the master cylinder and the rest of the brake lines. I found the broken brake line on the front right side (which was the cause of loss of brake pressure which triggered this project).
Next job was to install the new front brake discs and calipers. I started with the front left since it was at a more convenient location in the garage. On my first try, I installed the mounting plate, and installed the brake caliper. However, I installed the brake caliper on the wrong side of the mounting plate, and was not aware that I needed to grind down a minute portion of the spindle before the installation. After grinding it down a bit, the mounting plate and caliper installed correctly.
Of course, the caliper needed to be removed before installing the rotor (but was necessary for making sure it fit). To install the rotor, I needed to pack the bearings, which was a new experience for me. I found some very helpful youtube videos that showed how to do it without special tools. Only time will tell if I did it entirely correctly.
Once I was sure I had the left rotor installed, I installed the right front, which considerably less difficulty.
Next I installed the new brake lines. One of the brake lines, the rearmost line attached to the frame, I was unable to remove. This seems to be because the lines were designed to be installed before the body was attached to the frame. Thus, I could not get the old line off without bending it out of shape. If I was going to have to damage the line removing it, I was not going to be able to install the new line without damaging it, so I just left the old line in.
The disc brake conversion kit has a dual bowl master cylinder. This is a massive safety improvement, but it meant that the front and rear brake systems had to be separated. This was accomplished by simply removing the line connecting one of the frame brake line blocks to the front left brake. The unused connection on the block was plugged with a part from the conversion kit. Note: this means the power brake booster only works on the front brake system. The rear brakes are still manual.
After I had all of the brake lines installed, I needed to bleed the master cylinder before connecting the lines. This was done with a kit that I bought at an auto parts store.
Another thing to note: not all of the crush washers I needed for this job were supplied with the kit. This was because I did not already have the power brake booster installed, and was not strictly a deficiency in the kit.
Next post I will go over the issues I had (and am still having) bleeding the brakes.
ng a replacement part was somewhat difficult - none of the catalogs carry the part (some of them have a part number, but none of them carry it), and getting the specs for the part was pretty hard. Eventually I found someone who knew the weatherhead part number. From that, I found an auto parts store here in Austin that had it. The part I ended up installing is Edelmann 265301. 3/16 inch female thread, 1/2 - 20 male to go into the booster.
