New disc brakes and stock hubcaps

Question:

I have a 1962 Mercury Meteor with 14inch rims. Each drum to disc brake conversion kit I’ve found so far requires 15-inch or larger rims. My problem is that I would like to keep the car’s stock hubcaps. Are there 15-inch rims that will accommodate the stock hubcaps, or 14inch rims that will work with a disc brake conversion kit? If not, would the stock drum brakes with a power brake master cylinder be a safe option? How bad is an all-drum system? I had the brakes fail due to a failed wheel cylinder. I want to have the option to drive the car long distances.

Answer:

There are various ways to solve the problems you’ve outlined. The easiest and least expensive is to stick with the original drum brake system. From a safety perspective, the only inherently weak link in your car’s original brake setup is the single reservoir master cylinder. As you discovered the hard way, when there’s a pressure loss anywhere in the system there’s pressure loss everywhere in the system. You can overcome this by installing a dual reservoir master cylinder, which creates two separate hydraulic circuits, one for the front brakes and another for the rear. If a wheel cylinder, hose or other part fails, you lose braking action in only half the system and can still bring the car to a stop.

If you still want to install disc brakes you can install 14-inch rims that are configured to work with disc brakes. You can also use 15-inch rims that have been converted to work with your original 14-inch hubcaps. Companies such as Stockton Wheel in Stockton, California, (www.stocktonwheel.com) can do this for you. If you have the requisite skills, you can do it yourself.

In a nutshell, you need four 14-inch rims that accept your original hubcaps and four 15-inch rims that work with your disc brake conversion kit. You cut out the outer portion of the 14-inch rims that the hubcaps mount to and weld these sections onto the disc-brake compatible rims.