First of all, Granada front disc swaps. Why does everyone do this and put them as manual brakes, not power? I've found like 4 pages on this in the past 30 minutes, but no one explains this. Is power front disc just too big a hassle? Or is there inherent problems in Ford power brakes?

2nd, 1964 Ford Fairlane, 2 dr car, originally a 289/ Ford-o-matic. How hard to plumb in 302 and AOD out of a 1985 Ford F-150? Super super tough, or relatively easy swap? The 302 is carburated, and has points ignition. If that's too tough, how about a 351M out of a 79 Ford Bronco?

3rd, Are there any power rack and pinion swaps for a 1964 Ford Fairlane? I see mustang II and pinto manual r & p selling brand new in Summit catalog, but no application data. Is this just a mustang swap, or will it fit Fairlanes?

4th, Will all the questions about the Fairlane also apply to a 1962 Ford Country Sedan 4dr wagon?

Brado

Shades_o_Grey, you will get a better response to your questions if you post them in the proper forum. Go to the bulletin board scan down to the proper forum for each of your questions.

Al

In my experience its because the booster is just too darned big to easily clear the shocktowers.

302 is easy, but AOD probably won't clear trans tunnel. Rack and pinion won't bolt in but if you're brave you could fab your own bracketry. yes if wagon it fairlane based. if Galaxie based then no.

Done several here:

1) Manual disc has the same pedal feel as manual drums. Power brake unit is quite crowded in a 62-65 Fairlane. 2 companies do make them that fit with little shock tower modifications, but $$$. A Fairlane is just a Granada with 8 inches more wheelbase. G knuckles on a 62-65 Fairlane has additional bump steer because the G steering arms are 1 /2 inch lower than the stock arms. Easier brake pedal feel with manual brakes can be had by using the 79 only Mustang manual brake cylinder which is inches not metric.

2) 5.0s are a drop in for a 289. The AOD does require some floor modification. T-5 manual is a drop in. Any M will be too wide for the shock towers. Ws are excessively tight also. The 62-65 Fairlane is the narrowest of all Fords.

3) Rebuild your steering with new parts and urethane bushings. Keep the caster specs to the negative end and it will drive fine. Replace rear spring bushings with urethane and eliminate the rubber spring isolators also.

4) The 62 big car needs different chassis parts. The 5.0/AOD drops in easily because the big car was built for an FE engine and Cruis-o-matic trans.

Exactly right

All of the smaller early Fords were tight on space in that area. (meaning non-full size)

I found a company that sells a special booster that is desined for 64 1/2 - 66 tangs. It should work in the fairlane too! But, I have never attemped it.
The booster is claimed at 6in long vs. the stock 13in.

I would expect to replace the pedal to booster push rod if you install any power assist. Also, many have a diffrent pedal pivot point to change the actual applied pressure. < A new pedal can get pricey for just a bent piece a steel with a hole in it>

I am quite frustrated at the moment as I cannot locate the artical in the umpteen dozen magazines floating round here. If I see it I'll post the manufacture name.

Handy to know one is out there though, meaning if you dig around you can find a booster that will fit better.

MrBoo

I was actually wondering that question about the granada brake swap also... I was debating doing it on my 64 thunderbird... but i wanted power brakes... my tbird already has the powerbrake booster for drum brakes. but i wasn't sure if I would need a different booster or not when swapping to the granada brakes. or if the granada swap would even work with the thunderbird front end.

The Granada question is simple. The swap involves the brakes, spindles, tierod ends (usually), reworking a couple of brake lines, and a master cylinder swap. This constitutes a "Granada swap". If you want to upgrade to power brakes that's actually a different profect. On Mustangs at least, you can add power brakes with or without swapping to disks. On 67+Mustangs moving up to power brakes is simply a matter of ordering readily available correct replacement parts to do so as power brakes were a factory option. Earlier Mustangs usually get a specialty kit or a custom setup due to space restrictions as they are a bit smaller.
My Granada brakes are manual simply because I don't care much for power brakes and prefer to have the room underhood for other stuff. My daily driver F150 pickup came factory with manual disk+drum brakes and they've always been just fine with me too.