[dauber65]

Hey guys. Here is the most common question this forum has ever seen, but I'm going to ask the question again. My car is a 71 4 drum manual and I just got it off e-bay 2 weeks ago. It does not like to stop. I want to do a simple front power disk set-up. I don't need anything fancy. I just want it to work. I'm not going to be racing this car. Heck I can't even get it to spin the tires right now. My question is, why not use the cheap stuff on e-bay for 550 bucks? Anyone had any major issues with this before? I'm willing to spend a few extra hundred if I know I'm getting that much in product quality, there are just too many options. Can people give links to products they like that isn't over 700 for the set up?
This is my car. 350/350. Would like my brake set up to match up with a 454/400 set up at some point.
The car:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971...47QQihZ014QQcategoryZ6164QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

My idea:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200086854240&fromMakeTrack=true

PS~Any links to front end rebuild kits while I'm doing this work is appricated. I'm thinking about this one.
http://www.chevelle.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=2131

I'm still not sure if I have circular or oval holes for the above kit option.

 

[Cameano]

If you're just driving it, why not go look for the parts yourself? I've done a few conversions, and never paid big money for the parts. I got the complete setup for my El Camino for free, back in the late 80's, off of a '72 Chevelle wagon. I bought complete, loaded spindles from a '74 Nova at the junkyard for my buddy's old Firebird for $35/side, and they had fresh brakes to boot. The deals are still out there, if you know what to look for. :yes:

 

[chevry]

The booster in the ebay pic is incorrect for your car, and all the others listed in the auction. The correct booster has brackets to mount the booster at an angle. I don't know if it might be possible to add brackets to make it correct, but there are none in the kit. The rest of the kit looks OK.

I don't know about Peoria, but around here you won't find anything in a junkyard older than 1980, and very few older than 1990. Original GM caliper brackets fit better than those repops though.

 

[novaderrik]

buy a set of repro caliper brackets, and modify your stock drum spindles by cutting down the top boss.
then, head to your favorite auto parts store and buy bearings, seals, rotors, calipers, hoses, and a master cylinder for your car. get an adjustable prop valve from Summit or Jeg's to cut pressure to the rear brakes to prevent lockup.
i'm thinking a couple hundred $$$ for everything.

 

[fastyellowss]

Not to sound stupid, but do all four wheels stop? Have you tried adjusting the brakes? Are the pads any good? Ive got friends with four wheel drums, and besides when doing a 100mph on the hwy, the have no probs stoping during typical driving, or even at the strip. If your just looking for a driver, why change them? My 2 cents Canadian (about .50 cents US)

 

[dauber65]

To be honest I have not attempted to adjust my current brakes. I can get the car to stop. If I stop really hard I can get some wheels to lock up. However, just sitting at a light keeping the car from moving can wear our my leg in a hurry. I've been told from my chevelle owners locally the first thing to do is get power disks up front so that's what I've decided to do. I appreciate the feed back. I have just never worked on a car like this before so I'm in the dark and looking for any advice.

 

[Mark SC&C]

Remember that you usually get what you pay for! A lot of the cheaper stuff is ChiCom and some of it is very poorly made. Example we installed a customer supplied kit very much like that one on a customers car (`68 Firebird 400) some years ago and the caliper bolts stripped the threads out of the brackets before the bolts even got tight! The metal was so soft it was unbelievable. Once we repaired the threads and installed the calipers they sat crooked and the brackets had to be shimmed to make them parallel to the rotors. Ditto some of the front end kits on the market. We`ve installed some of the discount kits and had idler arms,tie rod ends etc. worn out and loose in one or two year (and these are "sunny day" cars). You`re better off with Moog or NAPA chassis parts for a couple dollars more and a good quality brake kit from a reputable company. Mark SC&C

 

[dauber65]

So with all these factors in mind can someone send me links to their set-ups they used and thought it was a good value? I'm not much of a junk yard kinda guy. However, I don't mind driving around to all the shops or ordering everything that I need. I know these e-bay kits are cheap for a reason. I just wanted to see if there are major horror stories like the above post.

 

[novaderrik]

www.pozziracing.com
everything on there for first gen Camaros will work perfectly on any 64-72 Chevelle.