62 hawk looking for a brake up grade.

[Hallabutt]

I'd seriously consider leaving the drums, and installing shoes lined with, "the good stuff". Call Don Nowac, at 716-824-2292. He will want your shoe cores first, and will NOT negotiate on that. His shoe liners make the car stop like it did when it left the show room floor. The Chinese repro shoe liners sold by most vendors nowadays, if used on the front, will get you killed.

That's one advantage of converting to DBs, is that you can find pads lined with modern materials. But not necessary if you use Don's shoes.

I agree with Joe. Having driven cars with both old and new, hard, linings, the difference in braking efficiency is palpable.

[tsenecal]

I put 'modern' shoes on by 60 Hawk (4 wheel drums). It stops just fine without a booster, actually stops fairly quickly with a little extra pressure. The only complaint I have is the squealing noise at very low speeds. They don't squeal with average pressure, but idling into a car show or up to a parking spot or light, and they make quite an embarrassing squeak/squeal. I guess because the linings are harder than the older material?

[Russk]

With the stock wheels not fitting with a disc upgrade, what size wheel and off set are needed?

[Andy R.]

I would do that; modern linings will give same or better performance as disc brakes. I have a Turner system; it is still in the box 'cause it would have required a major hack job on my car to install it and then, without cutting half the floor away, I could not figure out how I could actually check and/or add brake fluid. But I do like the idea. I like to keep cars as they were when new; its a little bit of history. Little things--like an electric fuel pump --are good because they improve reliability with the crap gas we have now. I agree with Jack.

For the dual m/c setup from Turner, I drilled a 3/16" hole about 1/2" down the wall between reservoirs. With the cap off, you fill one and the other matches.

A very nice upgrade is to mount a small remote reservoir discreetly under the hood and plumb a line to the m/c.

[JoeHall]

For the dual m/c setup from Turner, I drilled a 3/16" hole about 1/2" down the wall between reservoirs. With the cap off, you fill one and the other matches.

A very nice upgrade is to mount a small remote reservoir discreetly under the hood and plumb a line to the m/c.

Excellent ideas! For the 63GT, I used the OEM, firewall mounted reservoir and connected it to a 1/4" elbow fitting, tapped into the side of the tandem MC reservoir. Inside the MC, as you did, I drilled a hole in the wall between the two reservoirs, about 1/4 from the top, so fluid would cross over. For the other two Hawks (56J and 62GT), I check and top off the MC from below the car: use a screwdriver to pop the bail-wire clip off/on and remove/replace the top; check the level of each reservoir with fingertips; top off with a 2.5 ounce syringe from FLAPS, connected to a 5/16" OD piece of copper tubing, bent into a u-shape. Takes only about 5 minutes; takes more time to gather the materials than to do the job. I check fluid level about every 6 months, or anytime the pedal feels different.

[JoeHall]

I put 'modern' shoes on by 60 Hawk (4 wheel drums). It stops just fine without a booster, actually stops fairly quickly with a little extra pressure. The only complaint I have is the squealing noise at very low speeds. They don't squeal with average pressure, but idling into a car show or up to a parking spot or light, and they make quite an embarrassing squeak/squeal. I guess because the linings are harder than the older material?

Agree on the squeaking shoes. As I recall, our vendors have two color shoes for us, blackish and brownish. The brownish ones appear to have some sort of fine metal mixed in, and squeak. The blackish ones have no metal, and are silent. The brownish ones do a MUCH better job at stopping the Stude, and the squeak is a small price to pay, IMHO. However, the ones mentioned with the, "good stuff" stop much better than the brownish ones, but they're not for everyone, I totally understand that.

[Jeffry Cassel]

What I think you want is better stopping power. Studebaker had good brakes--at least from mid 50's on. Modern carbon-Kevlar shoes will give braking comparable to disc brakes and you'll save $ and not bugger up an historical auto. Porterfield brakes in Costa Mesa, CA can provide these shoes but they may require old shoes to reline --for odd cars like ours. Ph. # (949) 548-4470 or porterfield-brakes.com. Metallic shoes stop better but tear up drums; carbon Kevlar has a high co-efficient of friction and is kind to drums which are not that plentiful or cheap anymore.

[Russk]

What I think you want is better stopping power. Studebaker had good brakes--at least from mid 50's on. Modern carbon-Kevlar shoes will give braking comparable to disc brakes and you'll save $ and not bugger up an historical auto. Porterfield brakes in Costa Mesa, CA can provide these shoes but they may require old shoes to reline --for odd cars like ours. Ph. # (949) 548-4470 or porterfield-brakes.com. Metallic shoes stop better but tear up drums; carbon Kevlar has a high co-efficient of friction and is kind to drums which are not that plentiful or cheap anymore.

I'm looking into all options, ether way this one will not be cheap. I will need all drums, cylinders, lines including rubber etc..... to stay stock.
I plan on driving it, so I'm still on the fence about what way I will go. I looked at a pro Turing set up a guy did on his car, it has got me thinking about the possibilities .

[Al Kurz]

I installed a Turner front disc kit on my 61 Hawk. Then I subsequently installed a rear disc kit. I am very happy with the performance and stopping power. I do not find it hard at all to stop the car.

There were two reasons for me to install the kit. First, I had someone pull out in front of me at the last minute back when I had drum brakes and I just barely missed having a major accident. After that experience, I realized that I needed to up the car's braking game. The second reason was that I had constant vibration issues and could never nail the cause down except maybe the drums.

With Turner Brakes, I have much better stopping and vibration is gone. Installation was not a big deal. I have put flanged axles on the aft of the car. However. I did have a lot of support responsiveness problems from Jim Turner. And I still have an ongoing issue yet to be resolved with my parking brake cable length being too short. Feel free to PM me if you want some specific pointers about installation.

Al K

[Topper2011]

I have installed the Turner front disc brakes on my 62. I did not want to stick with the front drums as it needed everything, shoes, drums machined, grease seals bearings, et al. I've had two vehicles with good drum brakes that scared me with brake fade. My 1963 Chevy C20 and a 1969 Olds Cutlass. I live in a pretty hilly area and driving "briskly" in the Olds on Skyline and down 84 towards Woodside was scary. Let's just say, Ricky Racers on motorcycles love the road. It's our "Tail of the Dragon". Solid pedal, no stopping and yes, I even installed metallic shoes for heavy braking. Your driving experience may very. I also installed a dual master. Since I was redoing the floors, I installed my own m/c access. Now I can fill both reservoirs.