I am restoring a ‘70 W-30 with a 4-speed back to as factory stock as possible, body and driveline. I never had the chance to drive the car before I started the restoration and honestly it’s been a few years since I have driven a big block muscle car. Between my Harley’s (even with PM brakes) and my Wrangler I learned to give plenty of stopping distance while operating these vehicles. But I am more concerned about others driving habits to stay on the safe side.

I would like to keep the car as stock as possible but I think that safety is more important when it comes to braking. Any recommendations on power boosters, rotors, calipers, pads etc. ? Any tricks that you may have learned to “camouflage your modifications ? Or do you think that the stock braking will be adequate ? If you wanted to upgrade your brakes what would you choose ?

Thanks - Mike

 

I have a factory PFDB setup in my '69 and its stopping power seems more than adequate. Certainly no worse than my Dodge truck, and not much worse than any of my three Mazdas. I'd go all through the brakes, front and rear, and make that everything's set up correctly.

And remember, just because you don't have a booster doesn't mean the braking power isn't there -- it just takes more muscle, that's all.

 

You should drive a 54 Olds with 4 wheel drum brakes and then you would realize the standard brakes on a stock 1970 W30 are not too bad. Those brakes were state of the art when they were new (I know it has been 50 years). We are all used to driving cars with 4 wheel antilock disk brakes now. I think you should be fine.

 

A 70 W-30 4spd will have manual front disc brakes with 10.75" rotors. Anything larger will require new wheels. I've never felt the need to upgrade the brakes on my 70 W-30 4spd. You just need to drive it enough to get used to the pedal pressure required. You can try aftermarket front pads with higher friction, but keep in mind that this will upset the front/back brake balance. Swapping to the 11" rear drums from the 73-77 cars is an easy swap, but it isn't clear how much of an improvement that will make on a nose-heavy car. And also, remember that tire compound has as much an effect on braking as do the brakes themselves.

 

I would agree with the above. I converted my 69 to disc brakes years ago, I think the brakes work pretty well.

You can’t control the other idiots on the road. The best advice I would have is to drive defensively, pay attention to your surroundings. Leave as much room around you as possible.

As for the car, give the brakes a complete inspection. Make sure the pads/shoes are in good shape, all the hardware is clean and free to move, make sure the drums are adjusted correctly. If the pads are worn, replace them with good quality aftermarket pads. As joe mentioned, I doubt there is much to be gained with upgrading the rear drums. Some modern tires would probably be the biggest improvement.

I replaced my rotors and pads on my 06 Ram with stuff from Powerstop. I tried several different brands of pads, Napa, Advance Auto, etc. I got tired of the short life, noisy brakes, and generally poor braking from the parts store stuff I had been using. Night and day difference!

 

Im more concerned about someone rear ending me due to texting drivers than being able to stop.

 

^^^THIS! I've converted my older drivers to projector LED 1157 lamps. It makes a huge difference in rear visibility. Of course, that doesn't help when the joker behind you is looking down at their phone.

 

Joe do you like the light pattern from those LEDs? Look like stock just brighter?

 

The LED elements on the sides illuminate the reflector like the original incandescent bulb. The projector lens on the tip does make a bit of a "hot spot" in the center of the lens. It actually works very well with the round lenses on my 62 F85, but less so with the rectangular lenses on my 67 Delta. The inner fresnel lens under the red lenses on the 67 taillights do help spread it out a little.

 

Thanks.

 

Great advice - thank you gentlemen.

 

I was leaning towards changing out all the old lines and restoring all the original brake hardware was the better way to go. Will look better and in the long run will probably be more reliable than any any aftermarket products. Although I might go with a booster. Thanks again.

 

If you go with a booster you might need some kind of vacuum storage system, depending on what kind of cam you're running. There's a reason it wasn't available from the factory with one.

 

‘69Ragtop I will be running the stock W30 4-speed cam - do you think that I will need a vacuum storage system ?

 

Well, I suppose it will depend on what amount of vacuum you'll be pulling. If the engine is built to strict factory tolerances, the Olds engineers would have thought so. You could always mount the booster and then decide how you feel about the pedal effort and feel.

 

Any engine, no matter how wild a cam, will eventually provide enough vacuum to run a booster. The question is how many times can you apply the brakes before the vacuum is depleted, and how long before enough vacuum builds up again to allow the booster to work?

The Olds engineers knew that probably 95% of the time, the W-30 cam would be just fine for power brakes. It’s the 5% of the drivers caught in stop and go traffic, or only know of 2 positions of the throttle, who are behind the decision to mandate manual brakes with that engine. It’s far cheaper and easier to solve the problem on the order sheet, before the car is built, than to deal with the consequences in the service Dept as warranty claims.

I seem to recall some of the mid 80s J cars (Chevy Cavalier, Buick Sumerset, Pontiac 6000) had a small electric vacuum pump mounted low, near the radiator. Install one of those, the booster will work no matter the cam.