'36 Terraplane front brake questions

timbersmith
timbersmith Senior Contributor
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Hey All,



I've got some pretty basic questions on the '36 components, so I would appreciate it if anyone can help me out:



- What's the bolt pattern? 5 on 4.5"?

- What are the stock lug threads? 1/2"-something? About how long are the lug bolts?

- Has anyone looked into upgrading to press-in wheel studs?



Reason I'm asking is I've got a set of junk drums that I pulled off of a parts vehicle, and was looking at the feasibility of a bolt-on disc brake upgrade over the weekend. After drilling out the rivets, you're left with a hub that looks prime for a slip-on brake rotor (hub might need some minor machining), and then just have to fab a caliper mount, as far as the front axle is concerned. Just need to find a caliper/rotor combo that can be made to work . . .



Thanks,

Mike

Comments

  • bellbigdawg
    bellbigdawg Expert Adviser
    wheel pattern 5 on 4.5, lugs are 1/2-20.
  • Ol racer
    Ol racer Senior Contributor
    I bought a Stepdown someone had drilled the front hubs and installed Studs.

    Actually all you need to do is drill just under the size of the knurl on the Stud shank. Look at the Dorman catalog. They show many sizes.



    Rick Pridemore makes a disc Kit that requires maching the Hubs. Perhaps he would sell you the Brackets.
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    The disc conversion setup sold by Bill Labud in FL uses the hub portion of your front drums. It's a bolt-on installation for the stepdowns, but I think can be easily made to work on pre-stepdowns.
  • timbersmith
    timbersmith Senior Contributor
    Yea, I figured that was it with installing studs (drill under-size), I was just unsure if there was a spec. or not - which apparently there is: ARP says 0.005" under-size for steel hubs. There's also screw-in studs, which could be a good option too (well, except for this hub I'm working with - NF threads don't like it when you run a NC tap through 'em to "clean em out" :o. Good thing these are spares).



    It's also nice to know that someone has a kit available - makes me wonder which rotor/caliper combo he works with (Ford seems to like the 5x4.5 pattern) . . . and I do remember reading about the Pridemore kit being useable on the pre-stepdowns as well. I'm pretty sure I have that thread subscribed, actually.



    At this point I'm doing this for the fun of it - my Terry is still in body-shop limbo, so at least I get to do some work on it in a way. I've got the whole axle assembly to play with (but no wheels) and loads of time, so I'm not in a big rush to complete this at the moment.



    Thanks for the pointers! They helped clear up some unknowns for me.

    - Mike
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