I hate to break it to you but.... there is little something called Ncap..... when you see those cars in actual crashes I would not recommend to anyone to use car that old. They seem to be mobile coffins if something hits you. This comes from person who loves, smell of gasoline, oil, sounds, power it produces everything. But still.... Safety is important and there isnt any.

Take a crash in a old car any day of the week bub. You prolly think the government is here for our best interest to. Pssh sit down ncap

@@kylecromp319 Really ? You going to ignore the safety of modern cars as if you never seen crash test of older car and jump to insults ? Governments on the other hand.... yeah I dont feel to highly either ;)

1000% agree I can’t tell you how much more aware and in tune I am driving due to classic vehicles Knowing what to do when your foot goes through the firewall, because yeah, that happens.

​@@lobobaltazar1322 OMG, Bro! 😮.. I grew up in the 50's, and started with Oldsmobiles and GMs. Fkn deathtraps at any speed! They folded like accordions above 30 mph! Stopping distance at speed, measured in the hundreds of feet! Even the movies of those boats flopping around used modified suspension and brakes and the best drivers of the time. Thanks for your comment. Might save someone's life. Those piles of 💩 certainly never did! 😊👍

Yup all these cars with trac control, assisted braking/lane alignment have known to have radar failures, technology doesn't beat not being distracted and driving defensively.

There's no adjusting your driving style to a panic stop... that's what it is by definition. Sure, you might get more skilled at lowering your chance of having a panic stop situation, but you can't avoid them all. Shit happens, shit that is entirely out of your control.

Agreed, assuming the other drivers also agree. My 58’ Ranchero required more room to stop. People would take up my safety buffer. I updated my Ranchero with a 95’Fleetwood frame and drivetrain.

traitor. :)@@rickjames3253

@@Sam-go3mbI mean that’s with all cars but I can still panic stop in my 4 drum brake 66 galaxie just fine, it’s called I swerve outta the way

the problem begins with owners who simply lack common sense and use their vehicle to an extreme it was never intended to be used to achieve.

@@northdakotaham1752 and those need have changed over the years. The entire system should be modified to a 1975 or later spec like car to be safe for most of todays driving. Ask my 63 chevy nova with a poorly engineered rear suspension That goes into random speed wabbles at 70mph . This was an engineering flaw from the factory. Need to put track bars on the rear and modify the brakes to make it safe for just about any driving situation on todays roads. One of the reasons I stopped driving it 20 years ago and havent restored it yet. Need to spend lots of $$$ to make it safe.

Probably not.@@Mikefngarage

I have a 1970 shop manual that details and diagrams a traction control system that appears to be all analog.

Equipping a 1950s-1960s vintage ride that didn't originally come with self-adjusting rear drum brakes to have them isn't difficult. It's a matter of what will fit on the backing plate. As well as using the correct drum/shoe width.

I can’t seem to go more than 100 miles in my 1950 without one side or the other not engaging properly and it yanking to the right or left. Not a mechanic myself, but it seems to be a problem with the remanufactured slave cylinders.

Absolutely true. Know your car. Does it have self adjusters? if not, take the time to adjust the brakes at least every oil change

1st thing first, research, talk to someone who knows, get all compatible parts together to avoid pitfalls

We had a mid 80s TBird for a few years. The brakes started giving us trouble. Took it to a "reputable" shop. Two days later the pedal is spongy and down on fluid. Take it back they bleed the system. Two days later its spongy again. This goes on for about a week and a half. Finally I pop the hood in the garage. As Nd start looking for leaks. Master cylinder was fine. Proportioning valve literally 12 inches away had a trail of fluid running down the inner fender. That explains the quotation marks around reputable. And I agree that a lot if people if they drove older cars as daily drivers would realize that a lot of older cars were junk when new.

They would be wrong and should stick with brand new cars.And I would agree a lot of people are cowering weaklings@@mpetersen6

Tony has a proper set of scales - he can find both total weight, and front/rear weight distribution. That just might be important. I can't think of any tv show putting on shiny new parts they called "upgrade" that weighed the car and did any math for the audience.

For some, yes, leave it alone. If you are competent, make the change. Just consider upkeep costs and availability of replacement parts if you truly want a daily driver.

Except the dual reservoir master.....If you have driven one even with stock drums. dual reservoirs stop better. it is the brake pressure leverage. The pedal is easier and stopping is better in panic situations. Better control. I used to think like tony does but I know better now after doing both.

@@craighansen7594 Yea like Hey I need some new front drums for a 1963 Cadillac....If you can find them? Time to do the whole system upgrade. They were 300 each 30 years ago. Some of these kits use a "like " later model car that you convert the whole thing to. Like a DeVille break system from a 76 or later model Whole system including Master front and rear brakes and proportioning valve. The Hard lines should be replaced anyway on something that old.

my 1963 nova had a Rear leaf spring issue. They roll over and at highway speeds it gets a random speed wabble at 70 you can barely keep it on the road. Happens intermittently. You Need to put track bars on the rear and either coil overs or modify the rear suspension just to make it freeway safe. Stock is not enough for todays roads.

