To be a bit of a spoilsport here, why wouldn't you upgrade to the '73 and up BBP brakes at this point?
A much better selection of wheels are available as well as cheaper parts overall.
And they have better braking power and are stronger to boot.
Sure, you would have to get BBP axles in your rear end and 10'' brakes to match, but overall, you would be better off in the long run.
BTW, I hate SBP anything since I saw the light...
It just comes down how you're planning on using the car. If you actually plan on driving your car a decent amount then it makes sense to upgrade to the BBP disks, wheels, larger tires etc. The performance is better and the parts are widely available and will likely remain so for at least awhile longer because of the longer production range of the BBP disks.
If your car is just a restored show pony that's barely gonna break a thousand miles a year, buy an extra set of KH disks, run the ancient and outdated brake pads that sacrifice stopping distance for rotor preservation, and just remember on the rare occasion that you do actually drive your car that you won't be able to out brake
anything on the road today. You're trading safety for originality.
You are not spoilsporting, but you are answering a question I did not ask, or at least assuming that i am doing something that I am not. The primarily reason not to go with BBP is because the factory wheel covers don't fit 15 inch wheels and the exposed lug nuts in the centers are on a 5x4 patterns, and I am restoring it, not making a hotrod or custom or whatever that is called. No shade on those that do, but that is not what I am doing.
The choices I outlined for my build are to keep the original drums at the 4 corners or swap out for the front discs that were available in 1966. I have cheated a little by considering aftermarket front discs, but only if the original stuff is not available and i can still use the original wheels. I only do this as a safety upgrade (that will be essentially hidden behind factory wheels) as I vividly remember the "press and pray" performance of 4 wheel drums in that car, especially on the 2nd stop.
You do you, but do I really have to explain that on this board?
Yes, you actually have to explain how you plan on using your car if you want a good answer, because there are choices and those choices have consequences. Not everyone uses their car the same way, which is GOOD. If you're planning on daily or frequently driving your car in modern traffic and logging enough miles a year that rotor replacements will be a consideration in your future then you're going to first want brakes that will at least bring you into the same performance ballpark as the other cars around you on the road, and you'll probably want to choose something that you'll be able to replace worn parts on when the time comes rather than having to abandon your entire brake system, bolt pattern, axles and wheels when you need to replace everything.
If you're going the "restoration" route and trying to keep everything original and aren't planning on any substantial mileage, yeah, buy an extra set of rotors, a couple sets of original, outdated and underperforming brake pads and call it a day. Easy.
If you plan on
using your car, well, you'd better consider performance and replacement. And performance probably FIRST, because it's a shame to total out a perfectly restored car because your brakes perform like they're from the last century and not this one.
Restored cars have their place, but quite frankly the reason interest in these cars keeps falling off is because no one from later generations ever sees them on the road or has any real life experiences with them, and garage queens don't change that. It's less of a thing with these cars now because of the recent resto-mod and pro-touring movements, but if you have cars from a couple decades earlier the prices continue to fall on all but the exemplary and historical models, and it's only a matter of time before the same is happening to these cars. They're cars, DRIVE them.
MBM is just the Chinese version of what you can get from DoctorDiff. It's a 73+ disk brake upgrade, offered with a 5x4" bolt pattern. The rotor hubs are not the same size as the original KH rotors, and while some original wheels can work many do not. So while you may retain your factory bolt pattern in many cases you still need to buy new wheels.
DoctorDiff's kit will cost a little more, but it comes with better parts and MUCH better customer service, for those that want to go that route.
