Re: IML: AAJ vs stock brakes for 1957

A few years ago when I restored my 62 300H, I used all stock brake equipment. The brake size was 12 x 2 1/2 inches. I tried everything to get that car to stop. I had the shoes arched, made several attempts at adjustments but nothing helped. The brakes has a severe fading problem, and would pull to one side or another when braking. Every touch of the brake pedal was a new and exiting experience. After trying for 2 years to get it right, I finally converted to an AAJ disc brake conversion kit. Problem solved. Since the conversion, I have not had another problem with pulling or fading. The car is much more fun to drive now. Of course, I drive the 300H differently than I drive the 64 Lebaron.
The LeBaron brakes, on the other hand, are another story. It has all the original stock drum brakes. When I pulled the drums, the brake lining looked great, like they're almost brand new. But with 81,000 miles on the clock, I'm sure they have been changed at least once. My point is, the stock brakes on this Lebaron work perfectly and I see no need to convert them to discs.



--- Geoff Simpson <kiwiimp65@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



> 

> Going back even further I recall a feature article

> in Car and Driver (I think) about 1963 where they

> did a comparison test between a 600 Mercedes,a

> Lincoln,a Cadillac an IMPERIAL and a Rolls.When it

> came to brakes they rated the Rolls as having the

> best brakes.Guess what? Drums all round while the

> Merc  Im sure had discs.  



Good reference, Geoff.





I am sure that I know someone that has done the AAJ

conversion, but I'm not thinking about anyone off the

top of my head, so my following statement is not

pointed at anyone in particular, and I understand that

a disc conversion has it's upsides.  Nothing personal

if you're a disc-person, OK?



OK:



The pattern that I see here on an awful lot of these

inquiries seem to follow a similar pattern:



1.  Bought an old (imperial) car used.

2.  It's old/hammered/neglected, and the brakes are

shot at some level or another, requiring an impending

outlay of cash of some sort.

3.  Man's mind immediately starts looking for some way

to improve on the process with "bolt-in" performance

upgrades so as to get more for the money/time, as is

so very common to other types of cars' repair

"opportunities", since we are in a free-market,

capitalistic system where it pays to advertise "plug &

play" upgrades for all sorts of things on cars.



I suppose that I'm not the only one here that refuses

to pay much attention to professional TV sports and

has re-allocated the mental real-estate normally

occupied by who was MVP in 1965 to how old greasy crap

bolts together?  Payoff's probably about the same in

the end either way...



I'm inclined to say that re-jiggering things to make

them work better seems right up there with a genetic

craving for remote-control dominance and preference

for flames for cooking as far as predisposition goes.



So I guess what seems a shame to me is that folks,

when faced with the question of redoing brakes seem so

reluctant to grant that what came on the car

"could've" been actually OK and worth a shot at

rebuilding.



That '55 that I did up had some awfully narrow drums,

and it sure was reluctant to be a "snappy" stopper,

but it's 50 years old and antique for crying out loud,

so I drove it accordingly, and aside from staying away

from really steep hills when full of 5 people in San

Francisco, I never really had a problem with it.  I

have a new car for re-enacting Bullitt chase scenes

anyway.



Are we too far away from a world where there were NO

disc brakes so as to prompt so many to reach the

conclusion that what's on their car is inherently

bogus and should be swapped?



That fellow that redid his '61 for the Great Race

seems to be one of the few folks that would have had a

real need for discs - can't recall what he did, but if

you're farting around in your "old car", you can

afford some extra space around you, considering that

everyone else was so thoughtful as to have your

crumple zones built into THEIR cars.



Granted, there were some shaky, spindly brake systems

out there in the 30's 40's and 50's, but by 1960 it

seems, there had been an awful lot of engineering

energy spent on getting cars to stop, and I never hear

stories about how they were losing a significant % of

the population to brake failures - not like you hear

about preventable tragedies like you do with dunk

driving statistics and so forth anyway.



It's a really dumb thing to worry about - free country

and all that, but having to talk people down off the

ledge, especially on those 63-66 Bendix systems that

are really marvelous systems for what they are has

always seemed strange, but I keep trying to do it....









Maybe I should start watching sports instead - that

way I can spend that energy yelling at refs about bad

calls.  Heh!





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