right now I have power front discs and rear drum brakes on my big block '69 Camaro. Even with a vacuum canister, it's never produced great vacuum because of my cam profile.
So i'm wondering if i went with manual 4 wheel discs, would the car still stop good or would it maybe stop worse than my current set-up? I also started thinking about this because I like the idea of a cleaner firewall without the booster and vacuum lines.
it's been so long since the car had manual brakes, and it never had discs all the way around. I just remember, back in the day, with manual drums it used to be a SOB trying to stop at the end of the quarter mile (and that was only high 12, low 13 second times with a small block)
anyone have some good input for me?
Last edited by Northeast Rod Run; 10-26-2009 at 07:23 PM.
I did exactly what you are talking about in the past for the exact same reasons. I had stock style front brake discs that and a set of lincoln style discs in the back because I had a ford 9". I bought a new manual brake master cylinder from MP brakes and some good brake fluid. The track I used to bring the car to is considered to have a short shut down area and I could stop long before the end and it ran 10.60's at 127. I actually didn't find it any harder to stop since I never had much vacuum anyway.
I did the wilwood 4 disc setup and master cylider and it was great. I like manual brakes over power anyday. Just remember, your bore size will determine, to some extent, the required pedal pressure to get you where you want to be. Bigger bore size will be harder but travel less, smaller bore will be easier but travel farther.
I guess if I go with this set-up, I'd go with the smaller bore size because I would rather have an easier pedal in traffic, for an easier panic stop. I never knew that stuff about bore sizes
I guess if I go with this set-up, I'd go with the smaller bore size because I would rather have an easier pedal in traffic, for an easier panic stop. I never knew that stuff about bore sizes
Look up Tobin at Kore3 here. He has conversion kits. They use a lot of Corvette factory parts. (C5/C6 calipers, pads and rotors) The benefit of that is being able to walk into just about any parts store for replacement parts when the time comes. He also has OUTSTANDING customer service and great prices. Good luck with it!
With large diameter rotors, large calipers, high friction pads, the right master cylinder, and good pedal ratio or a dual master cylinder with balance bar pedals, I hear manual brakes work great.
What I don't know is how much you can sacrifice in some of those areas and still get good results.