"Ever since I've owned my 59 Fury, the car has demanded more repair time than it's offered time on the roads. Nevertheless, there have been many hours of fun and learning over the years and there have been so many difficult things to change, repair or adjust that it is almost impossible to remember all of them.

One of the major casualties on my Fury were the brakes. When it came from the US in 1986 there was not one drum that had all threads in the hubs and the surfaces were deeply chamfered. I found it necessary to acquire new or good brake drums. Let me only say that it is something between 'very difficult' and 'almost impossible' when you don’t live in the USA.

At that time I had a friend with a 59 Flathead. He loved to show me his trust in his car, while speeding at 60 mph up to a red traffic light, putting his hands behind his back and hitting the brakes. That salmon coloured Belvedere always stopped, never leaving a trace. I couldn’t try that with my Fury. Sometimes it went to the right, sometimes it went the left. Sometimes it went to one side so hard that I had to grab the steering wheel to avoid a collision. All adjustments failed to help and a 'specialist' who tried to rework the drums on the turning lathe mounted it with the hub out of center. After that, the Fury was not only a Fury with bad brakes but a bouncing Fury with bad brakes. I decided that the only way to close this chapter of years of not knowing 'where she stops' was a Disc Brake Conversion Kit from AAJ Brakes, who offered a complete set with everything included.

This Disc Brake Conversion (DBC) is a part of the big 'Fury-Adventure' to me, as it is a winter project. It will take some time and substantial patience to complete this work -- and I'll only have the opportunity to work on it from time to time -- but I hope it will pay off in the future. Anyhow I’ll keep you informed about the progress and also about the final results."

The “Super Deluxe Kit” from AAJ-Brakes contains everything you need to change the brake drums to disc brakes, except brake lines. Included is also a modified master brake cylinder and a proportioning valve to adjust the pressure to the rear drums.

I put the car on blocks and remove the tires. It occurs to me that I worked so hard to restore the Fury to be “original” but in MY special case I don’t waste a tear on the drums. They go to stock – forever!

Remove the drums and the brake shoes. Than disconnect the flexible brake hose and loosen the 4 bolts that hold the anchor plate. Now you can pull out the bolts and take the anchor plate off.

To avoid getting dirt into the bearings it’s necessary to clean the spindle from all sides, also from the back. A Brake and Clutch Cleaner spray works great here. It removes also the old grease and cleans the threads.

Now put some grease inside the adapter and on the spindle and push the adapter over the spindle as far as you can without force.

You will notice that there is no clearance between the adapter and the spindle and you probably can’t push the adapter until it touches the backing plate of the spindle. DON’T use a hammer, screwdriver or any other hard device now!

To force the adapter in the right position put the inner bearing over the adapter now.

Take the disc, as it is without grease and seal and put it on the spindle with the outer bearing, the washer and the nut. (Note: the disc is yellow now, a zinc bath prevents rust)

Tightening the nut brings the adapter in position without any risk of damage.

To connect the brackets for the calipers – bring the rod into position.