Mopar Muscle Association UK

I'm rebuilding a '70 Charger R/T and the front calipers seem beyond redemption. Rather than spending a lot of cash rebuilding or replacing calipers that by modern standards are marginal at best, I'm looking for modern alternatives. Somewhere I heard that the old four pot BL Princess calipers may fit; these are available quite reasonably now for kit cars/ specials. Anyone out there done this conversion? or have a better idea?

Welcome to the Forum.

The original calipers, or Pattern ones, are available.
The Discs can be more of a Challenge.

I would keep it Mopar.

Pete wrote: Mon Jan 20, 20 8:44 pm Welcome to the Forum.

The original calipers, or Pattern ones, are available.
The Discs can be more of a Challenge.

I would keep it Mopar.

Personally I would go with a set of pattern replacements from Rockauto if cost is an issue. If you want more up to date brakes then something along the lines of Wilwood would fit the bill. Princess brakes sound less than ideal. Your Charger probably weighs a fair bit more than a Princess so you would be asking a lot of those.

By the way, welcome to the forum!

I would use the original-type calipers. They actually work very well. Presume your car has the single-piston sliding calipers, being 1970 ?

If fitting other calipers, master cylinder diameter and front-rear brake balance will also need to be considered - as well as the caliper mounting brackets.

If princess calipers do fit, they are highly sought after - not easy to find and expensive when you do!

Thanks Guys, I think that I shall try to persevere and restore my existing calipers- I've emailed Rick's Mopars in the States who list repair kits, new pistons etc. I've had stuff from him previously and he does good stuff. My discs will clean up fine.

hello there , good choice, ‘70 Charger

mine doesn't have the luxury of disc brakes, power drums all round, stops great ... most of the time

an upgrade is on the cards at some point

standard off a 70s 80s a body

mopar slider calipers with either the long or short bracket depending on 10 or 11 inch discs

there are other calipers that have a 3.5 inch centre mounting

princess
certain jag XJ
sumitomo off a landcruiser or hilux
whole range of aluminium wilwood

but the cost benefits are now none existent as they all need a rebuild and can no longer be picked up for £40 a functioning pair

the hilux conversion was an easy way into a set of front 4 pot calipers that were no heavier than standard.
easy fitment to A body
not so easy for b body as the disks were bigger and an adapter was needed or the disk diameter taken down by a lot
coupled with custom metric/imperial pipes and the need to sleeve the mounting holes down make it a job for a well equipped workshop or someone who likes a challenge.

making a disk smaller is probably not wise for the b body it would be more than the 3 -4 mm necessary for the A body, although the clipers were designed to stop a 1.5 tonne truck with a load carrying capacity of 1/2 a tonne and they worked ok....

details here
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=34853&p=398788&hil ... ux#p398788

but these days i would strongly recommend the slider calipers with the claw like bracket same caliper different bracket depending on disc size
used on A and M and F bodies from mid 70s until mid to late 80s beauty of these is they are self centering on the disk when applied

Matt wrote: Tue Jan 21, 20 9:22 am I would use the original-type calipers. They actually work very well. Presume your car has the single-piston sliding calipers, being 1970 ?

If fitting other calipers, master cylinder diameter and front-rear brake balance will also need to be considered - as well as the caliper mounting brackets.

Just to add to this - my 68 charger had 4pot discs from factory but I ended up swapping them out for the wilwood conversion - full kit BUT I had to change the spindles. The conversion brackets require a drum spindle and don fir the disc spindle. So if you do go 'full kit' then you need to source spindles I would imagine.

Well here we are, a full rebuild kit from Rick's Mopars ( Rick Ehrenberg who's the Technical editor for Mopar Action magazine) and we're in business.

Better than Princess 4 pots? Hell Yeah ! Thanks for the advice guys.

Glad you are now sorted, Steve!


Keep it Mopar!

Nice one Steve!

I bought remanufactured calipers from NAPA when I was in the States (Rock Auto do them too). Not much dearer than the kit, so I figured I may as well. But then you will get the fun of doing it yourself :-)

No matter how crusty they look those later single piston calipers can almost always be rebuilt as the seal doesn't move so bore condition is not important. The earlier 4 piston Kelsey Hayes calipers are different story as the seal slides with the piston so if the bore is scored or pitted which they often are you're looking at replacement or a very expensive repair.

those 4 pin sliders work well especially if the pins and bushes are new... the issue used to be getting the pins and bushes....but these days rebuild with new is possible as you have found.

i think they are a kelsey hayes caliper as well.....

the slider caliper with the claw and spring plate is a girling Lockheed design or girlock they come off later cars than yours. Looks like you have standard fitment for your car or at least age appropriate.

they should work perfectly well provided you apply some thought to front/rear bias

Dave

Should be no problem Dave as these were the ones fitted to the car.