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.
My 66 Mustang has manual drum brakes. Driving it around town is no issue. You DO need to push the pedal harder. But one thing to remember is that the geometry of drum brakes makes them sort of self-assist. And the old mustangs are light cars at around 2800lbs.
For lower speed city driving, manual brakes are fine. If I were to drive it on highways, or anything faster than 45mph, I’d want a power disc setup. I’ve toyed with the idea of doing a manual disc setup, but the more I think about it, it’s just not worth it.
Wanting to downgrade from power brakes in any car doesn’t make sense if it’s something you want to track in any fashion. You’re taking your most important safety system and making it significantly less functional.
I’m running the stock 4 piston disks in my 66 with rear drums and a manual brake system. I have no issues at all stopping the car even from triple digits. Remember brake boosters only decrease the amount of effort needed to press the pedal but they do not increase the total amount of brake pressure sent to the calipers. Most of that is dictated by the mc bore size and the pedal ratios. Do it right and you can have manual brakes and a pedal that is not much harder to press when compared to power brakes.
Problem is that most reproduction and aftermarket brake boosters are not set up right which leads many to have subpar brakes that are easy to press but do not properly stop the car. Atleast on mustangs. I have successfully converted a few classic mustangs with subpar braking performance to manual brakes and the cars now stop on a dime every time.
Unless you change the pedal ratio, power brakes in a mustang of that era always feel spongy. I hate them, even with the KH calipers in the front its too much assist.