My 70 Malibu has manual drums all the way around. Since I have not had this car too long, I noticed when driving home from the car show this past Saturday there was a little noise coming from the front left brake. I do know a drum(s) are slightly warped so I am going to do a complete brake job on her.

I have researched quite a bit and have decided to replace all parts (springs, adjusters, etc.) with new hardware. I also would like to convert to power brakes which is relatively inexpensive, just for the creature comfort level. I considered converting the front to disc w/power, but for the $$ I can convert to power drums much cheaper.

Has anyone ever converted (or driven both manual/power brakes) to power brakes from a manual setup? How do you like it? Is it worth it?

I am very used to the manual set up, just curious of those who really know the difference. This is the first car I have ever owned with 4 wheel drum brakes. I have had manual brakes on my 72 vette, but the front were disc and that was many years ago.

My 71 had power drums all way round. One of the 1st things i did when i bought the car was yank the front end off and toss the drums and spindles in the trash. I bought 2 inch lowered spindles that take the later el camino discs. My old VW bug had manual drums. Not bad for a light relatively slow car. My Chevelle will have 450hp and a 12 bolt posi. I would be a fool to keep the drums. Living in So Cal its very important to have good brakes with all the traffic. If you have a putt putt car with a 307 or 6 banger the drums should work. My 75 Chevy stepside truck has stock power disc brakes on the front and it stops on a dime.

I have power drums now. Originally manual drums all around.
An improvement no doubt but..........don't want to tailgate anyone for sure.
Brakes work well.
I will be doing a front disk conversion in the future though.

I would add the other viewpoint, be happy that you have manual brakes. My 66 had the four wheel manual drums, and went front disc manual. Avoids having a booster under the hood, etc. Seems to work fine. I can now drive like a maniac, haul up to stop signs and jam the brakes and stop!

Suggest the disc conversion prior to adding power to the drums. There will be some effort in refitting the brake lines to the master with the booster in place anyway.

My 71 had power drums all way round. One of the 1st things i did when i bought the car was yank the front end off and toss the drums and spindles in the trash. I bought 2 inch lowered spindles that take the later el camino discs. My old VW bug had manual drums. Not bad for a light relatively slow car. My Chevelle will have 450hp and a 12 bolt posi. I would be a fool to keep the drums. Living in So Cal its very important to have good brakes with all the traffic. If you have a putt putt car with a 307 or 6 banger the drums should work. My 75 Chevy stepside truck has stock power disc brakes on the front and it stops on a dime.

I do have the 307 set up and will probably leave it that way for a while. I need to do the brake job either way so I guess with the advice given I will do a complete brake job with all new parts, see how she rides and maybe later add the power booster. Trying to finish the kiddo's Buick right now so most of my money is going there.