This daily driver ’34 Plymouth gets a bolt-on brake upgrade.

{I wrote this how-to story for the July 2008 issue of Cars & Parts magazine.}

In the May issue of Cars & Parts, we gave a post-WWII Ford more stopping power by converting to a front-disc setup. With the experts at Fatman Fabrications in Charlotte, North Carolina, handling the dirty work, we followed along as rotors, calipers, and other parts from a ‘70s Granada were bolted to the ’56 hardtop without any permanent modifications necessary.

Curious to see if this same treatment could be applied to a vehicle from the pre-war era, we headed back recently to watch the Fatman crew upgrade a daily-driver ’34 Plymouth to front discs.

Again, our goal was to increase the car’s safety and performance without having to cut or weld, thereby preserving the chassis’ integrity and originality should the owner want to restore it to factory equipment later.

We chose a conversion kit from PlyDo, an antique car dealer in Delbarton, West Virginia, that specializes in 1932-’52 Plymouth and Dodge models. They also sell new, new-old stock, and reproduction parts for these cars, in addition to the drum-to-disc package.

The rotors they sent were originally applied to a variety of ‘70s-era American cars, including the 1976-’81 Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare, 1973-’75 Plymouth Belvedere/Satellite/Sebring, 1973-’74 Plymouth Barracuda, 1973-’76 Dodge Valiant/Duster/Plymouth Scamp, and 1977-’81 Chrysler LeBaron. The five-lug discs feature a 4.5-inch bolt circle. Calipers came from intermediate GM products, such as the 1970-’77 Chevrolet Camaro, 1973-’77 Chevrolet Chevelle/Monte Carlo/Pontiac Grand Prix/Oldsmobile Cutlass/Buick Regal, and 1975-’77 Chevrolet Nova.

SOURCES:

Fatman Fabrications, 8621-C Fairview Rd. – Hwy. 218, Charlotte, NC 28227

www.fatmanfab.com, (704) 545-0369

PlyDo, Rt. 1, Box 277B, Delbarton, WV 25670

www.plydo.qpg.com, (304) 475-3245