Scarebird disc conversion warning

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      About eight months ago I had a Scarebird disc brake conversion installed on a 69 AMX I had with drum brakes by someone else because I did not have time and when it was done, all the installer said was that he had a heck of a time with it. I always felt the steering was not the same after that also.    Well, I installed another kit on my 68 Javelin this past weekend myself and I now know what he was talking about. I had two problems the first being, when the mounting bracket was installed the bracket hit the lower control arm taking away quite a bit of travel. After about 5 times of on and off and grinding the bracket, it worked without hitting and I used that for a template to grind the other side. This must not of been done to my AMX. 
   The second problem was that the spindle on my original Bendix disc brake set up was 1/4" thinner than the depth of the kits bracket that it installs in so I had to shim the spindle out 1/4" , making it flush with the bracket or the rotor severely contacted the end of the control arm. The only other way out of it would have been to grind the end of the lower control arm off which is out of the question. Even after this, the end of the arm needs some grinding but not much maybe 1/16". 
   After the bracket was ground down and the spindle was shimmed, everything went together and works well. I also needed new hardware because the factory bolts were not the right lengths and the kit does not include any hardware. Eight hours and three trips the the hardware store, it was together. 
I emailed Scarebird, because there is no phone number,  and he said in an email that AMC's are difficult having many different configurations. I offered to fax him a full size tracing of the modified bracket so he can make them different but he does not have a fax so I guess that's it? If the brackets were modified by him and the kit included a 1/4" spacer, it would be an easy bolt on but he didnt sound very interested. 
   If anyone has installed this kit and did not modify the bracket check it out you will see what I mean. If anyone is thinking of installing this kit I have a tracing of the right shape I can fax you which will save you hours and headaches. 
Sorry this was so long. 

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jcisworthy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/23/2009 Location: North Carolina Status: Offline Points: 2805	Post Options Post Reply Quote jcisworthy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Scarebird disc conversion warning Posted: Feb/06/2012 at 1:50pm
	About eight months ago I had a Scarebird disc brake conversion installed on a 69 AMX I had with drum brakes by someone else because I did not have time and when it was done, all the installer said was that he had a heck of a time with it. I always felt the steering was not the same after that also. Well, I installed another kit on my 68 Javelin this past weekend myself and I now know what he was talking about. I had two problems the first being, when the mounting bracket was installed the bracket hit the lower control arm taking away quite a bit of travel. After about 5 times of on and off and grinding the bracket, it worked without hitting and I used that for a template to grind the other side. This must not of been done to my AMX. The second problem was that the spindle on my original Bendix disc brake set up was 1/4" thinner than the depth of the kits bracket that it installs in so I had to shim the spindle out 1/4" , making it flush with the bracket or the rotor severely contacted the end of the control arm. The only other way out of it would have been to grind the end of the lower control arm off which is out of the question. Even after this, the end of the arm needs some grinding but not much maybe 1/16". After the bracket was ground down and the spindle was shimmed, everything went together and works well. I also needed new hardware because the factory bolts were not the right lengths and the kit does not include any hardware. Eight hours and three trips the the hardware store, it was together. I emailed Scarebird, because there is no phone number, and he said in an email that AMC's are difficult having many different configurations. I offered to fax him a full size tracing of the modified bracket so he can make them different but he does not have a fax so I guess that's it? If the brackets were modified by him and the kit included a 1/4" spacer, it would be an easy bolt on but he didnt sound very interested. If anyone has installed this kit and did not modify the bracket check it out you will see what I mean. If anyone is thinking of installing this kit I have a tracing of the right shape I can fax you which will save you hours and headaches. Sorry this was so long.

jcisworthy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/23/2009 Location: North Carolina Status: Offline Points: 2805	Post Options Post Reply Quote jcisworthy Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: Feb/06/2012 at 6:39pm
	I do want to say that I appreciate that Scarebird makes a conversion at all and with a little work it works well. There is a limited amount of this stuff being offered so it is appreciated.

wantajav Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Sep/04/2009 Location: PA Status: Offline Points: 1151	Post Options Post Reply Quote wantajav Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Feb/06/2012 at 7:18pm
	These details are gold to the rest of us. I am planning on the scarebird kit and I really appreciate the details. Many thanks Mike

jcisworthy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/23/2009 Location: North Carolina Status: Offline Points: 2805	Post Options Post Reply Quote jcisworthy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Feb/06/2012 at 8:03pm
	I wanted to clarify that when I say the bracket hits I mean when you turn the wheel all the way in either direction, the brackets create their own stop which falls short of the factory stops on the control arm. Also, this is when the rotor makes contact, when the wheel is turned and only one side of the control arm needs some grinding. Hope this helps.

