1970 Ford Fairlane - The Brakes of Wrath

Next, slide the rotor onto the spindle. Pack the outer (smaller) wheel bearing with grease, and install it along with the washer and adjusting nut. To get the right tightness, rotate the rotor while torquing the spindle nut to about 20 ft-lbs, then back off the nut one-half turn and retighten to between 10 and 15 ft-lbs. When complete, install the nut retainer and make sure it's aligned with the cotter pin hole. After installing the cotter pin, the rotor installation is done.

The four-piston caliper is attached (bleeder screw pointing up) to the caliper bracket with the two supplied bolts and tightened to 45 to 60 ft-lbs. Slide the pads into place. One benefit of this system is that you won't have to remove the calipers to switch pads. SSBC warns against using any type of "anti-squeak" compound or spray on the pads, since it will interfere with proper functioning.

The pads are held in place by stainless steel retaining clips and hardware; torque these to 9 ft-lbs. While the calipers may look OEM, they are actually assembled in-house by SSBC. The iron castings are based on an OEM design, but SSBC does the machine work and fills them with top-line stuff, including 43mm stainless steel pistons and hardware.

Next, install the brake line. Use an adapter (red arrow) to mate the existing hard line to the new rubber brake line. This adapter is included in the SSBC kit.

You're now done with the left side. Note that the 11.25-inch vented rotor is compact enough to fit inside a 14x7-inch wheel. The whole operation takes about an hour, and every part you need is included in the kit.

Let's go under the hood and install the new 1-inch-bore master cylinder. The old master cylinder is disconnected from the brake lines, and unbolted from the firewall. On non-power Fairlanes like this, you need to get inside the car and release the pushrod from the brake pedal, so that the old master cylinder and pushrod can be removed.

With guidance from the instruction sheet, remove the snap-ring from the back of the master cylinder, and pull out the piston. Then secure the piston in a vice, and cut a slot through its side parallel to and in line with the pushrod. Eventually, the retaining clip inside will give way so that you can remove the pushrod.

With the new master cylinder bled, bolt it to the firewall and torque the bolts to 6 to 12 ft-lbs. Then go inside and reconnect the pushrod to the brake pedal. Next, attach the brake lines to the new master cylinder and tighten.

Now install the adjustable proportioning valve included in the kit. You can mount this anywhere in the rear brake line, as long as it's after the distribution block. Only a tubing bender is needed when using the SSBC-included pre-flared brake lines with fittings installed. We decided to cut the rear brake line at the firewall, install the two supplied fittings, and flare the two ends. Remember, the proportioning valve has an "in" and an "out" side. Just add fluid and bleed the brakes until the pedal is firm.