New big rotor scarebird kit

Hi Bill,

I've done lots of research on brakes as was considering "upgrading" to one of Wilwood's kits and found they weren't much gain over stock except had better pad compound than typical parts-store variety, had race pads available, saved weight and look nice. There's lots of misinformation out there and guys sometimes spend a bunch of money for not much gain, or end up with a combination that is worse than stock.

Not sure about the "HD" KH pads with the flange? If the caliper itself is the same casting and same mounting pins and width, standard pads should work and are available also in performance street and racing versions from a few manufacturers (same pad as some 70s Chryslers using KH). Looks like one caliper has standard pads and other HD pads?

I wouldn't run mixed pads ... tough to get balanced braking if compounds are different. Might get lucky, but ???

Also, if the calipers are NOS, they've likely been sitting a while and may be best to fit new piston seals. Standard KH had a 2.75" piston and seals should be readily available as common with some others.

Hope this helps,RD.

Good that you found a full set. I suppose you could try splitting the ones that came with the calipers - use one set for outer pads and other for inner. May cause some instability in the caliper and odd wear ... full matched set is best. 

wow, i had no idea brake pad edge codes even existed. thanks RD and billd for the posts.

i'm having the opposite problem -- i've got a very light (2300 lb) American with discs on all corners (Scarebird, Previa rotors 11" up front; 98 Mustang 11" in back), manual non-power, and a 1" bore master cylinder. it all works fine, but pedal pressure is very high. pads are all decent quality OEM replacement type and are semi-metallics.

now that i've got most other things sorted out i want to find much grippier/softer pads, had no idea how to start. i'm unconcerned with pad life.

is there a methodical way to find pads by material or CoF?

thanks Red Devil... yes, to all of of the above. for proportion, it's all not too bad as it is, it would just be nice to improve pedal feel.

it's very hard to find a smaller bore in an OEM type master cylinder; there's simply few 7/8" or 15/16" bores out there. the whole system (pedals, pedal box, pushrod, plumbing, etc) are home built so changing pushrod ain't nuttin.

it's in the floor so the resevoir is a PITA. the metal bolt on cover works great, but the Wilwood type remote is actually difficult.

so i'm not sure how to find a standard-flange smaller bore master that is actually obtainable. and i want to retain the dual circuit plumbing. left vs. right outlets, and thread size i can deal with.

alas, the EBC Yellow is only available for a narrow range of cars, not the middling chevy stuff used by Scarebird (i was wrong, rotors are about 10.5"). i've been meaning to call C H Topping, old-timey brake specialists in Long Beach. they are a massive lode of lore (their website is where i found all the drum-brake drilling tech, i gotta tell you it works shockingly well). im guessing, but they'll at least have scroungy old catalogs to cross reference and search out choices amongst the OEM junk if nothing else.

edit: may have found a site with a broader range, if not as choice as the EBC...

https://www.topbrakes.com/c/car-items/2568

that like should be specifically for the early AMC Scarebird kit (1990 Chevy Celebrity) (what a pathetic car-model name! almost as bad as the Aspire) but topbrakes.com seems to be good.


if you have ideas on how to find a better selection of masters i'd love to hear it. as it is i've done literally hours of google searches, after going through old paper and online PDF catalogs, unit by unit.



Edited by tomj - Mar/12/2018 at 12:43am

Ramblage - Did you have to bend the steering arms to fit the Scarebird disc brake adapters on your '59 Rambler?  I've been emailing them and Mark there at Scarebird says it's required for my vintage Rambler.