jcisworthy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/23/2009 Location: North Carolina Status: Offline Points: 2805	Post Options Post Reply Quote jcisworthy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Feb/06/2012 at 8:15pm
	One more thing, sorry about the bits and pieces of info. I do not believe the rotor will make contact with the lower control arm until the bracket is modified because of the bracket limiting the travel so if you are willing to live with less turning radius then it should go together ok I think. I saw the bracket was a problem and did not want my turning radius compromised so I fixed it which lead to the rotor making contact which lead to having to grind the control arm in one spot slightly.

Hornet_Tom Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Apprentice Joined: Jun/03/2009 Location: Seattle, WA Status: Offline Points: 72	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hornet_Tom Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Feb/08/2012 at 9:50pm
	For what it is worth, I installed the Scarebird kit on my 1973 Hornet Hatchback (V8 car if that matters) and it went great. I had no clearance issues at all with the lower control arms or with the turning radius stopper. There must be variation in the drum brake spindles and/or the difference could also be trunion versus non-trunion suspensions. In any case, it sounds like you got it worked out.
	Tom 1974 Hornet 4 door Sedan, 232CI, 3 on the tree 1978 Concord 2 door sedan, 258CI, Auto 1978 Concord D/L 4 door sedan, 258CI, Auto, A/C, and an AMC AM/CB Radio

sasyamx Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/24/2007 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 525	Post Options Post Reply Quote sasyamx Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Feb/08/2012 at 10:18pm
	I install one on a 68 drum front end with none of those problems, one side went on great , the other i had to grind on the back of the caliper to get it to fit over the bracket .

farna Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Supporter of TheAMCForum Moderator Lost Dealership Project Joined: Jul/08/2007 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 19689	Post Options Post Reply Quote farna Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Feb/09/2012 at 9:10am
	John, next time try swapping sides to that the calipers are mounted opposite what they are now. When you swap everything left to right it just switches the calipers from front to rear mount (or vice-versa). I have mine (63 Classic) rear mounted, and most of the trunnion cars need them that way due to clearance issues. The AMX/Javelin/American might be different from the Classic/Ambo and need the calipers on the front, but I don't think so. Later model factory disc cars mount the calipers on front, but it doesn't matter if front or back. The bleeder screws just need to be on top. How do others with Scarebird kits have them mounted -- front or back? I'm willing to bet most have them on the back, and there may not be clearance issues that way. John, you can scan in your drawing as a jpg file and e-mail it to Scarebird, but hold off a bit! That is unless you have your calipers mounted to the rear, where I think they need to be to prevent clearance problems. I don't think the Scarebird instructions specify -- that might be all that's needed. You can't help some things though, like the shimming of the spindles. But with the calipers on back that might not be needed either.
	Frank Swygert

jcisworthy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/23/2009 Location: North Carolina Status: Offline Points: 2805	Post Options Post Reply Quote jcisworthy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Feb/09/2012 at 8:45pm
	Thanks Frank but I have them mounted to the rear. There is no way possible with this kit to mount them to the front which is the way I wanted to mount them. Double check your car to see if the bracket hits your lower control arm when you turn your wheel all the way in either direction it did on both sides of my car. It may not seem real obvious because it will feel like the factory stops but it does take away turning radius because they hit before full travel is achieved. On my car the knuckle came up about 1 1/2" short of making contact with the factory stops when the Scarebrd brackets hit the control arm.

farna Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Supporter of TheAMCForum Moderator Lost Dealership Project Joined: Jul/08/2007 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 19689	Post Options Post Reply Quote farna Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Feb/09/2012 at 9:01pm
	I don't have a Scarebird kit on right now, factory 79 Spirit brakes. I've got a set of the old style Scarebird brackets that I've test fit, but didn't check turning lock to lock. The old style fit behind the spindles like the factory brackets, not on top like the new ones. Not sure the old ones would hit. I'm like you though, if you have to make a few minor mods like a bit of grinding and spacing to make the brackets work they are still worth the effort. That's what it takes to truly make "one size fit all".
	Frank Swygert