How are you guys liking manual brakes?

[chub406]

Hey guys. I'm thinking of switching my buick to manual brakes. I have the whole conversion. It came with the car when I bought it. I have the ford 11' drums on the back and stock disc up front. My concern is stopping the thing and not having to worry about any failures. It will be driven around town and taken to the track and beat on. What are the pro's and cons for the guys that converted?? Is it a pain when driving in traffic? Thanks!

 

[RmvBfrFlght]

Two keys to having manual brakes work correctly: pads and M/C bore size. A 7/8" M/C bore will work OK. Then get pads with a high friction coefficient such as the StopTech Street Performance brake pads.

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[chub406]

Do you have manual brakes? If so. How do you like them? Would you do it again? pro's and cons?

 

[jevans]

I converted to manual brakes when my powermaster went out. I went with a Wilwood master cylinder and Wilwood disc brakes on all four corners. I street drive my car and it has plently of stopping power. Being manual brakes, it does take a little more pressure when applying the brakes compared to power assisted brakes.

I've owned a few older cars that had manual brakes and all of my race cars have had manual brakes. It's really no problem once you get used to driving with them...

 

[chub406]

i had a 69 chevy pickup with manual brakes. i remember having to pump them. is it like that? lol my first drag car didnt make enough vacuum for the power breaks to work. you had to really push on them. it was really solid. I know it wont be that bad. lol

 

[jevans]

i had a 69 chevy pickup with manual brakes. i remember having to pump them. is it like that? lol my first drag car didnt make enough vacuum for the power breaks to work. you had to really push on them. it was really solid. I know it wont be that bad. lol

With an aftermarket brake system, your brakes will be nothing like factory manual brakes. Having four piston calipers and larger rotors will give you plenty of stopping power.

I'm not a fan of power brakes on a race car. There a little to touchy for me and I'm concerned about the brakes locking up the tires in a panic situation.

I've made a bunch as passes at over 150 mph in the quarter only using manual brakes to slow down.

 

[chub406]

nice! thats the kind of info I was looking for. I have the stock up front and big ford 11' drums in back. I dont know if that will be enough. If I convert the back to discs. I t would be the quick performance kit. what are you running?

 

[jevans]

nice! thats the kind of info I was looking for. I have the stock up front and big ford 11' drums in back. I dont know if that will be enough. If I convert the back to discs. I t would be the quick performance kit. what are you running?

I have Wilwood disc on the front and rear, the rotors are drilled and slotted. I'm also using their master cylinder. I purchased a billet aluminum firewall adapter that bolted right up and was a very simple swap.

 

[chub406]

i dont know what master cylinder I have. it came with the car when I bought it. I t does have the adapter plate with it as well. Do they hold boost better than drums?If you had it to do over again. Would you?

 

[jevans]

i dont know what master cylinder I have. it came with the car when I bought it. I t does have the adapter plate with it as well. Do they hold boost better than drums?If you had it to do over again. Would you?

The brakes hold good on the footbrake, I can build about 8-9 lbs of boost.

No regrets in converting over to manual brakes, it's a simple, straight forward system...

 

[chub406]

what did you run for lines? do you have to run the swirl metal lines that are on it stock coming out of the master cylinder?

 

[RmvBfrFlght]

No need to pump the brake pedal with the manuals. Using a Mopar 7/8" M/C with 3/16" lines to the combo block. Made a single loop in the lines between the M/C and block for some give. Note that the combo block is gutted with a plug in the center to isolate the two circuits.

With 4-wheel disk used a Wilwood proportioning valve for the rears.

I like the manual brakes, the main reason is that I know they will always be there. Doesn't matter what kind of engine parts are being run over. Although I am considering going to the Carbotech AX6 pads for more friction.

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[413turbo]

interesting thread, someone was telling me to convert the up and coming 454 to manual brakes. but he said it was only because it would never see any street action... I gonna look into some more now.

 

[Alky V6]

I use manual brakes on the race car. Even if the car saw street duty, I'd be fine with it.
I run a Strange dual inline master cylinder, made my own firewall adapter, Wilwood proportioning valve, 4 piston Strange Pro Race w/steel discs kit for stock spindles in the front, Wilwood Dynalite Pro Series rear axle disc kit.
I used to run big Ford new style (Torino) drums in the rear. Changed the rear over to the discs and gained a lot more stopping power.

 

[chub406]

Are you running 3/16 line as well?i wonder what i would get going to just the metric disc conversion on the back compared to the drums. did you notice a big difference when at the track? with drums losing as they heat up. Thats what I'm running into as well. My big horsepower guys tell me to go manual but I'm also taking mine on the street alot more than they are. I had one car stolen so I don't see me letting it out of my site a whole lot but drive around when its nice and all that. def not a daily driver.

 

[jevans]

what did you run for lines? do you have to run the swirl metal lines that are on it stock coming out of the master cylinder?

I used the stock lines, just had to swap out the fittings that go into the Wilwood master cylinder. The fittings come along with the master cylinder. I had to cut and remove the factory fittings, install the supplied fittings and reflare.

I used Wilwood's #260-4894, which has an 1-1/16" bore. I adapted the pushrod that comes with the Wilwood master cylinder to work with the factory pushrod, so the hook up and ratio at the pedal stayed the same.

I added a Hurst Line Lock while doing the conversion and the system was opened. I also swapped out the factory rubber brake hoses going to the calipers on the front and to the t fitting on the rearend.

 

[Alky V6]

Stock brake lines here, too.

 

[chub406]

thanks for the info! Im going to put a line lock on it as well. like you said. its all opened up. no point in not doing it. The stock junction box is still there. is it best to use that or get an aftermarket one?

 

[jevans]

thanks for the info! Im going to put a line lock on it as well. like you said. its all opened up. no point in not doing it. The stock junction box is still there. is it best to use that or get an aftermarket one?

I keep the stock proportioning valve, brake bais seems to be fine...