Excellent and underrated comment! You can buy the tool, doesn't mean you know how to use it!

Finding a whole donor car is handy there.

They also have to be perfectly adjusted to brake evenly; I remember an all drum brake car I had as a teenager and each brake came on at a different rate when I braked; I thought it was fun..

Disk brakes don't work well when wet either so it depends on that. Drums can be more grabby but that's not a given. I remembered the first 2i drove a power brake with disks. Good thing we were wearing seatbelts.

In a dual system, the master pistons can be different diameters.

@@thisisyourcaptainspeaking2259 True, and on some cars its about 0.80:1 to the front. This varies a lot on vehicle geometry from the factory, of course, though. So what will work on a station wagon will not necessarily work on a 2 door muscle car.

That could be fixed if one were inclined to drill and or slot the drums to allow water to be flung out from inside the drum.

Have dual but the front holds fluid, for 2 1/2 years. Burnout machines only.

There's a very good reason dual circuit brakes came in and you found out the reason why; also, weight transfer rear brake lock up is the reason that every vehicle now has ABS braking.

Dual circuits have saved my ass twice. Tony's take on that is one of inexperience. His problems have always been predictable. When a brake line let's go, you lose all pressure in that circuit immediately and permanently. Thank God for dual circuit brakes.

I imagine that profile can be toyed with to keep that overall diameter the same. I have used many online calculators for this and much daydreaming for the wheels I would like to have.

Given the shorter profile of modern 16" wheels, you can probably keep the tires/wheels within the fenders, but be prepared to flare them out. If "original" is important ("numbers matching" resto), then you simply have to go with what the car came with from the factory. Getting 13" or 14" tires isn't THAT hard, but you can't just pop into a Wal-Mart and drive out with new 'skins.

Another issue I run into is the opening in the rim for the hub. The factory steel rims match up perfectly. But all aftermarket rims are literally for trucks. I'm told Cougar XR7 rims don't have this central hole so it does not really matter. But I like the insurance of having the perfectly mated assembly.

series I reserch the tire diameter when switching from 14" to 15". Easy to find the charts online. I usually go from a 70 - 78 series 14" tire to a 60 - 65 series 15" tire.

I owned a 1980 corolla and they had 13" wheels. I think they gave me trailer tires for that because that was all walmart had. My current truck had 17" stock and I went to 18". I want to go back to 17" because that's what the truck was ment to have. I got the truck with 20" and I don't like big bling wheels. I don't really like anything over the factory spec.

BS

I don't know about xjs but most pick up trucks since the late 80s have some sort of rear only abs to prevent this from happening

Can you imagine going up a 40 degree slope in 4 L and find out your REAR BRAKES ONLY DRAG A LITTLE when you cant make the top!!!!@@kenleppek

I have a 98 xj no rear abs the proporcion valve cuts a lot of pressure to the rear. Its heavly bias toward the front.

WELL YES YES I AM

It doesn't need to be "everywhere." You only need to have a catastrophic failure of an inadequate brake system one time for it to blow your whole day.. Fir instance...my "street car" is going to be making somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 horsepower (if I ever finish the damn thing) and capable of 180-ish mph in the 1/4 mile..meanwhile, the front tire patch got tiny, the rear got huge, and the weight bias moved to the rear and overall weight dropped by about a half ton. Stock brakes in this situation would be a hot mess.. An extreme example, but a real one. Another example..my real daily driver is a three decade old 1/2 ton pickup..unlike Tony, I don't have the space, wherewithal, or desire to have one car to drive, one to tow, one for freeway drives, and one for city..so my truck has been optimized to do all of the above with a modified engine, trans, rear axle, suspension, and braking systems..most of which came from various heavier-duty models of the same truck, or later versions of it that featured better systems. I'll give him his due..brakes are like any other system...you can't just upgrade a single component without tailoring the REST of the system to compliment it..that'd be like putting a long-duration high lift cam into an otherwise stock engine.

Me too

well, why do you need the higher hp for? other than a "size comparison", you aren't going to do much over 80 mph unless you're out in the flyover states. focus on making the car pretty instead. the real issue with brakes is heat--if you're in traffic, you're going to be using them often. larger surface area may help with dissipation.

I paid for the whole damn speedometer didn't I???? :D

Those are basket cases, only responsible people list the mods, it be like me converting from a 4.8 to 6.0, the RPO code should change technically, same if i go from rear drum to big rear disc.

Modifications are a bad deal if buying a vehicle of any kind. They actually decrease the value of the vehicle and most owners don't like to accept that. I have removed that stuff before to put factory parts back on.

