Re-Rebuilding the 440-493 in a 1970 Charger

[Kern Dog]

My pump has no shims in it. I only got to drive the car with the Borgeson for a short time before the camshaft went bad but it steered fine. Effort was a LOT less than with the Firm Feel and Fast Ratio steering arms.

Regarding the Saginaw pump pressure.....
The reservoir and pump I pulled from the junkyard was from a heavy 1 ton 4wd truck with hydroboost and a slightly larger 6 1/2" pulley.
I could be wrong but I'm thinking that if this was adequate for a truck, a car that weighs 1500 to 2000 lbs less should be okay.

That pump surely turned slower than mine does with a smaller pulley. If I needed to, I could use the other pump with the smaller 5 1/8" pulley......I could just swap the reservoir again.

 

[NoCar2023]

I think it's good.
Put it together and see how the brakes work.
Fine-tune it from there.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

I believe the Mopar/Saginaw flow valves are rated at around 800-1000psi. You may have to increase the pressure — you may have to increase volume, also.

By the way, I installed a Borgeson Box on my 72, and the steering effort is a little high at a lower RPM.

that's great feedback. I was wondering about the low RPM steering effort. Does it feel higher effort than non-power assited rack and pinion? Surely not as much as manual steering right?

And Greg, remember Pressure is inversely proportional to Volume, but it may not be a 1 to 1 change needed if you increase both volume and pressure. This is interesting stuff.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

The pulley is the same one that I've had for 20 years. I mentioned the spare pump that has a smaller pulley.
I have not talked with Cass about the pump requirements. I am on my own here. Part of the deal was that I am supposed to figure this out and report back to him.

Ah, the smaller pulley is on your SPARE pump. Got it, thanks.

 

[NoCar2023]

that's great feedback. I was wondering about the low RPM steering effort. Does it feel higher effort than non-power assited rack and pinion? Surely not as much as manual steering right?

No, just a little high effort. I believe the Borgeson gear requires a bit more pressure/volume than the OE gear, and I didn't mess with my flow valve.
Edit; Greg has no shims and stated the new gear is happy. So maybe the h-boost will be okay at the current pressure/volume.

 

[Kern Dog]

The pump I have is a rebuilt unit I installed in 2005 or 2006. The pulley is one I've had since my first 440 swap in 2001. I can't prove it but I suspect that the rebuilt units are built with no shims to allow the maximum pressure. For comparison, the rebuilt alternators all seem to have the smallest diameter pulley to increase the charge rate.

 

[Kern Dog]

Back in post #309 I installed the right front brake assembly. Today I did the left side.
I was having trouble getting it all to fit. As often is the case, some kits come from manufacturers that include no instructions. I can only guess that these suppliers have installed so many of them, it is all second nature so it doesn’t occur to them that another person might not see it so clearly.
The right side:

Dr Diff took regular production Ford Mustang calipers and made an adapter bracket that allows it to fit to the disc knuckle-spindle.
The trouble with the installation is when the silver caliper mount bracket is installed. The head of the top Allen screw is too big to clear the body of the knuckle. In post 309 I was not detailed enough in describing the order and methods of assembly. Today as I looked back for a refresh of the memory, I saw my error.
My goal with these build threads is to pass along my own experiences so that others can avoid mistakes that others have made.
From what I can tell, the assembly procedure that makes sense is the following:
Install hub and secure with nut, cotter key and cap.
Mock up the black steel caliper adapter bracket and silver caliper adapter.
If the top bolt of the caliper bracket will not fit, you have three options.
1) Grind material off of the head of the Allen screw
2) Grind the inside curve of the knuckle until adequate clearance is achieved.
3) Do a little of 1 and 2.
I did #3.

What I ground off wasn’t much. It will make no difference to the strength of the part. This allowed me to bolt up the black bracket and leave it in place, then bolt the caliper bracket, then slide in the caliper and pads.
If anyone is concerned about removing metal like I did, take a look at the commonly used B-FMJ-R body knuckle…

It is thinner in many areas including…

Yeah… the area that I ground down already is already gone in the later knuckles.

 

[Kern Dog]

This issue of clearance got me curious. I have the 73-76 A body knuckles on this car. I made the swap in 2000 when all these knuckles were easily found in junkyards.
The B-FMJ-R body knuckles were lighter and thinner. They have a few differences in geometry but bolt in place with no problems.
Here is an A body knuckle:

Here is the other one. I’m told it is lighter by almost 2 lbs. look close, you can see where some mass was removed.

Now look at the point where I had to grind for clearance for the bracket bolt:

Look now on the B knuckle..

Those that have the B knuckles may never encounter any interference.
No biggie… onto the rear brake swap.
More updates to follow.

 

[Kern Dog]

The rear discs that I have were installed back in approximately 2006.

Again, these were FORD sourced from the Mustang. Single piston iron caliper and fairly simple to work on. In keeping with my usual theme, I am weighing everything as I change it just to know if I am gaining or losing weight by these changes.

Looks to me like 11 1/2 lbs for the old one.

Wait...the new one looks like it weighs about the same. I ordered the 11.7" rear brakes. These do have holes and slots for cooling but could that make a difference in weight since these new rotors are larger?

How is it that the old rotors measure 11 5/8" ?

The new ones....

Looks like the old ones and new ones are the same diameter.

Yep...exactly the same. How did this happen? All these years, I thought the rotors I had were the 10.7" ones. I never measured them so this was a surprise. Somehow back then I received the larger disc kit and didn't know it.
There is no gain here except that the rotors will look the same front and rear. Well, if they get hot, the holes and slots will help them cool off faster.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

The rear discs that I have were installed back in approximately 2006.

