Anyone every convert to manual brakes?
I have a project car and basically will be replacing the whole system. I was looking at a manual brake setup. Is it comfortable for street and even some road track driving?
Older car doesn’t have abs, just looking at some options.
Yes I know I need a master/caliper/proportioning valve al configured to be compatible.
To answer your question: No, it is not comfortable for street driving. I don’t do track days, but I can’t imagine you’d want un-powered brakes there either.
I have a 72’ Oldsmobile Cutlass a few years back. It had brake drums all around and no brake booster. The care is a survivor and is original from 1972.
One of the first things I did was disk brakes up front and a brake booster.
I cannot stress enough how important it was to get this done.
*Stopping the car required distance. Standing hard on the brake pedal quickly meant lockups. So massaging the brakes was mandatory. It took a lot of effort and stopping times are LONG compared to modern cars.
*Traffic and roads are built to 2023 standards, NOT 1972 standards. 1972 brakes on 2023 roads is not a great thing.
*Every day will be leg day. It’s not just the stopping it is the staying stopped. Release brake pressure and the car will move. Applying lots of pressure all the time gets old.
*After the brake improvements stopping the Olds became more like stopping in a modern car. I felt safer and the car feels better.
Its a great upgrade, but there was something going on with those cutlass brakes if they were like you describe. A 4 wheel drum car is pretty much fine around town, can get a little iffy in the rain, and when you get the brakes hot, but on dry pavement, in normal conditions you shouldn’t notice much of a difference.