@@Soundsofthewood same, I work at a dealership and every aftermarket part I list on a trade in drops the value especially when they don’t have the factory parts to go back on

Yeah mate spot on

Most of us are. The more I learn the more I realize I don't know shit 😂 that's life though isn't it. That said, I'll trust a guy who I know lives and breathes cars his whole life over an anonymous comment online.

I taught my fiancee to drive a stick with My '71 F350 dually work truck with my homemade fugitive from a lumberyard 8' bed .No rear shocks to control wheel hop. She could drive anything after that!

DHCC 🐴

@@NathansMoparGarage DEAD HORSES CAR CLUB...

That's so funny, i tell people..."I've forgot more about concrete then you know!" 👍🏻

hapened me two tiems already and i have driving witout any brakes beleive me to me its easy..just dont forget you dont ahve brakes,, adn everythings goes well, i have driving 100 kms with no brakes..

​​@@termonostrumanfix those brakes cmonnn

i assume that's Gene Berg who hot rodded VW's and sold shifters and other parts? Admittedly, i think pushing an economy car past its 36 hp is probably asking for a more rigorous maintenance schedule, even if Dr. Ferdie Porsche got some ideas for a sports car :) I would argue about adding cams and a turbo--i'm sure you are trying to keep your post brief and thus you made a generality, but Chevy did pretty good taking a 350 cid small block engine and adding a hot cam into it to make a Z28 or Corvette that lasted quite a while. and now we have quite a few turbo engines out there trying to replace the V8. we can do it IF we know WTF, and i figure you know that. too many get greedy, and forget it's a daily driver that may hit 80mph out on an open highway--how much boost and hp does that really require? the best mods for a daily driver's power plant will focus on efficiency. that'll get some extra grunt, and lengthen the time between trips to the gas station. and single pot master cylinders really need to get tossed :)

One upside to leaving it bone stock is being better able to find parts when fails away from home.

@@albertgaspar627That hot cam 350 that took it from 250hp to 300hp? If you go to an actually hot cam it becomes hard on the rest of the valve train and can cause durability problems. And, even factory stock most turbo engines have a shorter service life than the larger naturally aspirated engines. You’re stressing an engine harder so it’s going to tend to wear out quicker. With modern vehicles it can be difficult to modify them for better efficiency as they’re so good from the factory. You’ll often get larger improvements in efficiency with changes in driving habits.

@@NBSV1 considering the heat and friction a valve spring sees, it's not a bad idea to replace it even on a stock rebuild of a high mileage setup. and of course Chevy had a solution to the 30-30 cam and what it did to a valvetrain :) there are factory stock turbo engines that go for a long while assuming the owner does proper maintenance. diesels come to mind. of course they are built a certain way, and someone who wants to slap a turbo onto any engine, better know to pick a strong block, use a forged crank and pistons and rods, good bearings, etc. the average poke slapping an evilbay turbo on a junkyard LS, yeah, they're a hand grenade with the pin pulled. but that's probably not a daily driver unless its someone who can't afford anything else. and frankly, having been a broke college student once, i can tell you even buying a stock car when you are at that economic level...it ain't lasting long :) totally agree about the driving habits. i've seen enough people lay pedal to accelerate up to a stop sign...i mean...wtf? did you not know what you're going to do at a stop sign?

@@albertgaspar627 Yep, I kept my comment short. The person who bought my Van most likely blew up the motor because the timing was put into a range that was not in their books because of my mild modifications working with the Berg family. Gene Berg is a legend in the VW 1600 world. I have read so much of his technical data and the business is still working today. he warned if your going to slap on bigger jugs and large valve heads you need to start by boring the case to build up what you want to put on top. Otherwise it is not going to last. That's what I did. Even the blueprinted shot peen rods and barrel shims machined to let me run mid grade by lowering compression and not loosing power. I feel sick when I talk about it because I put almost 10,000 into that motor and Van I restored myself. Sold the whole van for $1,700 back in 2007 before the craze because I had started a family. I just stick to my Honda's and Toyota's now. Peace. At least they have good heat. I did drive my Van over 15,000 mile before I sold it and it was awesome. Never overheated in the mountains. Low end Powerhouse.

Disc brakes can fade as well, but certainly, disc brakes cool better than drum brakes.

Agree completely. The common upgrade for Tony's mopars is Chrysler Cordoba brakes. Calipers have huge pistons, can take the heat well. The rotors are the largest ,11.75in so they have more swept area . Another thing on mopars is to eliminate the booster on discs. The stock power brakes (and steering) are over assisted like an Imperial. Those boosters always leak anyway and then make farting sounds when you tap the brake pedal

Thermo Quad carb. & drum breaks comes to mind. No body ads performance thinking this will ad years over stock. Shorter breaking with disk breaks is the part people are saying tony is wrong in my opinion ?

Brakes not Breaks...@@ronaldrey8474

Upgrade with stock parts

Love the Newport style. Especially 70-71. Clean. Polaras too. 383 is just fine

Modern cars use the rear brakes for traction control as well as braking, which wears them out.