Disc brake swap on a '55 President HT..... Yes or No?

[old black truck]

First off I wish to thank the members that responded to my power steering control valve issue. From advice I received here, I did use Precision Performance in San Antonio to rebuild my valve, that worked out very well....... Now, I am considering the swap to front disc brakes, my concern is what to do about the master cylinder and a proportion valve. Any advice?

[Bud]

My advice is to contact Jim Turner at Turner Brake. He makes retrofit disc brake kits that will include all of the parts you will need to install disc brakes on your car. Bud

[Dwight FitzSimons]

First off I wish to thank the members that responded to my power steering control valve issue. From advice I received here, I did use Precision Performance in San Antonio to rebuild my valve, that worked out very well....... Now, I am considering the swap to front disc brakes, my concern is what to do about the master cylinder and a proportion valve. Any advice?

You might also consider the Hot Rods & Brakes disc brake conversion kit, which is appreciably lighter and a little cheaper.

One way to avoid the proportioning valve would be to put the Avanti's 11" rear drums on your car. They are non-self energizing, so don't need a proportioning valve. Note that the rear parking brake cable will have to be replaced with the 11" rear brakes (because it is different).

With disc brakes you will have to remove the check valve from the MC. New MC's are (were?) under $50 and the check valve is easily removed.

--Dwight

[Mike Van Veghten]

As Dwight notes -
"Hot Rods and Brakes" is another good kit.

https://hotrodsandbrakes.com/shop?olsPage=t%2Fstudebaker

I had one for may years and many, many trouble free miles on my 59 Lark wagon. It's a lot lighter, but no less effective. No need to add a lot of weight to your cars suspension if it's not required.
I also have one currently on my 54 wagon, but I've modified it for a different caliper.

Mike

[vetteson]

My '55 Speedster came with a Fatman fabracated front clip (see my tobyknollgarage.com) which had GM G-body front disc brakes, Mustang II steering and stainless control arms, I added a replacement power brake booster, a proportioning valve, and a Fatman sway bar. I am very happy with it. I do not have power steering - don't need it.

[rowan]

My Turner disks work great on my M5

[studegary]

To your "yes or no" question, I say no, just get the original brakes working properly.

[J_Cole]

S2D has the turner brake kit with discs on all four corners. And I've owned multiple new sports cars including a hellcat challenger and c6/c7 corvette. The brakes on S2D rival those for feel and maybe not outright stopping power but pretty dang close. I highly recommend them

[64studeavanti]

The first question you should ask yourself is "What's the goal?" Do you want a daily driver, then, by all means, convert. If you want a car to drive occasionally, leave it stock.

[vetteson]

I know everyone on this site has driven with old style drum brakes and disc brakes. I have factory 11" drums on my '56 Corvette and my '54 Hudson (front) with power assist. They will NOT stop either car going 65 mph (experiences)! I need to leave a hundred feet when I cruise, even at 55.

[bezhawk]

If you can't lock the wheels with drum brakes, then you are using the wrong friction material. They certainly would when they were new. The only advantage of disc brakes is REPEATABLE stopping. Drum brakes fade when hot and also don't work wet.

[oilnsteel]

I always test my brakes after driving through a deep puddle. Having good brakes can eliminate many stressful situations in life.
JT

[PackardV8]

If you can't lock the wheels with drum brakes, then you are using the wrong friction material. They certainly would when they were new. The only advantage of disc brakes is REPEATABLE stopping. Drum brakes fade when hot and also don't work wet.

For true, Brad. What has happened is two bad things as far as drum brake linings. First, asbestos was taken out of brake linings; a carcinogenic material, but a wonderful brake lining. Second, most later drum brakes are on the rear of vehicles with power boosted front discs. As such, they mostly are designed to function as a parking brake. Those linings are much harder and thus are not appropriate for use on front drum brakes.

jack vines

[vetteson]

Interesting points of view and information. I still maintain that for modern driving conditions drums are just simply inadequate.

[StudeRich]

Wow these Posts have certainly accomplished one thing for SURE ... how to spend a Ton of your money! Some quite a bit over $1000.00 - $2000.00.

So figuring out just How Much will it be driven, might be important.