Someday67

Question: Will the spindle and disc hardware from a 1969 Ranchero bolt on to a 1968 Mustang front end?

Question: How much modification will be needed to bolt the harware on and hook up all the lines to make it work well?

Question: How much of the Ranchero system should I save for the Mustang?

Facts: I have a 1968 coupe that came with a 289 V8 and manual drums on all 4 corners.

I have a 1969 Ranchero that came with a 351C-4V and power front discs/rear drums.

Thoughts... I have read about several donors where everything will bolt on if you save the tie rod end from the donor car. (I know about the Gra-na-da and Maver-ick parts... I am hoping to get off cheap with the Ranchero in my possession)
I would love for this to become the complete list of brake donors including the complexity level of swaps for early Mustangs, BUT I need to make this decision very soon and need some specific advice. Thanks in advance for any advice - even if it is a big old STOP sign. If that swap is impossible or over my head I can put the Ranchero out of my misery and into a more Ranchero friendly driveway.

degins

The 69 Ranchero disc brakes, including spindles and tie rods, are identical to OE disc brake for 68 Mustang.

Someday67

That is awesome news... I spent an hour scraping crud off of both cars yesterday to see if the parts looked the same. The lower ball joint is different on the Ranchero, but it looks like it does the same thing where it counts. I think I'll keep the lower swing arm (A frame?) just in case the dimensions are the same as the Mustang as well. That way I can use the Ranchero ball joint if necessary. Thanks for the good news!

Someday67

I sent degins a private message to ask for more details. He replied with the following message and encouraged me to share with everyone...

Don't use the69 Ranchero control armson the 68, they are different. You must use the outer tie rods and the proportioning valve from the 69 along with the spindles. You do not need to add an adjustable type (assuming the 69 one is working). If, as I assume, the 68 is a drum car, it doesn't have a proportioning valve. It has a distribution block. The block merely directs the flow of the fluid. The master cylinder on the 68 is a drum/drum type as well. It will need to be replaced with a disc/drum type. I don't recommend re-using the one fromthe ranchero.

I thank him kindlyfor the free info and encourage everyone without a donor car to check out his disc brake hardware. It looks as good as anything and the price is an added bonus compared to other kits. I plan on upgrading my master cylinder to the disc/drum type and may do a power upgrade in the future. I have a pretty strong leg and a bad booster on my daily driver so I may not even notice the lack of power... which brings me to another QUESTION.

Since my Ranchero had power brakes do I need to switch or adjust any other parts to compensate for the non-power brakes in the Mustang? I am guessing since there a a million MCs to choose from I will have to get the disc/drum/non-power Mustang version and be OK?

I'll try to post some photos soon for anyone that is interested. I love my digital camera!

Someday67

FOLLOW UP... for those restoring old ponies like me I learned a neat trick to finding stock Ford parts to help you find what will work. Autozone.com has a very easy lookup feature where you can look up part numbers for different cars and see if they match. As I was informed, all the disc harware for a 1968 Mustang shared numbers with the 1969 Ranchero except the tie rod ends. Unfortunately the OEM style spindles are still pretty hard to find so you may have to spend some money to get the goods. With brakes I would just consider the extra money an insurance policy! Since my 302 is still in the garage (and my driveway is flat) the brakes aren't as important.

mr_velocity

What do expect to reuse from the donor car?

Considering the car is 40 years old other than the bracket I would hesitate to use the MC, pads, the calipers (you could rebuild them I guess), the rotors, the lines.

I asked in another thread that still wasn't answered. Why is everyone in such a rush to dump their mustang spindles when doing these conversions when you don't need to?

chockostang

All 68 69 Mustang, Cougar, Fairlane, Torino, Ranchero, Falcons with Disc Brakes were equipt with a C8OA Spindle off the assembly line.

So the fit is perfect, right down to the Tie Rods.

Yes, install these, have a Factory setup Now, and 30 years from now when you need a part.

To install the Change many pieces to Granada brakes with small rotors would be shooting yourself in the foot??

The one factor that has been overlooked here is the Booster. The Fairlane/Ranchero Booster with setup will not work. Even removing the booster from the setup will not bolt on and work without a torch, lots of Bud Light.

Dan @ Chockostang

chockostang

All 68 69 Mustang, Cougar, Fairlane, Torino, Ranchero, Falcons with Disc Brakes were equipt with a C8OA Spindle off the assembly line.

So the fit is perfect, right down to the Tie Rods.

Yes, install these, have a Factory setup Now, and 30 years from now when you need a part.

To install the Change many pieces to Granada brakes with small rotors would be shooting yourself in the foot??

The one factor that has been overlooked here is the Booster. The Fairlane/Ranchero Booster with setup will not work. Even removing the booster from the setup will not bolt on and work without a torch, lots of Bud Light.

Dan @ Chockostang