WHAT YOUR VINTAGE RIDE REALLY NEEDS IS A BIG BRAKE IN LIFE

There are occasions when a decades old factory brake system may seem like a very bad idea. One that comes to mind is when your vintage vehicle's brake pedal hits the floor and your heart rate hits the ceiling.

You will know raw fear on a first name basis before the inevitable crash.

Suddenly you have no brakes and your factory –correct single master cylinder brake system has no back up plan beyond generous use of the emergency brake.

Good luck with that option.

That is the worst- case scenario for the old war pony. Best -case scenario is a state-of-the-art four- wheel disc brake conversion kit with a dual master cylinder. These are typically bolt-on conversions that can easily be restored to the original equipment if you decide to enter the car into a competition where originality is a part of the program.

The biggest part of every restoration is typically the body. It requires patience and skill to get it massaged back into its original beauty. A moment's driver carelessness and/or a failed brake system can destroy a restoration in a heartbeat.

The fact that you have decided to upgrade the brake system to the major leagues is not a crime against nature.

Instead it is the best way a car guy can say "I love you" and really mean it to his vintage car.

Jim Sutherland

Many more car relationships at-http://www.mystarcollectorcar.com/

COMMENTS

DENNIS:"Putting anything even remotely close to 'modern' brakes on teen or early 20's era cars is a major renovation. In the case of a Model T, the brake pedal is connected to a band in the transmission. The only thing connected to the mechanical brakes on the rear wheels, is the emergency brake lever.

On pre 26 T's, the shoes are cast iron , without asbestos linings and are only designed to keep the car in one place when it's stopped. Of course, in an emergency, you yank the emergency brake lever for all it's worth and press on the brake pedal and the reverse pedal at the same time and hope you stop.

The front axle is spring and wish bone type like Fords up to 1948 but no where near as strong. Not designed to absorb the torsional stress of front brakes. You are as likely to pop the wish bone out of it's (spring loaded) socket on the bell housing as you are to stop, if you install front brakes. Then not only do you not stop but the axle can move laterally and you can't steer either.

Yes, there are kits available to put hydraulic disc brakes on the back and very small drum brakes on the front of a Model T. It's a major conversion that requires modifying virtually every component in the frame and driveline, and your 'originality factor' is gone.

With these early cars, you drive like your life depends on it. They aren't really safe to drive in this day and age and your life actually does depend on it.

When you take into consideration that my Model T does not have safety glass, the doors pop open in a wreck, the front seats fold forward toward the windshield, the gas tank is between the dash board and the engine, seat belts won't wont stop my upper body from moving forward and the nut in the middle of the steering wheel lines up perfectly with my teeth, you can understand that not getting in a wreck in the first place, is really my only option if I want to do anything more than just polish it".