Contemplating updaing my front brakes from the basic standard rotor and single piston caliper. As winter was progressing i was browsing rock auto for brake kits, one of which for 76 cutlass is premium stopping ability of a slotted/drilled rotors with new pads.

Then got to thinking about a double piston caliper. Though 5 years ago I replaced both calipers when I put ss brake lines from inline tube on. Summit's pricing is quite high for a kit for rotor, caliper, pads. Anyone do this upgrade and like it?

Other than upgrading to a warmer built 455 and lower rear gear w/ locking diff, the slotted/drilled rotors and new pad may be best bank for the buck.

 

Drilled/slotted rotors are worthless on a street car. The extra machining simply adds potential crack initiation points. There will be zero difference in braking ability. The only benefit is that the car will weigh less because your wallet will be thinner.

As for dual piston calipers, be careful to compare total piston area. The original D52 calipers have a 2.94" diameter piston, for a piston area of 6.79 sq in. Most dual piston calipers have less total area than that, which is NOT an upgrade. As an example, the Wilwood D52 calipers have 2.00" pistons for a total area of 6.28 sq in. Aluminum calipers do reduce weight and improve brake cooling, however. There is also a small advantage of spreading that piston force more evenly across the brake pad, which improves brake pad effectiveness. Again, you are unlikely to ever feel the difference on the street. A real upgrade requires larger diameter rotors, which requires either different spindles or machining of your current spindles to mill off the caliper bracket. You might be able to swap in the 1977-90 spindles with the 12" rotors, for example. Of course, once you start messing with front/rear brake balance, you had better understand what you need to do to accommodate that. "Upgrading" the front brakes isn't an improvement if you just lock them up prematurely.

 

Agreed on the drilled / slotted rotors. That’s been the consensus on a performance forum I frequent. I would install good pads / shoes and make sure everything works correctly and leave it at that.

 

What's wrong with the way your car stops now?

 

I figured if one went with dual piston and 4 wheel disc brakes would offer a lot more stopping force, however without ABS higher likelihood that I would lock up the brakes.
Car brakes fine, other than the pedal is alot stiffer after I had to replace the master cylinder and booster last spring.

The brake upgrade was just one of those things I was considering after watching a ton of "Detroit Muscle" episodes these last crappy weekends, and seeing them go on every project.

Thanks for the info Joe

 

The number of pistons is irrelevant. It's the total piston area that governs braking force. Also, adding rear disc brakes then restricting the braking force with a prop valve to prevent rear wheel lockup is kind of a waste of money. Keep in mind that brakes need to be designed as a system, and that system design includes weight distribution and tire friction force in addition to simply bolting on some disc brake kits. Yeah, there are lots of articles and web features on these brake "upgrades", primarily sponsored by people who sell the kits or magazines who are promoting their sponsors. Many aftermarket disc brake kits are poorly engineered, if at all. Most buyers of these kits are completely clueless about how braking systems actually work. The number of posts complaining that "upgraded" brakes stop worse than the original drums should tell you something.

Look, I'm in no way suggesting that drums are better than discs. What I'm saying is that properly maintained factory-engineered brakes are frequently better than incorrectly sized and installed "upgrades".