>The first question really is, however, with modest driving, is it possible to get the factory brakes >to be reliable without constant fiddling and adjusting. I've heard stories of these "total contact" >brakes being very fussy, especially on Plymouths and Dodges etc. I won't need extreme brake response >as I will drive the car gently anyway. My car is really in excellent condition as it has only 25,000 >original miles and has been treated well all it's life. The biggest brake problem to date has been >hydraulic leaks at the wheel cylinders. Some of the problem surely has been due to non-use and that >condition will improve now. Are you still running the 14" wheels? I recall a recent conversation where someone was having clearance problems with the AAJs and the 14" wheels. Don't recall what became of the situation but a good archive search on the website would probably turn up an answer. Mid year '59 Chrysler changed to 15" wheels with slotted wheel covers for better brake cooling. At the same time they increased the size of the brake shoes and changed the cooling fins on the drums. This tells me that even they knew there were heat issues with the brakes and were trying to resolve the problem doing the best they could with what they had at the time. My '59 is still all stock on the brakes and was completely rebuilt about 7 years ago (my how time flys). In that time I haven't had a single problem with the brakes. I have adjusted them one time and I flush the fluid once a year because I live in the land of 100% humidity (and I would do that with the AAJ too). I don't drive the car a lot but I have taken a few 1200+ mile trips with it along with the Sunday beach cruises and never had an issue with the brakes. To me that have been very reliable. That's the good part. The bad part is that, as you know, they don't stop like a new Toyota. I find that mine handles one panic stop great, the second time ok but not as good and the third time you better stick your feet out the door. Once the brakes have a few minutes to cool off they are good as new again. If the brakes ever give me trouble again I will probably change over to a dual pot master cylinder for safety but for what I use the car for I can't see the AAJ conversion being worth the trouble. I sure wouldn't consider it if you are just doing so for increased reliability. Steve B. ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to iml.webmonster@xxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm