These are drum brakes, as others have pointed out. One can get a pretty good idea of the wear left in drum brake linings by looking in the brake adjustment window with a good flashlight. If the star wheel threads are from 0 to 3/8 inch long, there is probably enough lining left to drive the car a short while until you get around to doing a careful inspection by removing the drums to take a real look at them. If there is more than 3/8 of an inch of thread showing on the adjuster rod, the linings are pretty well used up - don't drive the car far at all in this condition, especially if you hear noise from the brakes. Inspecting the brakes properly is so quick that I wonder why you wouldn't just pop the drums off there and see for yourself - all it takes is maybe 2 minutes per wheel to take the drums off, and only one wrench - a large Crescent will do (We're talking about front brakes here, I assume - rears can be a problem if you have tapered axle ends, it takes a special very heavy duty puller to get the drums off). As for putting electronic ignition on your car, I don't know why folks do this; I've never considered it, so I'm not the person to offer an opinion as to which brand is best. I like to keep things original, that is why I drive an old car. If one were to start replacing things because they are old and obsolete technology, I'd be the first to be replaced! Dick Benjamin ----- Original Message ----- From: Yvon&Henri <ybhk@xxxxxxxxx> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2002 5:31 AM Subject: IML: ignition and brake question, 65 Crown > Hi, > > I have my imp now for 2 months and I like to check the brake pads. Is there a > way to check them without disassembling the whole brakes? > > Second question. I like to install a pertronix ignition kit. First I wanted > to install > a mallory Unilite, but my mechanic advised me a pertronix kit, because it would > be much cheaper and good enough for my cruisin'. He has one for a 440. Is > this the > same as for the 413? > > Thanks in advance. > > Henri Kwakkel > 65 Imperial Crown > The Netherlands > > >