I don't wish to confuse the issue of how a component is designed to perform versus availability of replacement parts. The '67-'68 Budd brakes are more than adequate for stopping a nearly 5,000 pound Imperial in most modern traffic situations. I have found that the original eleven inch Full Contact brakes on my '59 Plymouth wagon are adequate most of the time, but not when some impatient driver cuts me off within a few hundred feet of a yellow light turning red, taking away most of my required stopping distance for a "normal" stop. I am then required to make an immediate and full application of the brakes and hope I don't plow into the 2,500 smaller car that happens to have four wheel disk anti-lock brakes. Many people don't realize and don't care that many older drum brake cars can accelerate with, and maintain the same speeds as today's vehicles, but require a longer stopping distance. Even with excellent drums, fresh original asbestos brake shoes and proper adjustment, these cars were not engineered to stop as well as today's cars. So I will not apologize for changing the Plymouth's brakes to a commercially available front disk brake kit that improves the car's stopping distance and a dual master cylinder as an added safety measure. The kits were engineered to be "bolt on" replacements. These modifications can easily be reversed if I wish to restore the car properly to factory specifications. Why did I convert the '59's flat head six to H.E.I. electronic ignition and desire to convert my '68 Crown to electronic ignition? Not to gain more performance i.e., greater acceleration and speed. It was because I drive my cars frequently and I have found many of the points sets, condensers and ballast resistors available today are not as good as the original factory and replacement versions of just a few years ago. N.O.S. sets sometimes deteriorate over time. Converting the the Plymouth did not require cutting any wiring and the original wires are carefully tucked away, ready to be returned to use if I ever decide to "go original." The general public (with the exception of some "eco-terrorist" extremists) enjoy seeing our cars cruise by. Pass a hot, tired crowd at a bus stop shelter with a '58 Imperial and take in the smiles and looks of wonderment your car's appearance brings to their faces. They don't care if you're running radials or bias ply tires, if you're equipped with stock drums or an AAJ disk brake conversion kit, if you've added dual exhaust, sway bars, gas shocks, etc. Believe me, if I stumbled across a low mileage, matching numbers garage queen, I would keep it all original and not use it as daily transportation. But then again, I'd rather see it in the hands of a purist who can afford to keep it in museum-like condition. I'm content to drive my somewhat modified, non-matching numbers beasts and enjoy them for the pleasure of driving. I honestly salute the purists who take on the responsibility of restoring and maintaining original cars for posterity. It involves awesome skill and a great sense of responsibility. And besides, as I keep pointing out, those of us who modify our rides are leaving the ever dwindling supply of N.O.S. and excellent used components for fellow hobbyists who desire to keep their machines factory original. In conclusion, I believe that any car that is used as regular transportation on expressways and major arterials should be able mix in with today's better handling and better stopping vehicles. I remember a nasty accident some years back when a young woman in one of those tiny MR2s cut in front of a bone stock '67 GMC pick up as the lane was slowing down for merging traffic. He locked up his rear brakes and plowed right into her. His truck simply wasn't designed to stop in that short of a distance. Neither could the similar '68 C-20 I owned at the time until I converted it to front disk brakings and added metallic linings to the rear drums. The change was simply amazing and I felt so much more comfortable driving that big "Brand C" truck than before. Seeing that accident and knowing my truck's own stopping characteristics made a believer out of me. Incidently, if anybody can suggest a good source of top quality points and condensers that won't fail at 6,000-8,000 miles, I'll keep my original distributors in both my '68 440 and the Poly 318 in another '59 Plymouth I plan to get back on the road! I may even change my other '59's six back to stock.