Hi, I recently acquired a 1954 Mark VII shell to use as the starting point for a 24 hours of lemons race car.

The stock drum brakes in the front are not going to cut it for racing so I need to convert to disk brakes. So far the only bolt on option I’ve found is the Mark IX brakes which would be way outside of our $500 budget. I was wondering if anyone has found a more cost effective disk brake swap or a complete front suspension swap that would be affordable on my budget?

Thanks!
Matt

 

Not a cheap enterprise. If the $500 is out of budget, realize the MK VII has won Monte Carlo Rallyes on these drum brakes. Might look at some videos of them racing at GoodWood on drum brakes. Wrong car to try to modify on a budget for the Lemons.

 

They were definitely raced back in the day but just replacing the wear parts in the brake assembly is prohibitively expensive and I’m going to be on the track with more modern cars with better stopping characteristics. I’m concerned I’ll overheat the brake fluid during the race since they are crowded tight courses with lots of braking.

I’m leaning toward a 03+ crown vic front suspension assembly which I can get in my budget unless someone has a better suggestion. I was hoping there might be something that bolts right up that costs less than the Mark IX conversion.

 

have you a pic of the upright,maybe can swap it all out for xjs?