If you guys could see what your tie rod is doing under hard braking or steering you'd be surprised, flops around like a wet noodle.
I used the above combo for lot of years [45] with no real issues, still have the slave in use but swapped out the MC for Wilwood double MC and separate clutch MC.
I was thinking this was the most traditional look. If not, it goes under the floor. Space is at a premium under there though.
About as traditional as you could get; have to say I can't remember ever seeing one under the floor although a mod might have. Always on the fire wall.
I'm with you on that, Anders. This disc brake versus drum brake argument reminds me of the EFI versus carburettor argument. Both can work well if well designed and maintained and yes, each has its advantages just as each has its disadvantages. I have had several cars with drum brakes that I would put up against any OEM disc brake application. And that includes brake fade in high speed stops and when descending steep grades at speed. The Poncho powered '56 Chevy in my avatar being one. Built that car in 1978. Needed a home for the early '70s 400 engine and Muncie 4-speed in my '65 GTO ragtop after it was totaled. I retained the '56 front drums and the rear drums on the '69 Camaro SS396 12-bolt rearend I swapped in. Also swapped in the new power brake booster and master cylinder from my '65 goat. Yes, it was a single master cylinder and it all worked great. Never a problem. The '56 was the best driving of all the '55s and that one '56 I built over the years. I have also swapped larger drum brakes onto these cars and that is what I will do with my present '57 Chevy. I will swap the stock 11" X 2" wide front drums and 11" X 1-3/4" wide rear drums for the larger '59 - '64 Chevy 11" X 2-3/4" wide front drums and 11" X 2" wide rear drums. Will keep the manual adjusters and run a really good ceramic brake shoe lining. Will also add a rebuilt Bendix remote mount power brake booster similar to those used on '57 - '58 Cadillacs and GMC trucks. From past experience, I'm sure the '57 will stop just fine. Best regards to all, Harry
Like I said earlier your question is irrelevant. If you know your car’s abilities you will drive accordingly and leave the amount of distance you need to be able to react to that situation. If you can’t react and stop then it’s your fault for following too close. So have I and I had no problems stopping with any of my previous drum brake equipped cars.
So 5 pages of people discussing the merits and non merits of disc brake set ups. Certainly not what i had in mind when i posted my original picture of what changes i had just accomplished. Good forbid someone every ask a question on something life threatening.... But to return to the drum brake set up. I did get new spindles as they where where GM sized for those old discs i took off and new hubs also brought. I did grind the new spindles to fit the Boiling bros backing plates, and yes the wheels do stick out a lot due to backspacing. I used what i had due to a 6 week wait for custom wheels. So yes new wheels will be purchased with a a larger backspace to **** up the drums a little more maybe an inch ( "to help with that scrub radius"). But i am in no rush, so if they offend you **** it.
Oh Jeeeez, who could have imagined a thread on disc brakes might be controversial and encourage a lot of posts? Why not just post about electronic ignition vs points, or engine oil/zinc? Please, don't be a drama queen.
I’m glad my thread on the subject earlier on didn’t go that far into it. I posted a thread that ended up being a featured thread for a little while as I was looking for my front brake kit. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/traditional-style-front-drum-brakes.1002189/
Actually, I'm glad you started this thread, Blue One. I hadn't really sat down and done the math regarding swept area of rotors versus same diameter drum brakes of various widths and all that. Just knew from past experience that everything else being equal...... Bigger is better when it comes to discs or drums. Found an interesting old thread on this very subject on a British forum this evening...... https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf/showthread.php?18952-Drum-vs-Disk-swept-area-calculation Anyway...... By swapping '59 - '64 Chevy drum brakes onto my '57 Chevy (going from 11" X 2.0" wide front brakes and 11" X 1-3/4" rear brakes to 11" X 2.75" wide front brakes and 11" X 2.0" rear brakes)...... I will increase swept area of front brakes by 37.5% and swept area of rear brakes by 14.28%. From the article on the British forum linked above...... 11" disc brake rotor has 45 sq. in. of swept area per side X 2 sides = 90 sq. in. total swept area. My present 11" X 2.0" wide front drums have only 69.1152 sq. in. swept area. However, after swapping the wider 11" X 2.75" wide front drums onto the '57, swept area increases to 95.0334 sq. in. So thought that was an interesting comparison. FWIW...... Had a 1960 Plymouth Belvedere 2dr sedan I bought in 1970. Ex-Sheriff's car. 413 engine, T-85 manual transmission (column shift), 2.96 rear gearing. Ugliest car I've ever owned. But it was fast. Very fast, Geared as it was, you could wind it out to 90 MPH in 2nd gear and she wasn't even breathing heavy. The Plymouth cop car brakes were 12" dia. drums 3" wide at all 4 corners. No power ***ist. Never an issue with those brakes. In fact, when we left Corpus Christi and drove to Houston so I could begin a 5-year pipefitting apprenticeship...... The Plymouth had cooling issues (blown head gasket). So I bought a bone stock '55 Chevy business coupe (235 6-banger, 3-speed on the column) and towed the Plymouth to Houston. It was around 225 miles. We had all our possessions loaded into both cars. I pulled the Plymouth on a chain. Wife and eldest son (18 mo. old) were in the Plymouth. I gave her hand signals and she kept the chain tight and used the Plymouth's brakes to slow or stop both cars. Made it into Houston about 20 minutes drive from our destination in the Heights when some idiot cut us off and I had to get down on the Chevy's brakes. Chain went slack and wife jammed on the Plymouth's brakes to stop us both. One of the Plymouth's front wheels was on top of the chain when she did that and by the time we had gone from 70 MPH to a full stop on the shoulder of I-10, the chain had worn through. So we locked the Plymouth and I took wife and baby to my folks' house in the Chevy. Got my Step-dad to take me back to where we left the Plymouth with most of our possessions in it. Filled the radiator and cranked it up blown head gasket and all. Made it home before the engine got too hot and shut it down. Happy Motoring, Harry
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