how bad are four wheel non power drum brakes? my 1970 442 came with this set up and wanted to know how bad it really is. is it worth upgradeing to front disks or at least poser brakes? and does anyone make a front disk brake kit for 14 x 7 wheels?
any advice would be apprecited.
thanks

 

I have 14x7's on the front of my 72 and the stock rotors are 11".

I had a 68 with 4wheel drum and it was horrible, brake fade nearly killed me more than once.

 

X2 I fell pray to muscle car brake advertisement did the stage iii drm set up and no it is not all that! if you can live with the deviation from stock I would do it .

 

Very.

I'll be converting my otherwise all original 68 W-30 to period-correct (but not W-30 correct) four piston manual disks because I want to drive the car more than just on and off the trailer. Points deductions be damned.

 

Yeah, GM.

The factory-installed 10.75" rotors (everyone rounds up to 11") were fitted with 14" wheels. Be aware, however, that not all 14" wheels are created equally. In the late 1960s, GM used 14" wheels with two different backside profiles. The difference is due to the shape of the drop in the center of the rim portion where it welds to the center disk. There are wheels that only clear drum brakes and those with a different rim drop shape that also clear disks. If you have the drum only wheels, they won't work even with the factory rotors. Note that this backside profile issue is unrelated to wheel diameter or width.

 

I can't speak for manual brakes, as I've never driven long-term a car with manual brakes.

But I will say that a properly maintained all-drum system on a Cutlass is not the horrible thing people make it out to be. Yes, on a panic stop from high speeds you will feel a little fade, but you will not run out of pedal, and you should still be able to lock them up (or come real close to it). I wouldn't take an all-drum system autocrossing, nor ride the brakes on a long mountainous descent. But in daily use it's fine.

 

Had power drums on a 68 and power front discs on my 71. For 99% of daily driving the drums will be fine. Its when the stupid people do stupid things in front of you that the problems come. Or if you have to do alot of stop and go drums will start to fade quickly.

Having said that, I would get discs or put them on because if you drive regularly sooner or later you will need them.
Larry

 

When i converted my front to disk i had to use 15 x 7 rims as the 14s would not clear the caliper.

 

there are some disc brake compatible 14x7 wheels. once you compare the backsides they are easy to identify.

there have been millions of miles put on non power 4 drum systems since 4 wheel brakes were invented. a drum brake system functioning at 100% will serve you well for most daily driving situations. but in those spirited driving situations where drums reach their limit, discs will prove superior.

power assisted disc brake systems have spoiled us all.