Projects Finally got rid of the disc brakes.

Yes they are, and gotta say the castings are great. Every thing fitted perfect
with boiling brother backing plates.


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I think the disc brakes are quite a bit better than the ole mechanical ones that were on my 34 Ford from the factory...I will never go back to all drums....

 

Any brake that locks up a wheel when applied is a problem, and it doesn't matter if that brake is a disc, an internal drum, or an old band over the outside of a drum, once the tire/wheel locks up, your in for the ride.

Brakes locking up a wheel is probably caused more by the driver then the braking system in use, but often the brakes are what gets the blame. Who wants to admit they caused the tires to be locked up because they stomped on the pedal too hard?

The biggest advantage disc brakes have over drum is the ability to dissipate the heat faster, and reducing the possibility of brake fade. If you have ever experienced a serious brake fade incident, you will understand and appreciate the difference disc brakes make. If you have never experienced serious brake fade, you really have no concept of the major advantage of the disc brakes, and I hope you never have the opportunity to experience serious brake fade. Most brake systems can handle the 80 mph to 0 panic stop the 1st time, but the true story is what happens the 2nd time in a short time frame. Drum brakes fade, disc brakes don't.

Both hands on the wheel and both feet on the brake pedal, arms pulling as hard as you can, and legs pushing as hard as you can, the the speed very slowly dropping as that object your trying to stop for is quickly getting closer, will make a disc brake believer out of you in a hurry. The freshly rebuilt big Buick drum system on the LaSebra would have never survived the midnight encounter with the farm tractor pulling the hay rack if I would not have been able to fly past him on the left side that one night. The addition of the disc brakes the next week made a world of difference. I have more horror stories with fading drum brakes, the Buick wasn't the only time. Gene

 

"my drum brakes work fine"

translation: I have never had a panic stop where I neededan extra 10 feet to stop.

even disc brakes can heat up to the point where braking suffers. been there, done that doing spirited driving through the Santa Cruz mountains.

I would like drums on an old school fenderless car as well. because it is cool. I'd never try to say they work better

 

The two times I have hit animals on the highway were with cars with four wheel discs so I sure could have used another ten feet there as well. Should I not drive modern stuff either?


Also can’t blame brake fade on the equipment, that’s a driver problem.

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When we start swapping things, we often lose that built in balance between front and rear brakes. Cars that had optional discs for the front usually also changed wheel cylinder size in the rear (smaller). When we use front and rear brakes from different donor vehicles it gets a little more complicated. The addition of a pressure limiting valve can help to a point, but there is nothing quit like having both ends of the car work in harmony. Remember, in a hard braking test, fronts should lock first, but only by a small margin.

 

gotta agree with gene, nothing like brake fade at 60 mph! talk about pull the naugahyde tight between the old **** cheeks !!

Had it happen numerous times when I was a younger lad but I was a tad bit more aggressive at driving back then. a couple times it was due to water during running down the highway during some serious rain storms. Had a couple of idiots jam on their brakes when they hit a huge water puddle in the middle of the road and panic.

 

I guess Shelby cobras and C2 Corvettes are "heavy cars" who would've known !

 

Well I finally switched from drums to front discs on my OT Mustang. No so much because I needed to stop quicker but because of all the mellinials with their face stuck in a telephone and steering all over the road!
They have NO PROBLEM pulling out in front of me (and then sloooow down!).
Drum brakes will teach a person why you should not tail gate.
6sally6

 

All this talk about driver error, and light versus heavy, is really ********. You'd think that if drum brakes were better than discs all the F1, Indy, and Pro Rally drivers would be lining up to use them. I mean, ****, these guys seem to know how to handle a car, and they're not really prone to driver error, but they still prefer discs brakes. Guess these guys better go back to driving school for a refresher, since they clearly don't know how to handle a braking situation.

 

Sure, Merc wheels will do that.

 

Better scrub radius too.

 

I am going with 4 wheel drum brakes on my new SEGA super stock 65 Comet build. We only run 1/8th mile and I hope a farmer doesn't run his tractor across the drag strip in front of me. 10x2 on the front and 11x 2 1/2 on the back with a 67 Comet dual pot master.
Ran 9 second 1/4 mile's with my old g***er with 4 wheel drums and could panic stop when an *** hole in his rear engine dragster pulled in front of me in the shut down area so he could make the turn off to the return road on a back woods 1/8th mile track in south Ga. Single pot master on that car. Put thousands of runs with no issues.