View attachment 1337482

View attachment 1337483
Again, these were FORD sourced from the Mustang. Single piston iron caliper and fairly simple to work on. In keeping with my usual theme, I am weighing everything as I change it just to know if I am gaining or losing weight by these changes.

View attachment 1337484

Looks to me like 11 1/2 lbs for the old one.

View attachment 1337485
Wait...the new one looks like it weighs about the same. I ordered the 11.7" rear brakes. These do have holes and slots for cooling but could that make a difference in weight since these new rotors are larger?

View attachment 1337486
How is it that the old rotors measure 11 5/8" ?

The new ones....

View attachment 1337488

Looks like the old ones and new ones are the same diameter.

View attachment 1337490

Yep...exactly the same. How did this happen? All these years, I thought the rotors I had were the 10.7" ones. I never measured them so this was a surprise. Somehow back then I received the larger disc kit and didn't know it.
There is no gain here except that the rotors will look the same front and rear. Well, if they get hot, the holes and slots will help them cool off faster.

KD, in the spirit of knowledge and things to keep in mind for future issues - I know that many of these aftermarket rotors have both slots and holes. I've never been a fan of the drilled holes. Sometimes they can be a crack initiation site. I believe the slots actually help with pad material scraping (maybe for a more consistent biting surface?). One thing I also remember when I first read about the cross-drilled holes not doing too much for performance compared to air flow across the outside of the rotor is that when you first drive with them, you can expect the pedal feel to be a bit strange and possibly noisy at first. The holes make it take longer for the pads to break in as they disturb the friction surface. I've never installed these on a car, but I did experience the strange feel and initial noise with a cross drilled front disc rotor on my mt bike. I hated it for the first few hundred miles, but then once it broke in it was fine. So my advice to you - don't be surprised if at first you don't like it. Give it 500 miles of stop and go and then re-evaluate. Also, inspect the rotor surfaces every year or so and be on the watch out for micro-cracks near the holes. Holes in and of themselves will stop crack propagation, but I've read that sometimes due to hole drilling quality and rotor heat treat, sometimes they are where cracks can start. It's also worth mentioning that most new high performance cars (i.e. Corvette, Hellcat) all have flat surface rotors or slots only. No holes.

I don't want you to second guess using what you've spent your hard earned money on, just some things to be aware of when using them.

 

[Kern Dog]

Thanks, Dwayne.
I've seen late model Mercedes with drilled and slotted rotors. I had a buddy that bought one for his wife. He didn't turn the rotors when they got worn, he just replaced them.
Second guess...? I do that quite often. I overthink things more than I'd like but I'd rather be this way than to be a flatline idiot.

Next in line.....The rear wheel studs. I don't know if these new rotors have a thicker "hat" but the wheel studs don't seem to be long enough for my comfort level.

I measured just shy of an inch of length on these. In 2006 when I switched to the rear discs, Dr Diff suggested longer wheel studs but they seemed fine. I do love to peel out and drive fast around corners so this is an area that I need to upgrade. I started another thread and got some great responses. I have aluminum wheels that have a thicker mounting flange than steel so I am going to need more thread engagement.
All I need here is another 3/8" to have them engage more than the bare minimum.

FBBO member @beanhead posted about these:

These look to be exactly what I'd need.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

with longer wheel studs, don't forget deeper lug nuts - ask me how I know. I suggest something from Dorman with a conical end.

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

with longer wheel studs, don't forget deeper lug nuts - ask me how I know. I suggest something from Dorman with a conical end.

I’m sure he always makes sure he goes deep enough with his nuts

 

[Kern Dog]

Lucky for me, I was able to find these locally on a Sunday.

I’ve replaced plenty of wheel studs before.
In the past, I’ve stacked washers, put a long shank lug nut on and cranked them on with the air impact. It often took awhile. This time…

Same stack of washers but this time I took a lug nut and ground the taper off of it to spread out the contact area.

Then I used a more powerful impact known by some as the “Rattle Wrench”.

As expected, these added just shy of 3/8” of contact area.

 

[Kern Dog]

The lug nuts I have did not bottom out. I see that as a good news-bad news thing.
I’m glad they still fit BUT I think of all the stuff I did with the car with inadequate wheel studs!

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

The lug nuts I have did not bottom out. I see that as a good news-bad news thing.
I’m glad they still fit BUT I think of all the stuff I did with the car with inadequate wheel studs!

I thought with aluminum wheels it’s important to use conical end lug nuts for self centering since the wheel hubs are not self centering? So did your lug nut grinding have an adverse effect for wheel centering or staying secure under load cycles?

 

[Wietse]

I thought with aluminum wheels it’s important to use conical end lug nuts for self centering since the wheel hubs are not self centering? So did your lug nut grinding have an adverse effect for wheel centering or staying secure under load cycles?

He only used that to drive the new wheel bolts knurl section in the hub, not for tightening the wheel.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

He only used that to drive the new wheel bolts knurl section in the hub, not for tightening the wheel.

Oh! My bad.

 

[Kern Dog]

That is correct. Using lug nuts to pull the wheel studs in place has been done many times. The conical end has a thin contact area when doing so. Because of that, I ground the end until it was somewhat square, increasing the contact area.
There are some aftermarket wheels that are "hub centric" but mine are not. Some purists insist that the wheels must be hub centric for smooth running but I don't believe that.

 

[Kern Dog]

The day has finally arrived. I have the rotating assembly back! One problem though....

Would YOU be out in the shop right now?

Yeah....Me neither. It is supposed to be in the mid 80s by Saturday though.