A couple 1964 Ford questions....

I got the Country Sedan running yesterday. Installed the new Pertronix Ignitor III, Flamethrower coil, and plugs/wires and with a little fuel she fired up and idled. Amazing how well it sounds after sitting for 37 years.

Now that I've verified it is a running car, I need to go through the brakes before I can drive her around the block. I have a couple questions regarding the master cylinder. My car has factory power brakes. I need to replace the single pot master cylinder with a dual, but before I order up the $179 complete unit I figured I'd ask if I can just bolt a new dual master cylinder on the factory booster? If that is possible, is it really something I should do? I'm not going for factory restoration...I just want something safe to drive. If the original booster is expensive to work on or not worth the trouble would it just be better to pony up and replace it all at the start? I will be doing a front disc brake conversion before spring if that makes any difference.

My second issue doesn't have anything to do with the engine. I had to remove the rear window regulator to work on the electric motor and get a new key cut for the lock. It came out easily but now I have the regulator on the bench and can't figure out how to "clock" the coiled assist spring back on the arm. Am I missing something obvious? I have the 1964 Ford shop manual and it explains how to remove the spring by placing it in a vise, but it says nothing about putting it back together. It would seem the two arms would have to be "timed" with each other, like a cam to a crankshaft, but I don't see any obvious markings to do this. Any advice or suggestions?

 

just buy a kit with the smaller booster and everything . it will be cheaper and safer in the long run. yes the dual pot master is a worthwhile investment

 

I had a 64 Country Sedan with power brakes. Absolutely hated the power assist. It may have just been me, but I really didn't feel I got any real feedback from the pedal so it always fell like the brakes were either full on or completely off.
I've always had old 60's cars and the only other one I had (still have) with power assist for the brakes is my 68 Charger RT with front disc and rear drum brakes. The power assist on the Charger isn't as bad as my old 64 Galaxie Country Sedan, but I still don't like the power assist. Even with the Charger, the power brakes feel touchy, like its too easy to hit the brakes much harder than you wanted. 'If I had kept the 64 wagon, I would have done away with the power brake booster all together and converted to manual brakes, and I may do the same with my 68 Charger.

 

Buy the dual master for disc brakes but wait till you do the disc set up before swapping. Don't know about Fords but for GM a dual master is not expensive and boosters can be bought at car shows or speed shop catalogs at a decent price.

 

anyone have any experience with the tailgate window regulator??

 

Regarding the master cylinder......is there any reason why I can't just bolt a mid-70's Ford dual master cylinder on my factory '64 booster? I went to Autozone and bought a dual master cylinder from a mid-70's Granada for $19.54 and it bolts right up to my booster. The piston looks the same as the factory single pot mc and everything seems to line up fine. I'm converting the front brakes to 1977 Ford Granada discs so I figured I'd try the mc out of the same car and it APPEARS to fit perfect. Am I missing something? If I can swap in a new dual master cylinder for under $20 I don't see why everyone wouldn't do it (other than factory correct restorations).

 

HOw'd you end up picking the granada for disc brakes? I want to convert to discs up front as well but just don't know how to figure out what would work.

 

My buddy is a BIG Starliner freak.....he's got 4 of them. He said that the thing to do is find a mid to late 70's Granada donor and get the front spindle/brake assemblies. They will work on my 1964 Country Sedan wagon. I haven't bolted them on yet, but I found a pair at the local Pull N Save for $60 that look pretty good. We'll see how it goes when it stops snowing long enough for me to get them on.

 

My 64 wagon has front discs from a 72 Tbird with no power brake booster and I love it. The front discs work great.

 

The spindles/discs are installed on the car and as soon as the proportioning valve arrives from Speedway I'll be testing them out. I was amazed how easily the conversion went. I did have to borrow a 7 degree tapered reamer from my friend (standard Ford tie rod reamer) to open up the lower ball joint on the Granada spindle but it was a piece of cake. After figuring everything out on the driver's side I literally had the passenger side completely converted in 25 minutes. I'm excited to see how the new brakes handle the beast.

Now if I could only find someone that could explain this rear window regulator............

 

My '66 BelAir has non-power discs off a '70 Impala. The master is the familiar dual pot seen on practically every GM car from '67 through the 70s. It stops on a dime and has an easy, natural feel to the pedal. I would recommend the same route. I can't imagine it being that much more difficult on a Ford product.

 

I may try the Granada set up when I'm ready to convert my '69 Fairlane to discs.

 

I'd love to keep track of what conversion/parts Ford guys have done. I think have a repository of parts and parts # would help others(well I'll be honest it'll help me for sure). If I started another thread, could I get you Ford guys chiming in? I'll at the very least setup a Google spreadsheet that everyone could access.

 

The electric set up for the arms should be set for the glass to be at the bottom on the opening. Since the spring assist is intended to slow down the descent of that big window, you'd want it to maintain its tension for the trip downward in the tailgate tracks. That means that it would barely have any tension, once the glass is completely down.

My 1979 Ford Factory manual has a good section on Power Windows, but diddly-squat on the big-ford wagon tailgate windows, like yours for 1964. The principle is the same though. Take off a door panel and look at how the springs are installed and that should clear it up.

I converted my manual windows to power a couple years ago. I had spare motors for parts, and had to replace a nylon part on the gear drive. The motor just spins - no clocking involved. There should be a 90 degree tab on one of the arms to keep the open end of the spring under a bit of tension. Ford had a "T" shaped tool to grasp the coiled spring and allow you to twist it under that TAB, I mentioned above.

You can only be 50% wrong anyway. One way works, and the other way keeps the window down. The spring is there to make it easy for the motor and difficult to pry the glass down.

Hope that helps.

 

After reading your spring issue, I'm not gonna touch mine. My key won't open the window, just the dash switch, that's the way it's gonna stay