Hey guys, I just bought a 1971 Ford Maverick as my first car with its exterior in mint condition. The interior is a little worn but nothing major. I'm mostly concerned with the minor maintenance issues and need help/advice with what I should do. I want to convert my drum brakes to disc and have no idea where to start. And I also have an exhaust manifold leak that I want to take care of ASAP. As you can tell I'm not that experienced on getting hands on with cars but with a little bit of help I'm more than willing to learn so any advice is much appreciated. Thanks
Welcome to the forum! There is lots of info on this forum dedicated to disk brake upgrades. U can go w/ aftermarket setup or lots of folks go w/ transplant parts from Ford Granada's. Do a search in the technical section of the forum. Try the following link - that's one of the ways you can consider. http://mmb.maverick.to/resources/yet-another-way-to-put-discs-on-the-front-of-your-mav.14/
I run granada discs up front and put an explorer 8.8 rear that already has disc brakes in mine. Night and day on the stopping power and maintenance. Aftermarket disc setup would definitely be nice but pricier according to which company you went with. Really up to what you want to spend.
from Atlantic Canada! If you are lucky, and find a 1976 or 1977 Maverick or Comet parts car, they would also have front disc brakes. They were optional in 74/75. These would be the exact same brakes as the 'Granada/Monarch" brakes. Does your car have 5-lug wheels? Is it a 6cyl car or V8? If your car is currently a 4-lug, 4-drum car, then converting to Maverick front disks will require 5-lug wheels and most likely (although not mandatory) a 5-lug rear end assembly. The 5-lug axle bearings are larger and will not fit your housing, so you'd need a complete unit. Good Luck!
I don't want to burn a hole in my wallet spending money on converting the brakes. I know you get what you pay for, but I rather just spend as little as possible on exactly what I need. Don't plan on paying someone to do the conversion for me either I rather just learn how to do it myself. Any suggestions on what manufacture set up I should consider?
It's a 6 cyl and a 4-lug. Just wondering, would it be necessary to change all 4 drums to disc? Or could I just change the front end to disc and leave the drum brakes in the rear? I heard there's a lot of newer cars that use that method and figured there can't be much of a difference for an older car like mine using the same method. Am I wrong?
U can leave the rear drums and just do the front convert. Post #5 pretty much gave the answer to the question. My car has Granada frt disk and 10" rear drums. It had the conversion done when I bought it from a previous owner. A lot of the cars before 74 had the conversion to frt disk. A lot of folks on the forum have also done a rear disk conversion. The question on whether or how much difference/better the performance, will have to be addressed by some of those who have made the change. I assume there is an improvement - reason some have made the change.
Yeah that's what I figured, I was hoping on only having to make the switch to the front end anyways. As far as performance goes, it doesn't matter to me as long as I'm driving smoothly on the road without rear ending anyone hahaha but thanks for your input buddy I appreciate the help
I only mentioned the rear end, because I figured you wouldn't want 5-lug wheels in the front and 4-lugs in the back. It may make wheel selection a bit interesting. And to reiterate: even though your rear differential is an 8" Ring and pinion, the 5-lug axle shafts will NOT fit inside the 4-lug housing due to axle bearing dimensions being larger on both the ID and OD. I would try and source a complete 5-lug rear end. Drums are fine out back.
You should get a front disc setup from a '74-'77 Maverick or a '75-'80 Granada, and get a 5-lug rearend from a Maverick, & swap it all onto your car. You'll then need 5-lug wheels. Drum brakes on the rear are just fine, but you'll want a all for wheels to be 5-lug. It would be ideal to find a "parts-car" Maverick with those items and buy the whole car, since those parts are quite popular and don't stick around long in junkyards.