In the January issue of Custom Classic Trucks, we ran an item in Classic News about Chuck Porter's chopped, channeled, and sectioned '49 F-1 Ford custom being tracked down by his daughter Debby Porter and slated for restoration. Since Debby intended to cruise the truck while she was restoring it back to how it first appeared in 1955 on the cover of Hot Rod magazine, number one on her list of things to do was to bring the '49's brakes back up to the original specifications.
After searching for someone familiar with the mechanical workings of '50s-era vehicles, Debby brought the old F-1 to a repair shop that agreed to dial the F-1's four-wheel drum brakes back to their former glory. As we soon discovered when we started this tech, the shop took all of the right steps to ensure a good job. The brake drums were turned, and new brake shoes were arced to match; the hydraulic wheel cylinders were replaced along with installing new flex hoses. All in all, it appeared that the place did a fair-decent job of restoring the F-1's brakes.
But not too long after picking the truck up from the repair shop, Debby fired up the '49's trusty dual-quad Cadillac engine and motored off toward a Friday night cruise. This is where it all went bad. Smack-dab in the middle of rush-hour traffic behind a swarm of trendy Volvos and Lexuses screeching up to a red light, the old truck came to a stop stuffed halfway into an Audi trunk. On the bright side, and amazingly enough, the old Ford fared pretty well (who cares about the Audi) with its trademark custom one-off custom grille intact, but unfortunately, the passenger-side front fender and custom pancaked hood with louvers and a custom-made scoop suffered a heavy hit.
Right out of the gate, Chuck...
Right out of the gate, Chuck Porter's '49 Ford lost its '80s flavor (or should we say stink?) with the permanent removal of its billet 15-inch Boyd's and white-letter tires. Classic Performance Products' F-1 disc brake kit is available in three different bolt patterns: 4.5 on 5, 5 on 5, and the original 5.5 on 5, which has been retained on the Porters' '49.
At this stage of the game, Debby decided that even before the body repairs commenced, her dad's truck was going to get upgraded with a braking system that would allow it to survive on today's streets.
The full-custom '49 was towed to Rodz in beautiful downtown Burbank, California, where Mike Donatelli and Mike O'Brien advised Debby that the best route would be to install an F-1 front disc brake conversion kit from Classic Performance Products, complete with one of their under-floor 8-inch booster/dual master cylinder combos. Naturally, going in with the knowledge that Chuck invested over 1,000 man-hours modifying the pickup to his personal design, anything could be possible when it came to the mechanical underpinnings Chuck specified for the truck. Sure enough, as the existing brake parts were removed and the CPP disc brake conversion components were held into place to evaluate whether or not they would be a direct fit, they discovered some further modifications would be necessary.
Since we often get inquiries from readers interested in improving trucks that no one manufactures a direct bolt-in kit for, we figured that following along with the crew at Rodz while they adapted the CPP F-1 disc brake setup would provide some insights on what it takes to handle a one-off situation. Utilizing an existing CPP kit as a starting point instead of beginning from scratch saved a tremendous amount of time and guaranteed the essential engineering necessary was already established and out of the way. From here, the key points that required additional attention were to ensure that everything from steering actuation to brake application functioned properly.
The cotter key was removed...
The cotter key was removed from the spindle, followed by removing the righthand threaded spindle nut, allowing the brake drum, with its integral hub, to be removed from the spindle.
Removing the brake drum revealed...
Removing the brake drum revealed the F-1's stock brakes were freshly rebuilt, but were not up to snuff for 21st-century driving conditions.
By extracting four 1/2-20...
By extracting four 1/2-20 bolts from the backing plate, Scotty was able to remove the brake assembly from the spindle.
Stripped down to the bare...
Stripped down to the bare spindle, it was time to mock up the new CPP disc brake components and check for any potential problems created by the '49's deviation from a stock F-1 configuration.
Sure enough, the steering...
Sure enough, the steering stops on the custom drop axle interfered with the CPP disc brake caliper bracket.
Although just about any type...
Although just about any type of grinder could have been used to notch out a relief for clearance, Eric at Rodz used the mill because it was the most precise way to do it.
Further inspection revealed...
Further inspection revealed the custom shock-absorber mounts fabricated by Chuck Porter interfered with the disc brakes. Eric used a plasma cutter to lop them off and then welded them on to a better location.
After the mock-up was successfully...
After the mock-up was successfully completed, it was time for Scotty at Rodz to pack the Timken-type wheel bearings supplied in the CPP F-1 disc brake conversion kit with high-temp disc brake wheel bearing grease.
The last step to installing...
The last step to installing the wheel bearings into the hub/brake rotor was to drive the grease seals in with a Snap-on bearing race/seal driver.
Before the brake rotor could...
Before the brake rotor could be slid onto the spindle, the bearing adapters supplied in the CPP conversion kit had to be installed.
Scotty used 3M Metalite emery...
Scotty used 3M Metalite emery cloth strips to remove any nicks or high spots that would prevent the adapters from sliding onto the spindle.
Requiring more preparation...
Requiring more preparation than usual in addition to the 3M Metalite strips, Scotty used a wheel cylinder hone to open up the bearing adapters' inside diameter so they could be driven on with a short length of 2-inch-diameter pipe.
Another problem created by...
Another problem created by the custom steering setup Chuck fabricated for his truck was the steering arm's male ends designed to pass through the spindle and clamp with two nuts on the outside of the stock F-1 drum-brake backing plate.
The solution was to install...
The solution was to install a custom steering arm available from Speedway Motors. It has 1/2-20-inch female threads that utilized the four 1/2-20 bolts included in the CPP kit to bolt the CPP caliper mounting bracket to the stock Ford F-1 spindle.
Once the steering arm, steering...
Once the steering arm, steering stops, and shock absorber mount problems were solved, it was time to mount the disc brake assemblies onto the spindles for the final time.
One look at the amount of...
One look at the amount of engineering required to produce CPP's power brake/dual master cylinder conversion kit designed to replace the original F-1 setup illustrates how much of a jumpstart a person gets over starting from scratch.
In the early '50s, when Chuck...
In the early '50s, when Chuck Porter customized his '49, he converted the stock manual brake under-floor single master cylinder to a firewall-mounted trap (pedal) with a single master cylinder. With Chuck's Cadillac engine swap, there was absolutely no room left to install a dual master cylinder, let alone a vacuum booster. That said, here's Scotty attaching a scrounged-up stock F-1 trap before the clutch pedal was eliminated.
Due to the Cadillac's hydramatic...
Due to the Cadillac's hydramatic tranny combined with a channeled cab with a flat floor, there was very little room to install the CPP dual master/8-inch booster combo. Eric modified (cut) the CPP bracket to allow the CPP brake combo room to fit.
Here is how the CPP dual master/8-inch...
Here is how the CPP dual master/8-inch booster combo appeared after Eric completed the installation.
This angle reveals access...
This angle reveals access to adding brake fluid is difficult at best. Notice the two clear lines attached to the brake master cylinder lid.
The addition of a CPP remote-reservoir...
The addition of a CPP remote-reservoir kit solved the problem perfectly. Here's a detail shot of the remote reservoir's lid.
Eric located (mounted) the...
Eric located (mounted) the second portion of the CPP remote reservoir kit on the firewall. Notice how tight Chuck Porter's customized single brake master fits behind the Cadillac V-8's left bank.