I finally got around to putting this stuff on my car this week. The parts that came off were the standard 10.87" late A-body rotors and calipers. I've had the Wilwood calipers, hoses, AR Engineering brackets, etc for a couple of years now. I bought them used off a friend who went to 13" brakes on his Valiant. My 11.75" rotors were used originals from a '79 Chrysler Newport. The rotors look reasonably large until they are inside a 17" wheel. The car will need a lot more horsepower before it needs more braking power than this.




The center caps that came with these wheels will no longer fit. The center bore of the wheel was stepped and the "nose" of the rotor would not go through the smaller outer portion of the hole which retained the center cap. I bored the wheel straight through with a hole saw so they would fit the car center caps be damned.

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Joshua

Oh man, that looks AWESOME! I can't wait to hear about your stopping power. I like the wheel design as well, its not all "bling-bling".

~THOR~

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1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

The wheels are cheapies I got a few years ago from America's Tire to fit the 235/45 and 255/40R17 tires. The wheels were actually for my RX-7. I got the tires for $120 as a favor from a manager at a Bridgestone dealer for helping him with a networking issue. I believe they were returned by the original purchaser and could not be sold as new. Best I can tell they are for a Supra turbo.

Gunmetal is a good color if you don't like cleaning brake dust regularly. I'm thinking I should scrounge up some Grand Cherokee rear discs to round out the brake system.

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Joshua

You should be happy with those. I have that setup on both my Darts now and couldn't be happier. I may run outta brake when I start going 140 on straights, but so far I have never faded them ever.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Lou,

Remind me if you would. What brake pads do you use in these calipers?

Josh

Looks great! I have some 17" Rims sourced from my old EVO VIII that I'll be using on my build with the Brembos I got. Out of curiousity, what is the offset of the Rims you have? Mine are +22? I belive. I'm not able to bolt them up yet due to the different lug pattern, but it looks like it will clear the steering components and not protrude out that much. I have a 66 Valiant. If you'd happen to know, I'd appreciate the feedback!

I did the opposite on my car when I moved up to these rotors. I had a machinist turn down the nose (snout?) of the rotor to fit the wheels.

I do like the look of those wheels. Did you have to run spacers to get the backspacing right?

The 17x8" wheels are +28mm, 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern and fit the front just fine with 234/45R17 tires. The rear wheels which I have yet to mount are 17x9" +27mm and require a 1" spacer or a 2" wider rear axle for proper fit. The 8" wide wheels would also fit the rear with the same spacer or axle. The 9" rear wheels and 255/40R17 tires may require a small amount of rear fender stretching to gain clearance during cornering as the static clearance is tight. I'll know this soon and report my findings. On my road racing '66 Dart I nearly eliminated a rear tire rub problem by using polyurethane bushings in the leaf springs and may do the same for the Valiant.

It turns out the Ford 8" rear end from a Granada is only 1" wider than an A-body rear end. The Ford axle assembly is 57.5" rather than the 58" I found listed. I have the 8" Ford under my '72 Dart and a standard A-body 8 1/4 under my Valiant.

You can fit +6mm offset wheels on both ends of the car without spacers, but it limits the front tire size. Trimming the front fender a little will help a larger tire fit without rubbing.

I do ask that no one lectures about wheel spacers. The subject has been hashed out before. The only thing I have to say is the 1" billet rear spacers that bolt to the axle and carry a second set of studs to mount the wheel are billet aluminum and are likely stronger than the center of the wheel itself.

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Joshua

The small hole through the wheel was much smaller than the nose of the brake rotor so turning down the rotors was not an option. I ran these wheels and tires on my '96 Dakota during a track day at PIR a few months ago. The Bridgestone Pole Position S0-3 tires are quieter during normal driving and track ruts less than the old 235/40R17 Yokohama AVS Intermediates I was using on the truck, but they didn't seem to have the same ultimate grip and got noisy at the limit.

With a standard A-body rear axle the rear wheels need a 1" spacer.

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Joshua

Uhm, wasn't the f/j/m body rears a bit wider than the a body ones?
Guess it needs work any way you do it, so....it might not be easyer anyway

Road Race? Man, I should have things posted sooner rather than be a lurker here. lol, that just opens alot of questions I'll be investigating here in the near future. None the less thank you for the input. This would be my first A body build so I dig stuff like this. Thanks!

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1973 Plymouth Valiant
1953 Dodge Panel

The F-body rear end is 2.94" wider than an A-body rear end so it's a little too wide. The F-body axle would also need the existing spring perches cut off and new ones welded on in the A-body 43" center-to-center dimension. 58.5" from drum-to-drum is the ideal axle width for use with the common 17x8" +30mm offset Mustang wheels and those of similar dimensions.

Yes, I used to do a little amateur road racing. Spent a lot of money and learned quite a bit in the process. You need to have darn good brakes to go racing with a roughly 230 hp, 3000 lb car let alone something faster. Turning left and lighting up the left rear tire in 3rd gear pointed out the need for Sure-Grip. Sucking oil into the engine from the PCV valve in the right-hand valve cover in the same corner showed one small problem with the oil system. Right hand corners oiled the left hand leaf spring via the axle vent. Close ratio 4-speeds are so much better for racing than an OD833 it isn't even funny. It's nearly impossible to underestimate the importance of good dampers and tires. Weight is the enemy in all things that accelerate.

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Joshua

I believe I'm using E pads. Can't remember exactly but can check when I get home. Started with D's on the '64 back in 1999, then they replaced that with E, which is better all around IMHO. Never switch from street to track.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Looks pretty good. That brake setup seems to work fine on the lighter A body cars with slant six power. The heavier A body cars with V8 power will cook those brakes on a fast race course.

Are those the ones off of Tim's car? We switched him over to the 13 inch setup since he was cooking the 11.75 rotors. But he makes pretty good power and his car is darn fast. He can hang with the Z06's at PIR and he has outrun a few Vipers at the track so you know his car is getting it done.

Yep, these are Tim W's old calipers. I'm thinking I'd like a slightly smaller bore master cylinder to drop the pedal effort as I use very little pedal travel the way it's set up now. I'll probably wait to change the MC until I swap the rear drums for some Grand Cherokee rear discs.

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Joshua