Brake Upgrade - Right side

Even though I got a late start today, I was able to get some work done on the Aspen. I was able to complete the budget big brake upgrade on the right side.

Budget Big Brake Upgrade

A little bit about the Budget Big Brake upgrade. The Aspen came from the factory with 10.87" front disc brakes. These were essentially the same brakes available on A-bodies (Duster, Dart, Valiant), and earlier B- and E-bodies as well as M- and J-bodies (Diplomat, Fifth Avenue, Cordoba, Imperial, Mirada) through the 80s. In the mid 70s, Chrysler's larger cars received larger 11.75" rotors. These included B- , C- and R-bodies. These 11.75" rotors are very easy to swap over to the Aspen.

From the junkyard, I snagged a pair of caliper mounting brackets from a 1980 Dodge St. Regis. I also ordered new rotors for the same car. Those are the only extra parts needed for the swap. Everything else (caliper & pads) are the same between the St. Regis and the Aspen, so I am able to reuse those parts.

Front wheel removed. Here you can see the aluminum spacer that I run to mount up the 17x8" Mustang Bullitt rims.


A straight-on shot of the stock brake rotor.


Here is a comparison shot of the 11.75" rotor from the Dodge St. Regis (left) and the 10.87" rotor from the Aspen (right).


New 11.75" rotor installed. Also replaced the wheel bearings with new.


Stock Aspen caliper and pads installed on the new 11.75" rotor.



BEFORE: Stock 10.87 rotors:

AFTER: New 11.75" rotors:


The new rotors fill out the 17" rims a little better, and should provide some additional stopping power. Tomorrow after softball I'll do the left side.

The Mailman Delivers

Much to my surprise this afternoon, the new brake rotors that I ordered arrived via UPS today. I wasn't expecting them until next Monday, so I was pleasently surprised. This means that I get to do my brake upgrade this weekend.

Here is a photo of one of the shiny new rotors:



As I get the brakes installed, I will do a more thorough write up of the modification.

Junkyard Hunting

Well, softball season is offically over now. I should have some time to dedicate to working on the car now. I decided that this past weekend was a good time to go and roam through the junkyards to see what's out there.

I hit pay dirt!!

I have been searching and searching for a set of the 11.75" brake caliper mounts, so that I can upgrade the front disc brakes to the larger 11.75" brakes. The caliper mounts can be found in B-body Cordobas, Chargers, etc, as well as the even larger R-body Chrysler New Yorker, Dodge St. Regis, etc. All the Cordobas that I have seen, all had the older pin-style calipers (not the slider type likeon the Aspen). I found one R-body, and the bolts were so rusted that I was unable to break them loose with the tools I had.

Sunday, I found 4 sets(!!!) of the caliper mounts. A 78 Dodge Magnum, a 78 Cordoba, an 80 New Yorker and an 80 St. Regis. I pulled the mounts from the New Yorker, cuz it was the first one I saw. They came off with very little effort. Score one for budget big brake upgrade.

The second score was the 1982 Imperial in the second yard. This car still had the complete rear sway bar. I've already purchased a sway bar and a set of custom made brackets to weld to the spring caps, but I still needed the frame mounts. I picked up the entire bar, frame mounts, and end links for next to nothing!

The parts are home now, and after my trip to North Carolina I'm going to start ordering parts. Coming up I'll be doing the following:

- Replacing suspension: front and rear shocks, rear springs, rear sway bar, possible cop-size front bar.

- Upgrading brakes: budget big-brake (11.75") upgrade in the front, replacement of shoes in the rear, new master cylinder.

- Upgrading steering: new steering box (firm feel unit), new tie rod ends, and new steerign wheel (tuff-wheel lookalike).

Stay tuned.