 

The new brakes look awesome sponge. Looks like a great car how about a picture of the whole thing

 

I swapped a perfect set of 64 Pontiac 11" aluminum 8 lug drums for 11" disc brake conversion. My car defiantly stopped better with the drums. I'm talking high speed panic stops. Modern drum brakes, once set up correctly, stop wonderfully. The aluminum 8 lug drums worked best with metallic brake linings. An engineer told me in a e mail that the metallic shoes work best because they take the heat away from the drums.
Those 8 lugs were some of the best looking wheels ever made, they looked best on the 60s big Pontiac body style..

 

The new Buick drums look good on your roadster.
The big advantage of disc brakes is they do not fade as bad as drums. Once heat soaked, drum brakes take longer to cool off than disc. So drums are good for one hard stop, but multiple times in a short period of time and they start to fade. Our old hot rods are pretty light, which helps as well in the conversion of momentum (m*** x velocity) to heat energy in the brakes.

 

I missed a set of aluminum drums in the pick a part years ago
I still mourn that
I think from a performance standpoint the large Buick drums compared to intermediate gm disc brakes(the type most used for disc conversions in our world) is not a step back.
I just dont see the need for discs on prewar rides as a must have unless some type of serious road racing is planned. Discs not traditional? Thats up to the mods
It is nice to see a positive outcome from using new reproduction old style technology for a change.

 

Yeah, no kidding. It's one thing to discuss that **** in a more technical thread ...

The pertinent issue in this thread is 'flapping in the breeze' or 'tucked in'?

 

bottom for the win

 

What years and models were they on?

Are there any cool finned cast iron drums?

And, are these Buick drums made with only aluminum? The brake drum is iron and an aluminum part is added for heat dissipation?

 

2 diffrent times
one set was the wide pattern from a boneville
the other was on a late 50s early 60s lesabre? (big car)
I did get the no key switch or shiftier tilt column from the riv.

cool iron drums?

the stock early ford ones and late 40s f1 drums look good

 

I apologize to the original poster. His brake system looks good. And it certainly is a modern "upgrade" over the original 32 brakes. I just added my opinion to the "****py disc vs drum brake" debate. However, I do take umbrage at your accusations that I continually lobby for "modern upgrades" on this "traditional site". A "traditional" hotrod, by it's very definition contained "modern upgrades". 4 bangers were replaced with flatheads, which were replaced with OHV V8s. Mechanical brakes were replaced with "juice brakes". Airheart and Dunlop disc brakes were sought after "modern upgrades". 3 speeds were replaced with 4 speeds, which have given way to "modern" 5 speeds and AOD automatics. Even on this "traditional site" other "modern upgrades" like AC, power steering, electric wipers, heated seats and the list could go on, seem to be tolerated. Oh, and by the way, since we have never met, I think it's a large presumption on your part to tell me what you feel would better suit my interests.

 

This thread should probably be locked down to stop stupidity.

All the disc brake guys should find another place to hang out where they will be appreciated or even tolerated.

This is not the thread or forum you were looking for move along.

 

Sponge has pretty deep reverse chrome smoothies on his A contributing to the deep "hey look I have Buick finned drums hanging out in the wind look.

 

That's a different car.

 

no

 

What aboot dual master cylinder guys?

 

thats been funny lately.
a guy posts questions about adding a dual MS to DRUM brakes and gets "upgrade" shamed by one of the bosses
"but I maintain mine" is repeated over and over not adding any technical info just like some of the posts in this thread
"my single works fine on closed straight race track with no traffic and a nice soft sand pit in case they fail"

I understand the HAMB's cut offs and subject matter and how they are blurred
a dual circuit MS should fit.
as far as maintaining them, with issues we have finding quality parts (over seas wheel cylinders and hoses) A dual MS is not a bad idea.
I have repaired cars where the car was "maintained" correctly but had a brake failure due to road debris severing or puncturing a brake line. That dual circuit MS came in handy.

 

Pssst. Don't tell 57 Fargo that Blue One runs a dual m/c.