White of Classic Performance Products (CPP) assisted with specialized material and information on OEM replacement brake systems. Cathy pulled back the curtains and showed the inner workings of CPP’s manufacturing process. That information was critical in the composition of this book.
My “go-to” guy on brakes has always been Mark Chichester of Master Power Brakes. His honesty and integrity put him at the top of my list. He is very quotable, as evidenced by the many Chichester quotes within these pages.
Todd Gartshore was a force in the industry and the face of Baer Brakes for many years. Todd helped me and many new writers understand how media and brake systems work. When Todd passed away, there was a massive hole that needed to be filled. Rick Elam has stepped up and filled that void. I will always cherish what Todd and Rick have done to support the industry.
Adam Keiser at Performance Friction Brakes helped connect the points for high-performance brake systems. His support was added late in the progress of this work, making me regret not reaching out to him sooner. The next time I attempt a brake project like this, he will be my first contact.
Jeff Smith, one of the most experienced technical writers on the planet and personal inspiration, played a huge role in this book. His invisible hand guided much of the work done here. My friend and employer, James Lawrence, served as my role model in digging for information. I used his questioning technique to drill down to the core of a subject.
Many of my current and a few of my past coworkers at Power Automedia are responsible for moral and mental support during the arduous hours of compiling information and organizing it into a workable form. Scott Parker, Andrew Almazon, Brittany Poleon, Kaley Lione, Michael Harding, April Taylor, Lloyd Hunt, Kevin McIntosh, and David Cruikshank are all responsible for providing the motivation to keep going. Shawn Brereton’s push to keep an eye on quality reporting put an edge on the total project. It is a pleasure to know and work with people of this caliber.
My personal friends and industry leaders, Jason Snyder and Brian Shephard, helped keep my focus on the task at hand. Brian led by doing; Jason led with firm guidance. Special thanks to Kevin Shaw for reminding me why these documents are so important. It is hard work, but worth it in the long run.
For every gearhead, the people that always seem to go unrecognized are the neighbors who are subjected to a rusty junkyard of project cars and beating and banging at all hours of the day and night. I’m fortunate to have the most understanding neighbors and recognize the tolerance of Dave and Pattie Nellis. Dave is always there to hold a flashlight, fetch a wrench, or push a broken car. I may have been able to do this book without you, but I would not have wanted to.
Finally, my personal mentor and teacher, Ed Justice Jr., inspired the will and desire to do something that may help other enthusiasts. Ed and his family have always gone the extra mile to preserve automotive history and help forge new technology in the automotive aftermarket industry. The Justice family talks the talk by walking that straight line every day. Without Ed’s leading by example and his sage guidance, I would have never attempted anything of this magnitude.
Anyone who has taken on the task or authoring a book knows the mountain of work involved. Without this village of support, no publication would ever get done.
INTRODUCTION
The aftermarket automotive brake industry has responded to vintage muscle car needs with modern technology that rivals anything produced by the automakers these days.
Henry Kissinger was famously quoted in the New York Times (January 19, 1971) as having said, “Power is the great aphrodisiac.” He could very well have been talking about the muscle car era when he said that because muscle cars were built around power and sex appeal during the 1960s and early 1970s. It’s easy to look back and see that American muscle cars produced during that period were the beginnings of what became known as supercars.
Arguably, the muscle car era started when Oldsmobile took the 6-cylinder Olds 76 platform and shoved a powerful V-8 under the hood. Taking a lighter-weight chassis and body and then combining that with a potent engine, the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 provided the framework for American speed. Within a matter of years, the other car companies responded with their own muscle cars. Chrysler’s impressive Hemi engine found a home in the 1955 Chrysler C-300 and was crowned as “America’s Most Powerful Car.” At the same time, General Motors released the mouse that roared with its small-block V-8. This lighter-weight engine platform, which would become the GM standard for the next 50 years, helped create the lightweight muscle cars that followed.
Automobiles continued to become faster globally. The European auto racing scene was especially growing in popularity with its powerful and lightweight purpose-built race cars. All was well and the auto racing sector was enjoying great acceptance with the public until a tragedy at the 1955 Le Mans race when Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh touched another car, careening into the stands at 150 mph. The car’s fuel tank ruptured and the car exploded into flames, resulting in the deaths of 84 people, including Levegh. Known as the most catastrophic accident in motorsports history, this led to a ban on factory-sponsored auto racing as agreed upon by the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) in 1957.
It was the president of General Motors, Harlow Curtice, who suggested the self-imposed ban to prevent government action against racing activities. This worked well and kept many of the world’s governments from creating laws to cease dangerous automobile racing, but the Association’s carmakers were struggling to keep up with carmakers that were not in the AMA and the ban was lifted in 1963.
By this time, the 1962 Dodge Dart was already raising eyebrows, as it turned 13-second quarter-mile times at the drag strip. The familiar combination of a powerful engine and lightweight chassis returned in 1963 with the Pontiac Super Duty and its infamous “Swiss cheese” frame that was riddled with lightening holes. Ford began developing powerful personal coupes and adding a monstrous engine in full-size cars. Pontiac’s chief designer, John DeLorean, had correctly assessed that youthful car buyers were looking for power in their new cars, and the Pontiac crew secretly began offering a 389-ci engine in its 1964 Pontiac Tempest GTO as an option.
GM’s Chevrolet crew rolled out the Chevelle at first with the 327-ci small-block to stay within the company’s guidelines on engine size for its midsize cars. However, the design crew abandoned that directive in 1965 when the 396 was installed, breaking the doors to the muscle car era wide open. The battle was on, and once again, speeds went up as the power in these machines increased. Pushing the edge of the speed envelope, it seemed as if nothing could stop these muscle cars, including the factory brake systems.
The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) brakes worked well as long as every car on the highway was going 65 mph and every car was equipped with drum brakes. When front-wheel disc brakes started showing up as an option and lighter foreign cars with better brake systems could stop faster on the roads, drum brake cars were at a disadvantage and less safe. In 1968, the federal government’s safety and emissions rules came into play. Among the safety issues addressed in these standards were dual-cylinder hydraulic brake systems and front disc brakes. It was obvious that braking systems needed to catch up with the power and speed capabilities of these muscle cars.
Aftermarket wheels have differing brake spacing requirements. Be sure to check with the wheel manufacturer before purchasing a disc brake upgrade kit.
Owning one of these classic muscle cars today is an investment and a matter of great pride, but they are technologically more unsafe than ever. Modern
