67 Dart GT brake options.... 13” wheels

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Mopar92

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I took my 67’ survivor Dart GT out today for a drive. 2 years ago I put all new wheel cylinders and full brake flush. Stopped like a champ. It’s been in my shop all summer even though it’s an AC car. Anyway, I’ve got another drum issue somewhere. Seeing that it’s super super clean and original... I really want to keep the 13” and hubcaps to boot. Before I start fabbing up my own caliper brackets, I wanted to ask. Was the disc brake option for 67 14” only? The older I get the more I absolutely despise drum brakes. Original or not, they are a dangerous pain in the ***.

I am fairly familiar with 1981-83 Mazda RX7 race cars. They had 13” wheels. You can get a 9.1” floating rotor and good pads and calipers pretty readily available. Guys Still race these cars in SCCA ITA class. So there’s a good aftermarket left with quality parts. Maybe a good little winter project.
 
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Honestly, I'd be thinking about using something more like a 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier Front braking setup since it has 5x100 bolt pattern which is almost right on the original 5x4". They also have a 9.69" vented rotor.

Not sure what you could get for pads but it should be easy to make a plate to adapt them to the knuckle, they aren't really all that different from the scarebird celebrity brake conversion.

IMO brakes this small are kind of inadequate anymore but that's up to you.
 
I would be willing to bet Cavalier front disc up against the stock drums I know which would stop better. Not to mention 20 stops in a row. Some purist love drums. If they were so adequate, they would still be on production cars! I personally hate them.
 
Yeah not going to argue with you there. I finally got to the point of feeling like my car adequate if not too much for brakes, but I have hydroboost and rotors as big as your wheels on the front! I also have rear disks
 
My wife has a 60’ F-100 that I stayed on top of the drums all the time. It was just atrocious no matter what and it was all correctly maintained. I finally had enough when somebody pulled out in front of us one night. I had one foot on top of the other... pulling the steering wheel out by the roots. We got it stopped... and that night I bought a disc kit from Speedway Motors. Believe it or not from Speedway. The kit fit and finish was fantastic and it was truly a bolt on no hack swap. The bias is actually really nice slightly to the front. The truck is actually fun to drive now.
 
Honestly, I'd be thinking about using something more like a 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier Front braking setup since it has 5x100 bolt pattern which is almost right on the original 5x4". They also have a 9.69" vented rotor.

Not sure what you could get for pads but it should be easy to make a plate to adapt them to the knuckle, they aren't really all that different from the scarebird celebrity brake conversion.

IMO brakes this small are kind of inadequate anymore but that's up to you.
They're not inadequate if You're still running 13" rims & skins, otherwise You'll probably be sliding the tires every time You get on them too quick! Unless You pick a larger
piston MC to ease the squeeze a little.............
 
They're not inadequate if You're still running 13" rims & skins, otherwise You'll probably be sliding the tires every time You get on them too quick! Unless You pick a larger
piston MC to ease the squeeze a little.............

I would not use a larger master cylinder, in a manual brake car I would start with 15/16". Said Cavalier has 3/4" bore and a power booster. Also put an adjustable valve in the rear brakes as you'll probably get some rear wheel lockup.

Disks are less likely to lock at the same amount of pressure due to not being self-energizing. These cars are really heavy for such small brakes, in general a 13" wheel disk brake car is a 2700 lb or less curb weight at 80s standards so maybe with some modern pads they might keep up OK.

I had a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme that has about a 3200 lb curb weight which is like a lot of A-bodies and it had a small-ish 14" brake package and they were barely adequate. A typical car like my 2012 Chevy Cruze at 3075 lb curb weight has a 15" brake package which is IMO where they start getting adequate. And all these cars have brake boosters.

I've had the following brake packages on my own car over the last 17 years:

10" SBP drums all around, manual
10.87 73 Duster disks + 10x2.5 rear drums , manual
11.75 Cordoba brakes + 10x2.5 rear drums, manual
94-04 Mustang Cobra disks front and rear, Hydroboost

The 10.87 and 11.75 worked OK but they don't inspire confidence that much. The cobra brakes + hydroboost are incredible. But I'm far more worried about performance than originality.
 
I’ll just keep the drums before I have to put the wrong wheel on such a survivor car. It’s not that big of a deal... I just can’t put the wrong wheel for the car on just to have a huge brake rotor on it. Thanks guys.
 
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