Scarebird closing...

[MagicMan]

I am very pleased to tell you that Merlin is a new Paid Member of the Forum and he and I enjoyed a lengthy phone call yesterday afternoon that covered a lot of subjects regarding getting his '59 Squarebird back on the road again. The subject of disc brake conversion, cvr unit, front end, sway bar problems, and other subjects were discussed in detail. His Bird has 14" rims off a '67 Mustang I think, but they are not OEM Mustang rims but aftermarket. Back then, John tells me that some Mustangs had drum brakes and there was Optional disc brakes available. However, Merlin does not know if what he has on the Bird now are disc brake ready rims. To help him find out, I got my pix that I did take of the set of 5 14" disc brake rims I got off a '70's something Granada at a local junkyard about 2009 at $10ea. Those are the rims that you will see in the attached photos that went on TweetyBird. Dave ~ simplyconnected had posted a couple of pix that might be helpful to Merlin regarding disc brake ready rims and I have some showing what the disc brake ready rims look like from flange to flange which should be helpful. Also the measurements of a disc brake ready rim. You can see the raised hump area of the right side which goes all the way around the rim. I do not have a picture of my OEM view unfortunately. There certainly is a difference.

There was a concern regarding having to replace the spindles if you go the Granada/Mustang, etc. route, but that is not necessary to do with the kits that are available to us today. When I did the conversion as I recall, I was able to use the OEM spindles, and even used the OEM caps, and other parts as I recall. Regarding Scarebird disc brake conversion kits I contacted John Pasemann, the new Scarebird owner in North Carolina to see when they will have the Squarebird 14" oem kit, and the 15"-18" kit available to purchase. I am waiting for a response from him. I know that like Dave, Merlin wants to go the latter route, because he would like to be able to buy parts off the shelf from local auto parts store if something in the kit goes bad on him. To do that, he is going to need a set of at least 3 15-18" disc brake ready rims. If anyone in Colorado or close by has a set, he might be interested in talking with you about them. Dave you should expect to get a new OEM CVR unit from Merlin to replace what looks like his CVR unit just hanging down from the back of the instrument panel. Which might explain why his gauges are not working.

Here are the pix Merlin sent me, and also the pix Dave took, and the disc brake ready rims that went onto TweetyBird.

Ray,

Thanks for your time, it was a pleasure meeting you and having the opportunity of getting some great knowledge from you along with the responses and knowledge from Dave and John. It's a honor to be apart of the community and I can't thank you guys enough for sharing it with me.

The wheels I purchased were US Mags 14x7 in the front and 14x8 for the rear. The offset for the rear was measured at zero and the fronts were measured at +12 according to the rep at discount tire. I'm not sure whether or not that was a factory option at the time, but I would lean towards them being aftermarket. I believe the guy said they came off a 67 mustang, although I'm a fan of mustangs I'm not very knowledgeable on what features distinguished the differences between the years in the late 60's unless it was an obvious Boss Fastback and I'm also not certain on whether or not Ford offered an option for US Mags to come with the vehicle.

I dug up some more pics, but I need to figure out how to upload them or I can send them to you if you would like.

Thanks,

Merlin

[YellowRose]

Good morning, Merlin! Thanks for the comments and the enjoyable conversation yesterday! There are several ways to post pix on this Forum. When you are in edit as I am, typing this you should see a Camera icon to the left of the paperclip. there is also the Upload Attachments icon, and above the word Upload there is the square icon to the left of the Upload Video icon. Then there is Paperclip to the left of the A and the Smiley face. I prefer to use the Camera icon because it puts the pix into a position that it brings them all up and then you can scroll through them by clicking on the right side arrow to view the next pic and the next, etc.. When I went to post the pix above, I missed one, and went back and added it using the Upload Attachments button.. From what Dave had to say above, your aftermarket rims might be disc brake ready.... I will further say that if you are using your cellphone, I do NOT know what you are able to see. I using my computer to access the Forum so that I have full view of it.

[MagicMan]

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Hey Ray!

I'm active from my phone 99% of the time but I think I got it figured out!


Here's some pics I was able to dig out of the text messages I had with the seller of the wheels. What they looked like on the Mustang and after he had the old rubber removed from the wheels before I purchased them.

[simplyconnected]

...The wheels I purchased were US Mags 14x7 in the front and 14x8 for the rear. The offset for the rear was measured at zero and the fronts were measured at +12 according to the rep at discount tire...

I do not know what +/- means in measuring back spacing. Consider this drawing:

image.png
,
If we measure from the 'MOUNTING PAD' to the outside of the rim, we call that, 'BACK SPACING'.
This determines whether your tire will clear the upper ball joint.
You want this number to be low, like 3-1/2" or less.

This picture shows how to measure back spacing:

image.png

This is a 14" X 6" (5-lug on 4-1/2" centers with 3-1/2" back spacing) Ford rim made for disk brakes, characterized by the big 'hump' just to the right of the wheel's center.
You can tell I'm measuring the back side because the valve stem hole is on the bottom left.

So, if wheels are mail ordered, here is a typical Summit Racing example:

$157.99
U.S. Wheel 26 Series Chrome Blade Wheels
Wheel, 26 Series Chrome Blade, Steel, Chrome, 14 in. x 6 in., 5 x 4.50 in. Bolt Circle, 3.50 in. Backspace, Each

This rim or any 15" rim will work on a Squarebird with disk brakes. - Dave

[jopizz]

By the way that's looks like a '69 Mustang not a '67. That makes it more likely that they are disc brake rims.

John