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Aloha all. First thing I want to say is I searched the threads for an answer and didn’t see it. Perhaps I missed it…I hate thinking I’m that guy posting a repeat thread. I know how much everyone hates that. Moving along…
I just took over my fathers cherry 61 vette. He’s always wanted to remove the drum brakes and replace with disc brakes. So what I’m looking for is recommendations from those who know better than most, you guys and gals. While I’m a mechanic by trade, I focus on low and high pressure hydraulic, air, atmosphere control equipment and Diesel engines. So when it comes to brakes/brake conversion kits I’m a bit out of my whee house. If I can get pointed in the right direction I’m sure I can get it down.
thank you all and happy Veterans Day to those who served. #respect
How much do you want to do? Least expensive is converting the front using mostly standard parts. It gets more expensive and complicated the more you do, converting the back brakes, duel master cylinder, power brakes, etc.
Unless you plan on autocrossing the car I for one do not see the need for any brake conversion. Properly maintain drum system works just fine. I would love to see a stopping distance comparison between two Corvettes that are the same except the brake system, I bet you disc brake believers would be surprised at how much money you spent for little improvement. Just my old two cents!
Unless you plan on autocrossing the car I for one do not see the need for any brake conversion. Properly maintain drum system works just fine. I would love to see a stopping distance comparison between two Corvettes that are the same except the brake system, I bet you disc brake believers would be surprised at how much money you spent for little improvement. Just my old two cents!
If your drum brakes will lock up the wheels in a panic stop, you won't stop any more quickly with discs.
If you go with disc brakes (I haven't so far) I've seen somewhere, someone, offers a dual master cylinder that bolts directly to the C-1 F/W, instead of using the conversion tube that places the MC further out in the engine bay. Looks cleaner IMHO.
Thanks to all for the help. I’ll look at all the options recommended and go from there. I do realize I’ll have to do the master cylinder and brake lines.
****Several comments were questioning why doing the conversion from drum to disc****
All I can say regarding that is my father has had this car for about 25+ years. He told me he wanted to switch to disc. His reasoning was that the drum brakes always get to hot. He said it would add less worry and stress when driving the car, especially for extended periods. I know he’s worked on the drum brakes several times in the past as he’s an old school mechanic. Maybe he’s tired of what seems to be the hassle to him. Ultimately it’s his baby and it’s something he really wants.
hopefully the wheels/rims will still fit with the conversion. I’d love to not have to replace that as well.
I ordered my front-only conversion from a brake guy on eBay for my '64. All of the components are from a 65 Corvette. He sent me everything I needed for the conversion. I left the rear drums as they were and am really happy with the conversion. If you leave the rears then you have to have a proportioning valve. I also upgraded to a dual MC. I know that some think they are not needed but if you also notice they say a "Properly adjusted" drum brake is just as good. Well, you do not need to adjust a disc brake so that element is gone. I have zero pull on hard braking and no strange noises. The front brakes do about 80% of the stopping anyway so why not leave the rear drums on? Here is the guy's site on eBay, https://www.ebay.com/itm/23203205663...YAAOSwH3NXm~bP
This is a complete kit with spindles, hubs calipers, bearings, all brackets, brake lines, rotors, and dust shields. They make kits that use your spindles and some of the other parts but I wanted it to be original parts. BTW, your original wheels may not fit all conversions. Make sure check before you buy a kit. I had to buy new wheels to use the '65 kit.
Last edited by inspectorudy; Nov 12, 2021 at 04:58 PM.
Thanks to all for the help. I’ll look at all the options recommended and go from there. I do realize I’ll have to do the master cylinder and brake lines.
****Several comments were questioning why doing the conversion from drum to disc****
All I can say regarding that is my father has had this car for about 25+ years. He told me he wanted to switch to disc. His reasoning was that the drum brakes always get to hot. He said it would add less worry and stress when driving the car, especially for extended periods. I know he’s worked on the drum brakes several times in the past as he’s an old school mechanic. Maybe he’s tired of what seems to be the hassle to him. Ultimately it’s his baby and it’s something he really wants.
hopefully the wheels/rims will still fit with the conversion. I’d love to not have to replace that as well.
The only way drum brakes will overheat and fade is if you are road racing the car and don't have race-capable brake shoes. Just driving around won't overheat drum brakes.
To that point, when I drove my '60 from South Carolina to California, the brakes didn't suddenly overheat and fade when I got to Kentucky. Or Colorado. Or California.
Oh here we go again. He asked about a good conversion kit , not about whether he should or not . Fyi, you can run the front disc brakes off the stock master if you want. My conversion used Chevelle or Camaro calipers and worked fine that way. It made a simple conversion that way and worked sooo much better. However, I was drag racing and needed the extra stopping power.
As a life long auto tech who has done thousands of brake jobs, I concur that installing disc brakes on your car would be a waste of time and money and effort and not improve the stopping power one iota unless you track the car every weekend. I would leave it alone. I have stock drums on my '61 that has maybe 400 horsepower and they work just fine.
If drums are so good why did every automaker in the world go to discs? Also, why did they all go to dual MCs? It's called evolution. As things get better and more reliable they are changed. Drums require more attention than discs do and even if discs do not stop any better, there is less maintenance to worry about. For me, it was for peace of mind and the idea that I would not have to sit on the floor of my garage and tinker with the little adjusting wheel and then take the car out to see if it was the right amount of turns. I understand it is like the Ford vs Chevy argument and will never be solved. I don't understand why people don't want others to make changes to their cars that they want. I love this forum for the help it provides but there seems to be a lot of negative comments when someone just asks a simple question.
I went to POL Performance Online for the disk Brake Kit for my 61 FRONT conversion..
It fit up Perfectly. Struggled with the inner bearing race on the first side. Second side preheated the race in my lovely wife's oven.....to 350 degrees slipped right on....
My 61 Corvette was already fitted with a Dual Master Cylinder.....I would strongly suggest that with your conversion. IMHO!
61 Brake conversion recommendation
