Manual brakes and options

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   Been doing a bit of work on 1973 Ranchero, still have a plan to go to manual trans and manual brakes.

Manual brakes are seemingly not very common. What kind of vehicles would have come with manual 
brakes as an option (or standard) ? A 302 car, say, without A/C ? What options typically grouped
together would include manual brakes ? Would manual brakes ever appear together with a 
manual transmission ?

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JBR-3 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 14-April-2019 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 34	Post Options Post Reply Quote JBR-3 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Manual brakes and options Posted: 12-April-2025 at 4:13PM
	Been doing a bit of work on 1973 Ranchero, still have a plan to go to manual trans and manual brakes. Manual brakes are seemingly not very common. What kind of vehicles would have come with manual brakes as an option (or standard) ? A 302 car, say, without A/C ? What options typically grouped together would include manual brakes ? Would manual brakes ever appear together with a manual transmission ?

handsofstone Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 13-April-2018 Location: Northeast Status: Offline Points: 4229	Post Options Post Reply Quote handsofstone Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12-April-2025 at 5:19PM
	I think power disc was standard on these but it is just a guess. Why manual brakes? Maybe a straight six had them.

peter.jenerette Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 08-February-2023 Location: Nevada, TX Status: Offline Points: 1054	Post Options Post Reply Quote peter.jenerette Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12-April-2025 at 11:26PM
	My 351C auto car has manual brakes; It has AC, PS, SO paint and interior combos. I think manual brakes were pretty much standard unless you ticked the right boxes.
	Pete Jenerette 1972 Gran Torino (H-Code - 4R70W) 2022 F250 XLT 7.3 2003 Thunderbird

jglover Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 05-June-2024 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 53	Post Options Post Reply Quote jglover Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13-April-2025 at 5:38AM
	My 72 has manual disc brakes. I am thinking about going power assist.

JBR-3 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 14-April-2019 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 34	Post Options Post Reply Quote JBR-3 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13-April-2025 at 5:45AM
	I have 2 power brake cars, all the parts are there to convert a manual car. It's a bit of work to get the pedal assembly out but that's what is necessary. I'm certainly willing to trade my power setup for a manual setup.

72FordGTS Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group GTS.org Admin Joined: 06-September-2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 6780	Post Options Post Reply Quote 72FordGTS Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13-April-2025 at 12:37PM
	Manual disc brakes were standard on all '72s, except the Squire Wagons where power brakes were standard. Cars that were equipped with 429 engines required power brakes (they were a mandatory option). There is a difference for the pin location for the power brake vs manual brake pedal. The master cylinders are different as well. Here is some additional info with some good pics on the differences: https://forum.grantorinosport.org/power-brake-to-manual-conversion_topic13307.html https://forum.grantorinosport.org/manual-to-power-brakes_topic20831.html
	Vince 1972 Ford GTS Sportsroof - Survivor, One Family car GTS.org Admin

JBR-3 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 14-April-2019 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 34	Post Options Post Reply Quote JBR-3 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13-April-2025 at 1:00PM
	I think that aluminum adapter piece is the key piece, that's what I want for sure.

handsofstone Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 13-April-2018 Location: Northeast Status: Offline Points: 4229	Post Options Post Reply Quote handsofstone Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13-April-2025 at 4:16PM
	When I think if manual brakes my grandmother's green 70 bel air four door coomes to mind. The pedal made noise from day one. Years later I paid maybe $50 for the exact same car and the pedal noise was identical. A friend's girlfriend had the same car in gold and lost the brakes. I replaces the brake line and while she pumpes tge pedal, yes, it had the same noise. Lol Like a rusty hinge on an old door came to mind.

DJsTorino Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 08-November-2021 Location: Michigan Status: Offline Points: 200	Post Options Post Reply Quote DJsTorino Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 14-April-2025 at 1:09AM
	I converted my car to standard brakes when I did the manual trans conversion. I ended up making my own aluminum adaptor piece, the body is cut for the standard master cylinder location. I used the boosted adaptor as a template to mount the adaptor I made to the firewall, then positioned the master cylinder in the hole to get locations for the mounting studs and bore hole. Then put a new pin in the pedal that lined up with the new master location. I did it with a cut off wheel and a drill press. It can be a giant pain getting the pedals out, I was able to leave the dash in my car but it was a lot of finessing to do it with out breaking the plastics, and you have to get in some weird positions to work under the dash. Probably would be more difficult in a ranchero with the dash in place.

Eliteman76 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 20-March-2006 Location: Nebraska, USA Status: Offline Points: 5450	Post Options Post Reply Quote Eliteman76 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28-April-2025 at 6:29PM
	Had this discussion recently with a couple guys. I had a bunch of parts I recently bought from another member here. Came with two pedal hangers What's interesting was both hangers had the same plate, but there were two different brake pedals, one was automatic with manual brakes, and the other was an automatic with power brakes. For reference, you can see the Third set I had was for a 4 speed with manual brakes. I have a manual brake automatic pedal and pedal hanger center potion if you need it. If you need just the pedal to convert to manual brakes, I can sell you just the manual brake pedal to swap into your existing pedal hanger. Now....memory is fuzzy with my 4 speed car as I converted it to power brakes, as I am thinking the spacer on the pedal hanger is a different length between the pedal support and the firewall inside of the car, but the exploded views seem to show the manual and power brake cars use the same spacer in the Ford Service manuals. This means if the spacer plates are different, removing the following to swap: Dash assembly & wire harness Steering column
	Andrew:GTS.ORG admin, '72 Q code 5 speed Restomod Pondering: #99Problems

JBR-3 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 14-April-2019 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 34	Post Options Post Reply Quote JBR-3 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29-April-2025 at 5:25PM
	Eliteman76, I'm interested in chatting with you about this. Is there a way to send PM's on here ? Thanks, JBR-3

Eliteman76 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 20-March-2006 Location: Nebraska, USA Status: Offline Points: 5450	Post Options Post Reply Quote Eliteman76 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30-April-2025 at 3:17AM
	If you click on my user name it’ll jump you to a screen to send me a direct message. Feel free to message me and we can discuss things.
	Andrew:GTS.ORG admin, '72 Q code 5 speed Restomod Pondering: #99Problems