So i have a so called original 69 malibu but i noticed my brake pedal says Disc Brakes but i looked and they are drum, what could be the reason?
Just wondering.....

Brake pedal pad was probably worn and put a disc pedal pad on.

I once swapped the discs from my 72 malibu to my 68 SS, and put the drums on the 72.. Then sold the 72. After this many years anything could have happened.

Hmm is there anyway to tell if my car originally came with disc brakes? Maybe the pad was replaced but the car only reads 58,xxx miles but who knows maybe its 258K

What does the pedal pad look like? Is it worn?
Post up a pic.

Dan

Most 1969 Malibus came with drum brakes. I would think someone has just changed the rubber pad on the brake pedal.

This is a good excuse to follow your brake pedals advice and put actual disc brakes on. Consider it a sign.:thumbsup:

Someone more than likely changed the pedal pad. The only way to tell if the car came with discs from the factory is if you have the build sheet. My 69 had manual drums, I put power disc on it earlier this year. Changing the pedal pad was the last little detail :)

The small 90 degree brackets on the frame that hold the end of the flexible brake line are different between disc and drum.
The disc bracket is doubled, meaning there are two layers of metal where the hose attaches. The drum bracket is a single layer of metal.
Also, the opening for the hose fitting is a different shape between the two.

If your car originally had disc brakes, it's unlikely the swaper would have changed this bracket, if they were taken off and replaced by drum brakes.
If you remove the Mickey Mouse looking clip on top of the bracket and look at the hole, you might find a drum brake hose in a disc brake bracket. Although, they would have had to cut off the lower layer of the disc brake bracket for the clip to work with the drum brake hose.
You see, the fittings on the ends of the hoses are different. Disc to drum.

I once was selling a 1968 Chevelle station wagon and it had the optional disc brakes. I took them off and installed drums before I sold it.

I would like to know if your car has power brakes or not. Meaning, is there a power brake booster on the firewall?
The reason I ask is because I think there is a difference between the non power drum brake proportioning valve and the non power disc brake proportioning valve. I have a proportioning valve off a 1969 non power non disc Chevelle and it is smaller than the disc brake proportioning valve.

Brake pedal pad was probably worn and put a disc pedal pad on.


Although this is probably the most likely reason and definitely the easiest part to swap, it's very possible that the disc brakes were swapped out for drums.

He doesn't tell us whether his car is a 4 door or ?
If it's a wagon or 4 door, I'd be more inclined to think somebody robbed the disc brake setup.

I have heard rumors off people swapping drum brakes in place of the disc breaks back in the day because the disc breakes dragged the rotor and slowed the car down in the 1/4

I would like to know if your car has power brakes or not. Meaning, is there a power brake booster on the firewall?
The reason I ask is because I think there is a difference between the non power drum brake proportioning valve and the non power disc brake proportioning valve. I have a proportioning valve off a 1969 non power non disc Chevelle and it is smaller than the disc brake proportioning valve.

The 69's have a separate valve mounted under the master cylinder on disc equipped cars. The block down on the frame that is commonly mistaken for the proportioning valve, is nothing more than a distribution block and is the same on all disc equipped, and drum brake cars.

Here are some pictures....

1968-1972 Manual Drum. This is not the correct master cylinder, just one I got at a local parts store because I needed one. This was on my '69 Malibu before I did the disc brake conversion.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/BlueSS454/69%20Malibu/P5090487.jpg

1968-1972 Power Drum. This is the same master cylinder in the picture above. I transferred it on to this car when I swapped to power discs on my 69 Malibu. This is on a 1969 Olds Cutlass S

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/BlueSS454/69%20Malibu/PC290003.jpg

1969 Power Disc. These are all the correct parts for the '69 model year. This is on my 69 Malibu

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/BlueSS454/69%20Malibu/PC290001.jpg

1970 Power Disc. This also has all correct '70 model year parts. This is on my 70 SS

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/BlueSS454/69%20Malibu/PC290002.jpg

Tom thanks for your time and explaination with the pics,this is good stuff for later when we have to do searches.