Crown Vic FRONT 12 inch disc brake conversion

Thought I would share this with y'all folks. I worked at a garage a number of years (ago),and seen a lot of brakes. The ones that I saw that took the most beating,were a small town police fleet of Crown Vics. These cars took a beating daily,and had a real good braking system. 12" rotors with dual piston calipers. The parts are easy to get,and I'm sure they'll be around awhile. I know about the rear conversion,but decided to fit a set of front rotors and calipers on my 72... There was much fab work to be done,and after I got it all sorted out,here's what I came up with... How to get a rotor on this hub? Remove drum,Big ol' hammer to remove studs and drums... Install rotor. Coincidentally,the shoulders on the studs fit the rotor holes like they were made for them. Call it luck. Now for the tough part what to do with the calipers? After several failed attempts with pieces of wood and scrap steel,I came up with this made of 1/4" steel plate. Mocked everything together on the rotor,and found a spatial issue, so found some 1/8" steel strap,and cut into squares,and drilled. Not really fond of the first idea of washers. So welded the strap into place,using bolts to center them. A little clean up,more mocking up,and arrived at this... Now i get to bolt it together,had to shorten the original caliper bolts so they didn't hit the back of the rotor. I originally had them in front of the spindles,but didn't like the looks of them in front,so by flipping the brackets around from side to side,they wound up behind the spindle. I'm using 17" wheels,so i had room for calipers,but not much. I used 79 cutlass brake hoses,because the CV calipers take banjo bolts,and I was putting new metal brake lines on,so I didn't wanna go with a metric bubble flare or a stack of adapters. The CV brake lines were 3/16",and the cutlass were too,so put new threaded fittings on the lines and flared them. Had to change the orientation of the metal lines as to have the hoses come out of the front,and done away with the crazy loop in the metal hose. Added some paint,and on to the next of the unending areas that need "love" on this car. I got all this from a 2005 Crown Vic police car at pull-a-part,and the car had just got a brake job,pads,rotors,calipers, before it got slammed in the rear by what looked like a locomotive... The rotors still have some machine marks on them. I'm yet to try them,but betting they work better than drums... On a side note I didn't even find the mustang steve website until I was nearly done,and looking for adapters for a friends fox box,and there they were. Well,not for a Crown Vic brake conversion anyways. So they look similar,but no,not copies. Just good ol' "git er' done"... Hope this helps,or at least entertains... Now on to the cowl,and that ball of wires that's supposed to be a wiring harness ...

 

interesting...

 

That is pretty wild that the rotor goes right on the studs. It is a snug fit? It is looking pretty good from what I can see.

Food for thought ... if you find the rotor still might need some more stability after you get this all together, there are hub-centric adapter rings for custom wheels that take up the room between the hub and wheel. You may find one that will fill up the open space between the rotor and hub.

Wishing you the best of luck here. It really looks like you are onto something.

 

The rotor fits snug to the studs,shocked me,not used to things working out that easy. Not sure about aftermarket studs,but I just put an old lug nut on the stock studs and smacked them with a hammer,got the drum off,fresh(er) lug nut and impact to pull them back in. What even got my surprise is the drum and the rotor are the same thickness. If i could get the rest of the car to go that easy would be great...

 

I'd like to make an adjustment on this,the 79 cutlass hoses worked till I put it on the ground and it settled... Had to go with 73-77 cutlass hoses,added the extra length needed,and had to put the stock metal line configuration with the crazy "U" at the framerail... Works great,no binds,stops really really well...

 

NICE WORK SKIP !
Cometized
(Chip)

 

Thanks... Stop great,my first "panic" stop caused me to hug the steering wheel and check the seat belt... They're a dime a dozen in you pull yards,all sorts of pads and rotors available too... Just takes some elbow grease...

 

This is awesome. I've upgraded 80's box crown vics with these modern brakes and they work amazingly well. You should think about making a bunch of these brackets and selling them, or even a template with measurements. You're strongly making me consider doing this, I hate the granada disc brakes, horrible actuation and brake feel IMO.

 

Hi Rick:
Noticed your posts. Nice work ! If you're interested in going further with these pieces let me know.
I have a CNC machine here that will cut 3/4" inch Thick steel and make all the holes you show in your pics. I would need templates or the actual pieces to do the CAD drawings.
( I'm not interested in glombing onto your idea and good work .. simply offering my services
to other enthusiasts .) I manufacture Aluminum Horse Stall Components and am quite busy with this.
I don't usually offer this CNC machine for outside work but I would assist you in this project if you choose to make a bunch of these . Lemmeno .Email me if you like cameocarclub@yahoo.com .
Cometized
(Chip)

 

Next time I do the brakes I’ll get the passenger one off and make a template,I’ll holler at you...Like an idiot I didn’t keep a template... I need to make one to keep,There’s a ranchero I got my eyes on ... I made it all with a drill press... Passenger side turned out the best,it clocked different on the driver side but nothing I couldn’t live with...I The knuckle and the caliper are close friends... I didn’t like them in front of the spindle,even though there was plenty of room... It stops like a son of a gun... Stock MC works great with it...

 

I didn’t do it to sell,I’m not a money guy... Born dirt floor,make most things... I did it to help... I just wanted to put it out there so us old school guys have a chance when the chick on the phone with all wheel antilock suddenly stuffs the brakes at 85 mph on I-65... Front clips aren’t cheap ...

 

I understand .. I've been on several HRPTs here and have experienced a LOT of ' Out of Nowhere' panic stops in front of us .. DISC BRAKES was one of the Very First Improvements we've made to all our builds . Lemmeno if , I can help When you make something that is an improvement like you've explained it's generous of you to offer it to others that may want it also .
Cometized
(Chip)

 

Those turned out great and I for one, would be interested in a set of brackets if you ever decide to make them. - Matt

 

I would also be in the market for a set of brackets or at least a diagram showing measurements, nice inexpensive way to get disc brakes with readily available parts

 

Nice job ... I did almost the same thing only on a 8" rear end made my caliper support for mustang caliper and Toyota rotors this all before the Crown Vic brakes