Well to be honest, the disc look cool on the back but if I had to do over again, I would have left the rear drums that actually stopped better and the parking brake worked better. It might be different if you are using 18" rims for the big brake kits, I'm using 15" rims.

 

I'm using 17 and don't care how the brakes look.
Thanks for the reply. :thumbsup:

 

Drum brakes work as good as disc, their nemesis is heat-if you're not road racing or running Pikes Peak, you will be OK. I would upsize to match front upgrade and you will not have the e-brake problems as mentioned . That is worth a lot of consideration

 

I went with the LS rear brake setup off a 2002 Camaro. Parts are reasonable and the ebrake set up works as good or better than the drum setup. Best of all there is a significant increase in braking performance.

 

Are those brakes a bolt on to a 67 rear end? Is there a vendor that sells kits or look at scrap yards?

 

There are a couple of threads on this site that provide a lot of guidance. The btake mounts bolt on. You will have to move the brake line mounts and add a flex hose. Kore 3 has what you need. I used the e brake cable mounts from the donor car. Hardest part was getting the Camaro brake cables shortened.

 

Thanks, I found loads of write ups on this swap. Unfortunatly no one around me has any for sale. There are some on Ebay though.

 

I switched to a finned drum when I went to 17's. Not bigger but visually looks more substantial. In theory, the fins help keep the brakes cooler. I also keep by drum brakes adjusted very tight. Serious amount of drag when i reassemble.

 

Paul, like others on here have said Drum Brakes for normal street driving should be good enough

Here are a couple of Posts on the upgrading of Drum Shoes etc. that you might want to read;


See # 3 http://www.chevelles.com/forums/16-brakes-suspension-steering/823177-question-disc-brakes-my-69-chevelle.html


See # 3 http://www.chevelles.com/forums/142-projects-builds/388124-67-butternut-yellow-reassembly.html

I did the Front Disc upgrade like everyone else does,
because I was racing the 1/4 mile,& I needed to be able to stop sooner/quicker
due to the tracks short shutdown area,
as the front Drum Shoes were heating up more after each run,
so that by the end of the day the Drums were not as effective !

However found out later I just could have just updated the Drum Shoes for better stopping power !

 

I chose to go with some SSBC red calipers in the front with some drilled rotors along with their matching rear disc brake kit for the rear. I also have the SSBC billet master cylinder. At first the pedal was hard but when I replaced the stock vacuum booster with a Hydra-Tech hydroboost system everything is fine now. It took time to diagnose everything but in the end, I couldn't be happier with the results! :thumbsup:

Claude.

 

My bet is in a controlled test there would be little difference in stopping distances between rear drums vs rear discs. "Maybe" a slight advantage to rear discs under repeated hard braking.

 

I agree, at least when comparing stock 11" drums to say a typical 10-11" disc rotor and a low piston area caliper. Going with a large 13-14" rotor and matching caliper will undoubtedly see a performance increase, though probably more brake than the rear tires can handle unless you are running some sticky fat rear rubber.

There will be a reduce of unsprung/rotating weight by going to discs which is a positive advantage.

I road race with stock rear drums, with Napa shoes and with some high temp shoes, and there is still noticeable fade. I suspect that going to an 11 x 0.81 rotor, and some decent brake pads would see a measurable improvement over the drums. The pad means a heck of a lot in stopping performance.

 

I don't know about a so called controlled test, but I can tell you from a real world perspective my heavy elco will now stop like an F-18 that hit the arrestor wire on an air craft carrier. Could not do that before. Better braking has to be part of the equation or the car manufacturers would never have converted the bulk of every car made today to 4 wheel discs.


For most of my stuff I pulled parts off of donor cars and used the parts like calipers as cores with Rockauto. The rotors you will need to purchase new anyhow and you can find kits that include rotors and pads very reasonable. Purchasing it off ebay would be more expensive but also easier

 

Did you have front disc brakes before? The rear's will lock up at some point be it drum or disc due to weight transfer/physics...locked up is locked up no matter what the device. 70% of your braking happens up front...what part of 30% out back is a drum not capable of taking care of? Btw, manufacturers don't think along the same terms as you or I...it's simply bottom dollar in their approach.

 

I agree with you about the manufacturers thinking being $$ focused. My car had the factory disc/drum setup and it was in good shape, with new rotors, pads, drums, shoes, and MC. I thought I was good to go, and generally agreed with the people on this site there was little braking advantage to be gained with rear discs. What changed my mind was getting significantly out stopped by a couple of KIA $%$#@ boxes. I did not want to end up with the front of my elco rearranged because some Korean econo sedan had better performing brakes.


If you more than double the performance of the 30% it makes a big difference and adds to the overall braking effect, even though the balance does not change. At least that is the theory I used to rationalize the cost of the upgrade.:laugh:

 

I am in the process of installing 4 wheel disc brakes off a 2000 camaro. I purchased the adapter brackets fro front and rear from BRP hot rods. It's pretty straight forward and is very cost effective. The attached picture shows the initial mock up.

 

I've read countless posts from people who went to disk brakes in the rear, many of them seemed unhappy that it made no difference in how the car actually stopped. I think heat dissipation is one good reason although retaining a full size parking brake is something to consider.

 

IMHO Disc brakes are superior to drums, and I don't think anyone would dispute that. With that said its not like your going to notice a world of difference. However it's repetedtly hard braking where the disc brakes shine. On my car when I made the change the car just felt better when on the brakes moderate to hard braking. Feels like it squats, more than dives. I only have GM style single piston calipers from The Right Stuff in the front, and Moser economy set up in the rear. My car is no race car, but if your really updating the suspension, and the brakes, I can't see leaving the drums. However this is just my experience, many others may have different opinions.