Classic Cars, Muscle Cars & Hot Rods

Working on the dangerous assumption that you have already read our general Brake Upgrade information pack (download from the right), here are a few specific points that Rodders may want to keep in mind.

Firstly, one of the most common upgrades we see on classics and rods is the HQ/XW-XB front disc brake graft. Fine and dandy if HQ fronts are now considered a cool retro look, but in reality, they are now 35 year old technology. I doubt that you are going to fill your freshly built small block engine, using all the latest trick internal gear of course, with 30/40 motor oil from the seventies, so why not consider something a bit more up to date? We think that you will be quite pleasantly surprised at just how inexpensive some of the American Wilwood 4 pot calipers can be. Still, if you have your heart set on a pair of cast iron single pot calipers, we can get them working amazingly well for you.

Secondly, most people assume that Australian and American drum brakes don’t work. They do, and well, but generally only once. The poor performance associated with drum brakes is usually because of bad adjustment as the self adjusters never seem to work properly. Drum brakes inability to stop repeatedly from high speeds is due to the drum brake friction materials used. Typically, drum brake compounds haven’t had the same levels of R&D thrown at them over the last three decades as their disc brake stablemates have.

You will know by now, having made that dangerous assumption again, that upgraded drum brake compounds are available if you want to retain that original look. This is a real growth side of the hot rodding industry and a bonus to the classic car owners who want to combine originality with driveability.

The racing drum brake compounds are excellent from cold with an improvement to handbrake operation. As a street compound, they work very much the same as standard materials but with higher temperature handling abilities, therefore able to withstand the rigors of repeated high speed braking.

We don’t, however, recommend 4 wheel drum brakes for racing duties.

Braided brake hoses, regardless of their ability to improve pedal feel, also look great on T-Buckets and other custom cars – which is really what it is all about anyway, isn’t it?