I worried also when I was a newbie at this. Be patient and save your money. If really worried, buy 2 pairs of 10" drums now. Search posts here and you will see that front rotors were "not avail" and ~$100 used ~5 yrs ago, but now you can buy new for $25 and disk brakes are much rarer parts. If it really comes to it, you can replace the whole rear-end w/ a cut-down Ford 8.8 (Explorer) to get a stronger part w/ disks. Brake parts are common and should be available for decades more. Worst-case, someone will figure how to drill holes to adapt a GM part.... when all the used ones are gone (which won't be long, I suspect) what do we do then?
I worried also when I was a newbie at this. Be patient and save your money. If really worried, buy 2 pairs of 10" drums now. Search posts here and you will see that front rotors were "not avail" and ~$100 used ~5 yrs ago, but now you can buy new for $25 and disk brakes are much rarer parts. If it really comes to it, you can replace the whole rear-end w/ a cut-down Ford 8.8 (Explorer) to get a stronger part w/ disks. Brake parts are common and should be available for decades more. Worst-case, someone will figure how to drill holes to adapt a GM part.
Parts you should worry about are: interior, dash, trim, ... I have even bought several of the now-rare ball & trunnion front drive-shaft "ball joint" (62-65) new on ebay. Don't wait until you must have it, just keep searching for those over a few years. I even found the rare aluminum 4 bbl intake for 64-65 small-block at a good price. What are hard to find are the rare desirable parts (4 spd tranny, Sure-Grip rear, ...). If happy w/ a factory slant six, much less competition.
Yes, but my point is: when all the used ones are gone (which won't be long, I suspect) what do we do then?
Simply. Get out of the dark ages and upgrade to 5x4.5" bolt pattern.
Simply. Get out of the dark ages and upgrade to 5x4.5" bolt pattern.
Don't wanna. My car's stock...and it's stayin' that way.
Stop bein stupid.
You CAN'T do it for all of the reasons I already listed back on the first page of this thread, and to weld/re-machine again I would charge more to do that than cast a new oneHey all...I'm not worried, nor do I need new drums at this time. It was just an idea I floated because these drums are getting hard to find. I really think if you can sleeve an engine block, aluminum at that, you should be able to sleeve a brake drum. Besides, the rear brakes only contribute approx. 25% of your overall braking force anyway.
As a matter of engineering curiousity, there were drums made of aluminum with steel lining. There's pictures in Fred Puhn's Brake book. IIRC this was done for several different cars including some Buicks and Corvettes. Might be interesting to look into how they were made (and if they still are).