Looking for opinions on how to proceed

[1 Wild R/T]

So I'm "restoring" a 68 Coronet R/T Convertible... Originally it was 4 wheel 11" drum non-power... That may have been fine in 1968 but no way I'm putting it back that way... I remember driving my 70 Charger R/T with 4 wheel drums back in the day, they were just "Okay" up to about 70-75 MPH, above 75-80 MPH you might as well throw out an anchor cause the brakes don't do sh!t...

So with that in mind I have a very complete swap ready to go in, including 11.75 rotors, 73 A body spindles, and a 70 only B body K member with the proper sway bar so the calipers are front mounted as they were originally designed to be..

But now I'm questioning whether down the road a potential buyer would be concerned about later model parts vs putting the early design 4 piston brakes & keeping the 68 K member & sway bar...

Personally I feel the later design stuff is better but I can see arguments both ways...

Anyone have thoughts they'd like to share?

 

[Johnpat]

If you intend on keeping and driving this car I
would do what makes you happy.
Keep the old parts to pass along to any future
owner.

 

[eldubb440]

you're over thinking it and worrying too much

 

[1 Wild R/T]

you're over thinking it and worrying too much

I know.. Guilty as charged... LOL..

And Johnpat that's been my intent all along...

 

[vance.dykes]

I know.. Guilty as charged... LOL..

And Johnpat that's been my intent all along...

i have run 4 wheel drum on my rr went 10:67 at 127 mph the drums stop me fine.

 

[Dennis H]

www.musclecarbrakes.com

 

[451Mopar]

Converted my '69 Coronet Convertible to Disk, but have not driven it yet to know how it is.
Had to rear mount the calipers with the stock sway bar.

 

[Jerry Hall]

i have run 4 wheel drum on my rr went 10:67 at 127 mph the drums stop me fine.

The only time I ever had a problem with 4 wheel drums was street racing back in the 70's. On the third back to back race stopping would get tricky. With normal driving in town or on the road they to me always stopped as good as anything else. With today's different brake materials that may not be the case. If that car were mine I would make the effort to find some NOS brake shoes and put it back original. Just my opinion.

 

[TN Mopar]

They make kits now that use the original spindles
That would give you disc brakes yet make it very easy to return to stock in the future should the need ever arise

There is a draw back to the original spindles however and that is you wont gain any Caster. where most spindle swaps allow you more caster
Today's radials require more than tires from the 60s

 

[moparmarks]

You can mount the disc brakes on the rear side of the spindles and keep the 68 K and sway bar.

 

[65wgn440]

Kind of my pet peeve how people feel they HAVE to switch from drum to disc, or it's a certain fiery death !! Ha-ha. I put my 17yr old in a Valiant with manual drums. He drove it 2yrs, no problems (V8 also). I have a 70yr old friend who daily drove, in the summer) his massive '70 300 convertible with power drums for the last 20 yrs. That car stopped on a dime ! I have a '67, not stock, manual drums, that I drive when I can, no problems. I guess to me, it's part of the old car experience. Gotta be a DRIVER. Now, let's talk about fuel injection....................

 

[Don selleck]

68 coronet rt convertible, damn, let see a couple pics, would love to get one of those, especially if it was a stick! and i agree with johnpat

 

[davek]

you can get some nice brakes made now a days for your drums Had them on my charger rt and never had a problem stopping. Dana 440 6 pak.

 

[1967coronet]

The one thing I never understood is without the anti lock tech that's in the late model cars,
disc brakes are just going to lock down your wheels like drums do in a panic stop.
Once everyone is sliding and the *** end is coming everyone is steering and pumping LOL

 

[1 Wild R/T]

68 coronet rt convertible, damn, let see a couple pics, would love to get one of those, especially if it was a stick! and i agree with johnpat

Someday soon I hope to have something more to show but it's been a stalled project for to long.... I've cleared everything that got in the way & the Coronet is back at the front of the line.... So how about a few teaser pics...

65wgn440, not to piss ya off to much but I've owned allot of these cars through the years & I like disc brakes.... And Fuel Injection.... Since it's my cars & my $$$ I'll have disc brakes... Now where's that poking yer tongue out emoji....

But I will offer ya a beer...LOL..

 

[1 Wild R/T]

The one thing I never understood is without the anti lock tech that's in the late model cars,
disc brakes are just going to lock down your wheels like drums do in a panic stop.
Once everyone is sliding and the *** end is coming everyone is steering and pumping LOL

That's one of many advantages of disc brakes, discs can be modulated even if you lock them up they react to reduced line pressure, drum brakes because they are self energized once locked you need to get practically completely off the pedal before they recover....

And the point is maximum braking is the point just before lock up... If you jump on the pedal aggressively drums are virtually guaranteed to lock & it's hard to recover... Discs you can hit pretty aggressively & since they don't self energize they probably won't lock & if they do they can be modulated...

 

[Don selleck]

Someday soon I hope to have something more to show but it's been a stalled project for to long.... I've cleared everything that got in the way & the Coronet is back at the front of the line.... So how about a few teaser pics...


View attachment 805419View attachment 805420View attachment 805421View attachment 805422View attachment 805428


65wgn440, not to piss ya off to much but I've owned allot of these cars through the years & I like disc brakes.... And Fuel Injection.... Since it's my cars & my $$$ I'll have disc brakes... Now where's that poking yer tongue out emoji....

But I will offer ya a beer...LOL..

i agree on disk brakes i went with wilwood 4 wheel disk on my charger 4 piston caliper they sure look pretty will be testing them out soon, thanks for the pic that will be one cool car, 4 speed?

 

[Jerry Hall]

The one thing I never understood is without the anti lock tech that's in the late model cars,
disc brakes are just going to lock down your wheels like drums do in a panic stop.
Once everyone is sliding and the *** end is coming everyone is steering and pumping LOL

Sounds just like an old friend of mine told me at a cruise in one time. He had a 30 Model A Ford and had sent the engine off for a Hot Rod rebuild. He had it installed in this otherwise all original Model A, rusty patina but everything was in outstanding mechanical condition including the mechanical brakes. I asked him, now that this car will run 70-75 mph, how do you stop it with those old mechanical brakes? He told me that everything was adjusted correctly and it stopped straight and all you could do was just slide the tires, so it made no difference if he converted it to hydraulic brakes.

 

[Kern Dog]

I would skip the surgery. If she isn't happy with you the way that you are, it is HER problem.

 

[NJRR]

I have a 70 Satellite convertible, so a comparable sized car. When I got it, it had drums all around. Stopped fine as long as I wasn't in any stop and go traffic. Once the brakes heated up though, got a lot of fade and took an appreciably longer distance to stop. I decided to do a front disc swap. The previous owner rebuilt the front end, so I didn't want to swap out the spindles and basically rebuild the rebuilt front end. I went with an SSBC kit that uses the drum brake spindles. It was a very easy installation. I did have to change the MC to a disc/drum and plumb in a prop valve, but you will have to do that anyhow. Converting back to original drum/drum would be very easy. Car stops great ALL the time now !!!!