Disc brake conversion (70 Dart)

Why stop at Wilwood?, since there are even more expensive kits out there, and all will give purty calipers to show off behind new expensive wheels, just need to be rolling in cash like stroked talks big. Much more important than brakes are the tires since tires are what stop the car and the choice can make a 50% difference. The fastest you can stop is to brake the tires to the point just before they start skidding. If you think your big brakes are better at that, then sleep well. I never owned a front drum car that couldn't skid the tires. You also want them even L&R and the rear circuit adjusted so the rears skid just after the fronts (prop valve). Brake fade is another issue and where drums show problems, but mainly from riding the brakes down mountains or braking constantly on twisty roads, or from very high speeds. For normal sane driving, occasionally braking from 70 mph, all brakes should perform equally, as least in theory. Most "bad brakes" people report here are from neglect.

Most new cars have ABS. That way you don't think about how hard to brake just before skidding, you just jam down the pedal and let ABS take over (pulses & skids). Interestingly, ABS apparently needs to be tuned to the tires and suspension. Tesla's Model 3 did miserably in Consumer Reports Mar 2018 tests, taking 150 ft to brake from 60 mph. They did an over-the-air computer update and it improved to a more normal 130 ft. Me-thinks that happened after they switched to a softer suspension and changed wheels ~Dec 2017 and didn't compensate in the ABS algorithm, but could also have to do w/ their initial regen braking. Many current sports cars brake in <100 ft, but their sticky tires wear fast. I just hope no manufacturer goes to brake-by-wire, since I prefer a mechanical/fluid connection between pedal and brakes, not dependent on electrons. And since some here are challenging credentials, I have an MS in Mech Engr. I even worked in a plant that designed brakes for large aircraft, but I only designed fuel controls. Most engineers in automotive design only work on specific areas, so true experts are probably very rare.