I have a 72 grabber 250 6, factory 4 lug drum car. I would like to go 5 lug and try the scare bird kit. Now I have read post after post for the past 3 days and my head is about to explode lol. The scare bird kit recommends a 5 lug drum hub which I'm still going to have drilled to 5x4.5 I have read that all spindles are the same? maybe just drum only? I have read that you can use 74 and up disc brake hubs will bolt directly on to my spindle? Donor car is out of the option as all of them near me are the same as what I have or all priced sky high for a rust bucket with mo save able parts. Can someone please point me in the right direction?
You don't have to switch to 5 lug to get disc brakes. I have installed a Scarebird kit on a 65 Falcon with 14 inch, 4 lug wheels. The Scarebird adapter plate bolted right on the original drum spindles with no modifications. The kit I installed used Cavalier calipers and pads, Eldorado hoses, and Stanza rotors. Everything bolted together with only 2 small modifications needed. The outer edges of the stock hubs needed 1/4" to be ground off to fit the rotors correctly, and the back of the calipers needed to be ground down a bit to clear the 14 inch factory steel wheels. If you have aftermarket wheels with a bit more backspacing, or 15 inch or bigger wheels, there are no clearance issues. There may be a Scarebird kit specifically for a 4 lug Maverick, or a 64/65 Falcon kit may fit. These 2 cars share many parts. The 64/65 Falcon/Comet chassis was resurrected as a platform to build the Maverick/Comet from. I also have swapped 4 lug, 4 wheel manual drums to 5 lug power front discs/rear drum from a 75 4 door Maverick into a 1970 2 door and only had to drill one 3/4" hole in the firewall for the rod to go through in a different spot, everything else bolted right in. I have many pics of the brake swap in my Green Monster build thread in the Maverick/Comet projects page. If you do a swap to power disc from a donor car, you will need the following items: 1. spindles- these have the caliper bracket mounting holes 2. caliper brackets - not available in stores, get from donor car or junkyard 3. hubs/rotors - (I recommend getting new ones from parts store) 4. calipers - (I recommend getting new ones from parts store) 5. flex hoses- (I recommend getting new ones from parts store) 6. disc brake proportioning valve - not available in stores, get from donor car or junkyard 7. booster - (I recommend getting new one from parts store) 8. angled booster mounting bracket - between booster and firewall - not available in stores, get from donor car or junkyard 9. master cylinder (I recommend getting new one from parts store) 10. complete brake pedal assembly - not available in stores, get from donor car or junkyard 11. power brake shock tower brace - strange looking bracket with a big hole in the middle - not available in stores, get from donor car or junkyard 12. brake pads (I recommend getting new ones from parts store) The swap was not too complicated. My Dad and I did the complete swap in about three days, working for 3-4 hours at a time.
If you want to keep 4 lug this worked for us: My son's 65 Falcon was all stock with 4 lug and 4 wheel manual drums. My son wanted to keep the stock wheels and keep it 4 lug, I wanted much better brakes for my son. you can use original spindles with the Scarebird kit Our hubs here trashed and we had to grind the replacement hubs a little to fit inside Stanza rotors bolt Scarebird adapter to spindle install hubs and the rest of the above listed parts ... or if you can get a donor car with power disc, here's a shot of the parts needed for the swap from a disc maverick in addition to the pedal assembly, power booster, and M/C you will need the proportioning valve, spindles and dust shields, brake caliper mounting bracket, and calipers. To fit the M/C around the shock tower, you will need this power brake shock tower brace this is what it looks like on the car this is my best pic of the finished brakes on my 70 let us know what you did and take lots of pictures dave
