Rear disc conversion gap on install

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My Car
1971 Mustang Convertible
1971 Mustang Mach I
1972 Mexican GT-351
1971 Mustang Convertible
1988 Bronco II
1970 Torino 4 door
I bought a summit rear disc brake conversion. They have some large shims that the directions say may be needed to fill the gap. The directions kinda suck. There are two shims per side as shown in first pic.

The shims are the two things in the middle of the pic above. They have to be installed with the opening at the top so they interfere with the othe brackets used to support the calipers. However when they are installed there is a gap at the top where you can see the bearing. Is the bearing supposed to be seated deeper into the housing? See the pic below. It seems this dirt will just fill in there. This gap was taken up by the backing plate with drums installed. Any help or insight appreciated.

 
Yes. New bearings but that was 20 yrs ago. Car saw maybe 20 miles on a dolly since then. I am figuring it out I guess.

 
I bought a summit rear disc brake conversion. They have some large shims that the directions say may be needed to fill the gap. The directions kinda suck. There are two shims per side as shown in first pic.

The shims are the two things in the middle of the pic above. They have to be installed with the opening at the top so they interfere with the othe brackets used to support the calipers. However when they are installed there is a gap at the top where you can see the bearing. Is the bearing supposed to be seated deeper into the housing? See the pic below. It seems this dirt will just fill in there. This gap was taken up by the backing plate with drums installed. Any help or insight appreciated.
The bearing retainer should seal to the gasket flush with the axle tube flange. The shims can't be were they are in the picture. The directions must really suck. Did the adapters come from Ikea? Chuck

 
I installed similar brakes in the rear with similar spacers. The spacers are supposed to be open so you can slide them over the axles. Otherwise, if the spacers were closed you would need to remove the axle to install the spacers. That said, the opening you are showing is supposed to be there. And you are right, gunk will accumulate there, but that's why the seal is for.

These are mine. They were TheRightStuff. Not anymore since I upgraded to Wilwoods.

Edit: as you can see, I oriented the spacers so the opening is to the bottom, which should be better to not allow gunk to accumulate.

Edit 2: if you are forced to have the openings at the top, you could add a bead of permatex gasket sealant or something just to seal the opening from the environment. I wouldn't hurt.



 
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I installed similar brakes in the rear with similar spacers. The spacers are supposed to be open so you can slide them over the axles. Otherwise, if the spacers were closed you would need to remove the axle to install the spacers. That said, the opening you are showing is supposed to be there. And you are right, gunk will accumulate there, but that's why the seal is for.

These are mine. They were TheRightStuff. Not anymore since I upgraded to Wilwoods.

Edit: as you can see, I oriented the spacers so the opening is to the bottom, which should be better to not allow gunk to accumulate.

Edit 2: if you are forced to have the openings at the top, you could add a bead of permatex gasket sealant or something just to seal the opening from the environment. I wouldn't hurt.

I see that you used the stock e-brake cable. I am wanting to do the same. I am thinking of cutting the return spring down to allow it to seat correctly?  Any thoughts on that?

 
I installed similar brakes in the rear with similar spacers. The spacers are supposed to be open so you can slide them over the axles. Otherwise, if the spacers were closed you would need to remove the axle to install the spacers. That said, the opening you are showing is supposed to be there. And you are right, gunk will accumulate there, but that's why the seal is for.

These are mine. They were TheRightStuff. Not anymore since I upgraded to Wilwoods.

Edit: as you can see, I oriented the spacers so the opening is to the bottom, which should be better to not allow gunk to accumulate.

Edit 2: if you are forced to have the openings at the top, you could add a bead of permatex gasket sealant or something just to seal the opening from the environment. I wouldn't hurt.

I see that you used the stock e-brake cable. I am wanting to do the same. I am thinking of cutting the return spring down to allow it to seat correctly?  Any thoughts on that?
I don't know how your system looks like but if you can use the stock cable it will make one less thing you need to worry about. I did upgrade to Wilwoods after this set and I was also able to use the stock cables. However, this time I needed to short the cables so they don't curve too much at the end section. For this I eliminated the return spring since the brake setup already has a spring. I cut the wire to length and then welded the Dorman cable locks (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000COCPZM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1). That said, if your brake setup already has the return spring built in then you could cut the return spring of the stock cables.

Edit: I am just realizing that your brakes are The Right Stuff as well, so all this should work for you. I know they have changed the design of the calipers after I bought mine so I don't know how much they changed. BTW, in case you didn't know the calipers are based on old GM calipers, most commonly late 70s Cadillac ElDorado (GM Metric style calipers). The ones I had are actually the same ElDorado calipers, but from what I understand The Right Stuff started casting them right after I bought mine. You can search the web for "ElDorado brake conversion for Ford 9" and you will find a lot of stuff.

 
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BTW, now that I remember, you said that you couldn't orient the opening of the C-spacer to face down because it will interfere at the top. I actually had to grind the spacer slightly in order to fit with the opening downwards. In my picture you can see how close the top of the C-spacer comes to the bolts for the caliper plate. I ground there to allow for fitment.

 
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