theandies

I have manual brakes with dot5 fluid. Stops great.
ABS usually increases stopping distance if the systems are comparable. The advantage of ABS is that the wheels don't lock up and you can maintain control of the vehicle instead of going into a skid.

0Corvette Engineering

I thought I had repied to this but I don't see it anywhere sorry.

If you go from power to manual, http://www.mpbrakes.com/ sells an adapter plate and a new pushrod. You should be able to mount the wilwood MC up to their bracket easily.

One thing you MUST do is to move the rod on the brake pedal from the lower hole to the upper hole.
The upper hole is used by the brake light switch on a power brake car so you have to get the manual brake bracket or modify your existing one. (I cut and re-welded mine )

Other than that it's simple, not easy since you're working under the dash, but simple :-D

I don't stock the master clyinders, I'd have to order one. You're probably better off, speed and cost wise, going to Jegs or Summit.

Keith

0Corvette Engineering

You nutz man.
The only people I worry about rear ending are new Vettes and other high performance cars, but I don't tailgate anyway so it's not an issue.

For the other 99.9% of the cars on the road I look in my mirror so I don't get rear ended. There's no freekin way a minivan is going to outbrake me...

That said, I would like ABS, but it's not going to happen, way too complex for teh aftermarket right now.

Keith

Cali,68,L-79

I have manual brakes and the master cylinder crapped out on me so I ordered the entire power brake kit with everything from the pedal to the calipers.

Bill Z

I have had my 71 for 6 years now. The manual brakes do work fine. However, IF I wanted to put power brakes on my 71, are you saying you have a kit to convert? I have heard that there are pins, springs, widgets and gadgets to buy to convert.

Can you tell me how much it costs and how easy it really is?

If it is too expensive or difficult, then I will have to be even more satisfied with my manual brakes.

Alligatorz

I can't believe some of the things I read here. Lets be realistic; the manual brakes are horrible. If you add a hydroboost, you will realize just how poor they are and you will be forever happy that you did it.

jberman

I disagree. My manual brakes on my 74 were awful. I bled, rebled, used a Motive powerbleeder with little success. Brakes were extremely mushy. Had brakes rebled at shop and now pedal feel is awesome - very firm- and brakes are extremely responsive.

75 Red Vert

Manual on my 75

Alligatorz

The power that you get from a Hydratech hydroboost, is far more than what is available with the vacuum assisted power brakes. There isn't any comparison whatsoever to a manual brake setup. Anybody who has made this modification to their C3 knows what I am talking about. Those who think they have good manual brakes would probably go through 3 windshields and two bottles of advil, before they learned to adjust to the hydroboost.

68/70Vette

I kiinda' partially agree with this statement. On flat, dry pavement I think ABS will stop faster by preventing wheel lockup. ABS was first used on airliners.

However, in some circumstances, ABS can be worse than manual brakes. With ABS brakes, slam on your brakes as you roll over railroad tracks or potholes. The rough surfaces will bounce your wheels up in the air. With the brakes on, the fact that the wheel is up in the air or lightly touching the road surface will cause it to momentarily stop rotating. The ABS will sense that your wheels are locked up and release hydraulic pressure.To the driver you will experience a lack of braking.

To state this another way. Approach two or more railroad tracks across the road. Apply max braking pressure. As the wheels hit the railroad tracks and bounce up in the air, the ABS will release pressure. The railroad tracks will cause a momentary loss of braking. Can be scary.

.....The BIG advantage of nonABS brakes. Slam on the brakes-there's a hair raising screeetching sound and giant clouds of white smoke pour our of your wheel wells. This alerts other drivers. ABS brakes don't give this alert. With ABS, when the brakes lights of the car in front of you come on, you don't know if they are just lightly touching the brakes or really standing on them. Before ABS when you saw white smoke pouring out of the wheel wells of the car in front, you knew what was happening.

gyopp

thanks for all the input guys. I ordered a Wilwood manual master cyl last week so I am going to give the man brakes a try.
BTW, I know a lot of people here have had good results with hydroboost. I actually bought a hdroboost but had rather go a different route if an acceptable one exists.

Alligatorz

gyopp, I don't mean to be rude, but there isn't an acceptable alternative to the hydroboost. It is the equivalent of having a 600hp motor vs. a 185hp motor. There is no way in hell that any C3 manual brake car is going to stop like a hydroboosted vette. Talk to some who can compare both. I had a manual brake car and upgraded to a hydroboost. Most of the people advocating manual brakes don't have anything to compare it to, since they never felt the vette with hydroboosted brakes. Ignorance does not make for a valid perspective of argument.

James.70

I have manual brakes and manual steering...changing both to power, rack and pinion and willwood If your gonna do it do it right. A corvette thats is all manual is like driving a sherman.

gyopp

I am running the same tires as Kieth which are way better traction than stock. If you have enough brake to lock this I don't see how the Hydro can increase braking. I don't really care that more pedal pressure is required.

Alligatorz

I have 12" wide wheels in the rear. I seriously doubt that any manual brake vettes would be able to lock them up. If you can lock up your tires, you must have some skinny tires which are not getting much traction. My manual brakes were miserable. Since putting in a hydroboost, my vette has excellent brakes, on par with modern cars. The manual brakes were a joke and frighteningly poor. I am not going to waste my time arguing with you since you don't have any experience with a hydroboost vette, from which to draw a conclusion. The reality is that you would be lucky to stop your car in a distance under 155ft., from 60 mph. If you think that is good, then your definition of good brakes is much different than mine.

big_G

Me neither... I have 3 'Vettes. All manual brakes. 1 has run road-race slicks. I can lock them up anytime, anywhere. How much better can brakes be than at lockup? Now, if my legs ever get weak and thin, I'll consider power assist.

Bill Z

I think what us manual brake guys are saying is that we are satisfied with our brakes. We aren't saying we can stop as fast as boosted brakes. Just the results vs the expense doesn't seem to be worth while (our opinion). Plus, my C3 isn't my daily driver. I only take it out when trafic is light and I give plenty of room.

MCMLXIX

A properly functioning stock manual braking system on a C3 is in one word fantastic. Even 40 years after it was introduced very few if any mass produced cars have better brakes. If your C3 doesnt stop great it is not working right and needs maintenance, fix it before changing anything. Very few people will need to upgrade anything more than SS sleaved calipers and a modern pad material. If you want to sacrifice pedal feel and the ability to modulate the brakes add a booster of your choice to reduce the effort required to press the pedal.

gyopp

Thanks again guys. I have heard enough positive feedback that I have already ordered a Wilwood billet manual master cylinder. Mr. aligatorz feels very strongly about hydroboost being the only way to go and I respect his opinion and don't question the performance of this system but I consider an acceptable alternative to be anything that will reliably stop the car. Many of you have posted that you can lock the brakes and if I can do this I will be satisfied. Thanks again

John 65

I have 69 manual and 65 power. Guess which stops sooner.