I am about to finish converting my 68 442 from front drums to front power disc brakes. I noticed that some GM cars from 1968 had a brake pedal rubber piech with a round ss piece in the middle that said "disc brakes". Question: did the 68 442 come from the factory with one on it and did it say "disc brakes" only or did it say "power disc brakes" was it all at the top of the "disc" or did it say "disc" on top and "brakes" at the bottom? Pictures would be great!

 

Since the car isn't going to be original anymore I don't think it's relevant what brake pad you use. What I can tell you is that my 72 Cutlass S came from the factory with JL2 disc brakes and the pad on the brake pedal has nothing to indicate 'disc brakes'.

I just looked up the SPECS for the 68 442 and it lists J50 (power drum) and J52 (power disc) as options that year.

 

Are you planning to use the correct four piston calipers from 1968 or the more common single piston calipers from 1969-72?

 

Even if the 4 pistons are original to 1968 the single piston was my choice as it is much more reliable. I am also going with silicone brake fluid as I am changing all the lines and both rear brake cylinders. Water absorption is 6/10 of 1% and it is unaffected by temperature changes. I bought the system from inline tube.

 

I agree with that, but obviously you're not going for a stock look anyway, so why worry about the pedal pad?

 

Why not look as original as possible in the process. Detail is nice to have.

 

True, but I don't think that was Joe and my thoughts on this from the get go. It's not original, why bother trying to make it look original? Someone someday is going to buy the car from you and claim they have a 'factory correct' PDB car to the next buyer. Hey, all said and done it's your car and you can do whatever you want with the conversion. Olds brake pad for your year/application doesn't have any special disc brake markings. A lot of the 68 cars didn't have PB and those that did the vast majority were power drum brakes.

 

I agree why not?

 

As far as I recall 69-70 Chevelles and 70 Skylark cars came with the stainless steel Disc brake logo brake pedal covers. Chevelle and Skylark shared the same part. Never saw any disc brake equipped Lemans, Cutlass, Grand Prix or MonteCarlo with one.

Henry

 

I am not absolutely positive but I am quite sure Olds A bodies never used the Stainless disc on the pedal, though the aftermarket parts suppliers many times show pictures of them and offer them for Cutlass and 442. My 71 Cutlass has a plain pedal and came w/factory discs. I also agree with your choice of synthetic dot 5 brake fluid. I have it in my 71 and my 65 Dodge and have had no problems after 15 yrs or so- no rusty fluid like the dot 3 gets.

 

Thanks Greg, I just wanted to know if the 442 models came with the stainless steel medallion on the pad because I kind of like it but will only install it if the 68 442 came equipped with it in 1968. I plan on keeping all original parts that I replace so that if the next owner wants to put it back the way it was they easily can. I try to keep everything as original as possible but "safety issues" override originality like in this case the single piston vs the original 4 piston brakes. For example I just installed an "original" side view mirror for the passenger side using the "template" provided and yes even if its not original to my automobile the "safety" factor overrides "originality"

 

As a Monte Carlo is my other one, the 70 did, 71 and later did not.

 

The 72 Cutlass I had in the late 70's had that on the pedal, pretty sure it wasn't added as it was my grandmother's car. I don't think 68's had it.