I want to change from drum brakes in the front to disk in my '66. I know the Granada route is the cheapest choice but I have no idea what year to pull from. Anyone have the Answer for me please?

 

Unless your car is a 6 cylinder i wouldn't use the Granada swap,For 524 bucks you can get factory style brakes that bolt right on your spindles you have from http://www.discbrakeswap.com/

 

Don't do it. It's not that cheap, and you end up with incorrect steering arm geometry on your 64-66 Mustang. You'll also have to replace the wheels, unless you already have aftermarket wheels with large center holes. If you pull Granada junk, you'll still need calipers and hoses, outer tie rod ends, you'll probably need to turn the rotors, and you'll need a wheel alignment, upwards of $100 all by itself. Suddenly that "cheap" disc setup isn't so cheap.

For under $600, you can get an OEM style brake kit, with all new parts, and attaches OEM-style to the spindles you have now, saving you from having wheel alignment done ($100) and buying new wheels ($100-$800 depending on what you get) and you will save a lotta work, too.

Really.

Basically I'm saying the so-called "cheap Granada" conversion is crap, a real money pit.

Wouldn't you really rather have this than some worked-over used crap?

 

Scarebird has a decent solution: http://scarebird.com/index.php?id=38

 

Scaredbird i wouldn't trust them mix matching rotors and calipers is a bad idea.You ever drove a s10 the stock brakes on them suck and most don't weight much more then our mustangs,The s10 calipers is what scarebird uses with ranger rotors.

 

Actually, I've used several of his conversions with great success.

Having appropriate pad shape to match the rotor diameter is key, and he doesn't have anything too unusual. Matching master to caliper is the place most make a mistake, but you didn't ask about that.

S10 brakes work as good as you maintain them. I have found they are usually only short on rubber interface with the road. Since the exact same brakes were used on GM intermediates of every kind, including S10, S15, Astro, Safari, Cutlass, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Regal, El Camino, Camaro, Firebird, Grand National, and are the favorite design of the intermediate circle track classes like IMCA, I would say they are an upgrade over the OE Mustang and Granada brakes.
The Ranger rotors are very nearly identical in spec to the S10 rotor. The S10 rotor is 10.5" with a nominal thickness of 1.04", minimum thickness of 0.96"; the ranger rotor is 10.28" with nominal thickness of 1.03" and minimum thickness of 0.96". The difference in diameter means the radius available for the pad to act on is reduced by .101", less than 1/8". If you have ever changed a set of pads before, you are well aware that there is far more than this available inward, and often there is more than this unused outward of the pad contact area, as noted when a heavily worn rotor develops a ridge on the outer circumference.
For me, twenty years of engineering development is meaningful, so I like the Scarebird option better than the OE Ford parts on Gen 1 Mustangs and Falcons, unless the objective is restoration over upgrade.

 

I got curious, so are the Granada and Mustang rotors:

'76 Grananda 10.68" dia., .95" nominal, .90" minimum thickness

'66 Mustang 11.33" dia., .83" Nominal, .78" minimum thickness


The caliper pistons are:

Mustang (2 piston) 1.63"; total piston area 2.08"

Grananda (1 piston) 2.6"; tpa 5.3"

S10 (1 piston) 2.5"; tpa 4.9"

 

I have have a 96 gmc sonoma which is really a s10 with a small block in it the stock brakes even with everything replaced on it still stopped like a log wagon.Once i upgraded to the blazer 2 piston calipers it stops a lot better then it did.What mustang had 2 piston calipers? these old ones was 4 piston or single the dual didn't come out tell the fox body.

 

Good info here, But the 65-67 Mustang Calipers have 4 Pistons Per Caliper. Each Piston 1 5/8". Do the Math, Much more PSI on the pads/Rotors for braking.

As 22 Stated, it's a no brainer.

Dan @ Chockostang

 

Strange thing to say, I used to drive an S10 and braking was excellent. Considering it weighed about 1000 pounds more than a Mustang, I fail to see your problem.

As for mix and match, so what?