Another opinion.
I use stock brakes with Hawk pads and DOT 4 fluid on my 65 Vintage Racer.
Stock dual braking system from a later car and stock rear shoes and drums.
The car stops on a dime and the only time I have experienced fade is under
REALLY hard use, but after easing back abit they always return.
I beleive that the problem with street cars is that the system is not
flushed as often as it should be. How many years has it been since the last
time your system was flushed. Look at the service manuals for brand new
cars and they advise flushing the brakes every couple of years. There
shouldn't be any reason for properly maintained braking system regardless of
age not work properly as new.
And finally lets not to forget about tire traction when thinking about
braking ability. Are your tires hard as rocks, well it will slip like a
rock when asked to stop. I was watching an old car test show on Speedvision
the other day and the reviewer refered to how good the cars brakes were and
how quick they stopped the car, while really all they had done was locked
them down and let it slide to a stop. The brakes had very little to do with
how quick it stopped, it was entirely the friction of the tires on the
pavement.
Okey one more point then I will shut down. Think of your tire and
wheel
combo as a large flywheel. This combo could be quite a bit heavier than
originally planned by BMC, in fact you could have half again as much weight
as originally equipted and all this motion must be stopped with the original
equipment.
To sum up all this rambling, I believe the stock brakes are just fine
for
the job if maintained in a regular manor. Enough said!!
SAFETY FAST, BOB
________________________________________________________________________
|