i am going to convert my manual 4-wheel drum set up to all disc brakes. i really like the feel of manual but have been told that a manual disc system would take way more leg than the drum. anyone out there running manual disc on all four corners ?
thanks,
ron

I had a 1972 Stingray that was manual 4-wheel disc and it took A LOT of effort to stop (I hated it). FORGET about panic stops. I had to drive always looking ahead to make sure I left myself enough room to stop.

I'd say it depends on the complete setup... If you chose the correct master cylinder it should work okay.

I went from "factory" A-body power discs (69-72) TO C5 Corvette fronts with manual brakes ( and IIRC a '67 Vette manual master cylinder)... I didn't notice much difference, if any... It still stopped fine, and felt much better than a drum/drum car (I was working on my buddies '66 drum/drum car at the time also)... BTW, I was running a disc/disc master cylinder with rear drums and a adjustible prop valve in both situations...

We have a '68 Vette with manual disk and a '69 Chevelle with manual drums and sometimes go on back to back drives. The vettes brakes have a much harder feel and it seems to take more pressure to stop. It will however, stop in a much shorter distance than the Chevelle.

Probably get a different feel with different types of pads. I think I currently have a semi-metalic pads on the vette.

I have C6 Z06 brakes on the front my GTO with some C4 rear brakes. The setup is manual and I love it. The brake effort is moderate with a 15/16" bore MC.

Andrew

maybe i should come at it from another angle. instead of trying to make a manual set up easier, i should try to get more feel out of a power set up. is that possible ?

maybe i should come at it from another angle. instead of trying to make a manual set up easier, i should try to get more feel out of a power set up. is that possible ?

No power setup will get you the same feel as a manual setup.

Andrew

i am very interested. seems like most people like power everything. i like to feel the car more and really would like to make manual work. do you think any 15/16" manual master would work?

I'm running C5 discs all around and a 11" vacuum booster with a right hand drive S-10 1" bore master. The pedal feels great and the thing stops like crazy now. All my experience is relative though, compared to the stock disc/drum setup I was running.

If you're trying to determine master bore size there are calculators online you can use. You need to know the piston count, size of the calipers and I think leverage ratio of the pedal to correctly calculate the master bore size.

My old beater is a Chevy S10 truck with manual disc brakes. They work fine and if I didn't have the strength in my leg to stop the truck, I would think it was time to give up driving.

The most important thing has not been mentioned yet. Without the brake booster, you have room for more motor!!!!!!!!!!1