I'm restoring a 67 Mustang and want to keep it as original as possible. I'm trying to stick with the drum brakes but since I will be driving this somewhat regularly, I want to know if there is some sort of performance drum brake setup out there that is more responsive and safer?
The drum brakes work perfectly well when properly installed and adjusted. Not as an answer to anyone here, but when I get a car, driver complaining it pulls and wanders, invariably it turns out there are out of true drums, overcut drums, improperly installed shoes, frozen or stiff adjusters, poorly adjusted front bearings, even mis-matched wheel cylinders. Naturally, if your drum brake car has only
one of these problems, newly installed disc brakes will seem like a huge improvement. If your drums were in perfect shape, not so much.
Dan Gurney tested a K code 289 High Performance Mustang, with the 289HP, close-ratio 4-speed, 4.11:1 rear, and drum brakes. He had no complaints about the brakes.
The stock drum and stock disc brakes have virtually identical swept area. The disc brakes are much less effected by fade in repeated hard use, and recover more quickly. Many times I've had people ask for disc brakes, and before proceeding, I ask them why. If they are driving the car hard, or in competition (even for fun), towing a trailer, etc., I go with it. If they just want the pedal to be easier, I encourage them to put power on the drums instead. Manual discs are actually harder than manual drums. Not one of these people has ever complained, they are always very happy with the results.
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