Packard Forum Index » Modification Discussion

Greendragon I'm interested in your kit. Do you have one (premium) ready to go for a "56 senior? If so, let me know the costs and how do I get it. Thanks.

To Tom Cole:

Re: Your 3/13 post where you say that disc brake components do not stand up well in storage and have to be replaced often due to that. Also you say that components should be removed and stored in a controlled environment.

All the components on a Disc conversion are regular off the shelf US car parts, except the custom made brackets. If they are prone to deterioration unless removed and stored, then it would follow that whatever car is the source of them would have the same problem. I follow DOT/NHTSA recalls on a casual basis and have never seen a recall or notice about the dangers of storing any disc brake cars. '72 Cutlass?? '71 Mustang?? ''85 Grand Prix??HOses?? Rotors?? Calipers?? Hardware?? Brackets??

In short I just don't believe it, it defies logic and engineering. I have numerous disc brake cars '67-up that I have stored for up to 10 years and never had any trouble.

The major car makers have been producing disc brake cars since 1965 and if there were a problem they would have figured it out in the past 45 years.

Working on getting the kits to all who want them. they were ready, Utill May 22nd. ALL my Packard stuff was stored in three locations in Joplin Mo. as that is where i'm from. I lost Most all of my Packard stuff. Hope to have my parts selling ability back in operation by end of summer.

To Mr Kanter:

From 2005 through 2007 I was living in Africa. My car was stored in a newly built garage during that period with absolutely no water leaks. The cylinders were filled with oil and the gas tank stabilized.

When I took the car out of storage the brake rotors were badly pitted and needed to be replaced. The master cylinder also had corrosion damage. The PCV deteriorated and had to be replaced. The exhaust system rotted as well. The NAPA65 battery held up because it was disconnected.

I presently do a fair amount of brake work on cars that are from a used car lot. After as little as one month on the lot the rotors can be damaged from the weather.

I also do repairs on vehicles that have been at the airport and have brake performance complaints due to being parked outside at the airport.

There is one car I service that is owned by an 84 year old who doesn't drive very much. It fails inspection every year because of rusted brake rotors.

Now this rust problem also occurs on drum brakes but at a much slower rate.

As I said, unless the car is stored in a controlled environment the rotors should be removed and stored.

Now I guess that is a pretty stout recommendation, so perhaps using zip ties and garbage bags over each wheel is something most situations can handle. And the wheels should be off the car anyway.

One thing that many people don't notice is the gradual decrease in brake performance that occurs with this problem.
You don't notice what is happening until you pull the wheels for inspection.

For these old cars this is really a problem because drums are becoming impossible to obtain. Thus, if I was storing any car in an unheated garage for an extended period I would remove the drums and store them inside.

dragon
are u still selling kits? i got a 51' 200
lookin for conversion kit

ur price sounds rite

lemme know!.

FWIW:

Having both modern dual master with booster and front disc brakes on my 55 Pat, I don't think that front disc brakes are necessary UNLESS you are driving more than occasionally on a modern busy freeway where "rice rockets" and other crazy drivers are jumping in front of you at high speed and then slowing down, if not slamming on their brakes.

I put the front disc brakes on my Pat when I lived and drove in Las Vegas, which is pretty much like Los Angeles as far as traffic is concerned. Since I've moved to Pahrump (pop=40K,semi-rural), I don't think that they are necessary, but it's nice to have them.

Craig

LA differs from LV in that there is lots of hills

koolkojak Quote:

I'm not saying don't do it. Of course do it! Fred (Kanter) even sells a kit these days. But the problem is not the brakes -- drum or disc. You know what the problem is.

Craig

Tom/Fred,

I must say I have never heard of any such issues myself, but I wonder if it might have something to do with the salted roads for your Nth American winters? I have just pulled apart the drums brakes on a 34 1100. I doubt they have seen use in over 20 years and the car came out of a field somewhere but with a quick blow out with compressed air I would be happy to trial them as is.

My 95 Jeep Cherokee with cheap aftermarket front rotors on it sat outdoors in the weather for 2 years while I rebuilt the motor and there was absolutely nothing wrong with the rotors or brake components at all. That being said there are steels and there are steels and no easy way to tell if the quality of the materials that we pay for is as good as we might expect.

In the 60's and 70's a deal between a European steel manufacturer and the Italian government saw companies such as Alfa Romeo forced to source their body work steel from a particular source. The company use to quench its sheet metal in salt water (D'Oh!) and this is why Alfas of that era had such appaling rust problems - one that still affects the companies reputation today.

Has anyone made any progress on disc brake conversions (especially for '48's)? Has anyone used the '48 drum-to-disc conversion kit from Kanter?

I ordered a kit from Kanter and there are a couple of problems. The lug studs are on the right bolt circle but are 1/2-20 instead of 9/16-18. (Of course, the drum brakes use a lug bolt, not studs, but that's not a big deal.) The rotor does not have a proper pilot diameter for the Packard 'hub-centric' wheel. I've written an e-mail to Kanter but have so far received no reply. The catalog indicates that the original wheels can be used with this kit.

Also, while the caliper mount bracket picks up the top two brake backing-plate holes o.k., the hole spacing on the little link piece to connect to one of the lower bolts is off by about 3/16". (There is plenty of room on the bracket to drill another hole in the right position.)

I'm checking today to see if the front track is a bit wider with the furnished rotors...looks like the wheels will be an inch or so farther outboard with the new parts.

I sure I'll hear from them sooner or later but it looks like the rotor is the wrong one for this particular kit. It can be modified by removing the 1/2" studs and replacing them with 9/16" studs...and by sleeving the pilot diameter to bring it up to the right diameter...but we'll wait for a reply.

M.