6vette1

My friend just picked a barn find 62 with big ventilated brakes with finned brake drums. The car is rough but fairly complete. The motor is a 283 block, the manifold is a GM high rise from a 68 Z28 and the tranny is a 68 Muncie. The brakes have us intrigued as so few 62s were delivered with this option. He is trying to confirm the vin from the frame but that area of the frame has some rust. He is planning on pulling the body off this weekend. The vin tag is MIA. Any help would be appreciated in figuring this car out.

6vette1

Here is an image of the left front brake assembly

DZAUTO

Need more pictures than that.

emccomas

Many years ago the late Dale Pearman wrote an article for the NCRS magazine about the 62 big brake option.

It has been a few years since I read the article, but I seem to remember that part of the description of confirmation of the big brake option on a 62 concerned the color of paint on the springs used for the brake shoe hardware.

63Corvette

My experience is with the 63 big brake cars, and your "cooling fans" appear to be correct, but the shoes should have segmented lining material as shown on the picture below. Your brakes appear to have been recently rebuilt as evidenced by the new looking (no grime) wheel cylinders and spotless springs. You have a rare find there, so take your time and develop it carefully. There is lots of expert knowledge here on the Forum.

jimgessner

I can help. I live about 80 miles away. Tell me more history about the car. Did it come from California?

A great article called RPO 684/687 SOLID AXEL OPTIONS written by Dr, GERALD C. WAGNER should be read. GOOGLE it and read in its entirety. It starts as

Solid Axle RPO Cars

Back

Ninth Edition

by Dr. Gerald C. Wagner



Introduction
From the mid 1957 through 1962 model years, 935 corvettes were shipped with a factory heavy-duty brake package and are called 'RPO cars' by collectors and restorers. RPO is an acronym for Regular Production Option. They all included finned brake drums, vented backing plates with eccentric centering pins, a fast steering adaptor, and four backing plate air scoops. Other components were added and deleted over time and many of the pieces underwent design changes.

Most of these cars were raced and modified. The RPO pieces, in fact whole conversion kits, were available separately from Chevrolet. As a result there are many different opinions as to the original factory configuration of these cars. This article has been reviewed by many owners of RPO cars and its goal is to arrive at a consensus view for restorers and judges.

A listing of the factory options and list prices during the six years they were offered is a good starting point:

RPO
Name

Year Price Count
684 Heavy Duty Brakes and Suspension 1957 $780.10 51
684 Heavy Duty Brakes and Suspension 1958 $780.10 144
684 Heavy Duty Brakes and Suspension 1959 $425.05 142
687 Heavy Duty Brakes and Special Steering 1960 $333.60 119
687 Heavy Duty Brakes and Special Steering 1961 $333.60 233
687 Heavy Duty Brakes and Special Steering 1962 $333.60 246
The price decreases and option name changes reflect items that were deleted from the package over time. Most of these became over-the-counter ("OTC") service parts and were subsequently added by racers to the confusion of later restorers. The success and popularity of Corvette racing contributed to the increased sales.

I have it in a HTML format and can send via email.

There are many little items to track to see if the items were factory installed, or purchased at the dealer and installed later. REAR SPRING NUMBERS.......REAR SHOCK BRACKETS.......FRONT HUBS ARE DIFFERENT ETC, ETC. Good luck.

emccomas

Jim (and others);

I don't know much about these cars, but could this car have the PRO 686 option (Metallic Brakes).

Like I said, not sure what parts were involved in 686 vs. 687.

jim lockwood

RPO 686 was metallic shoes with standard (non-finned) drums and standard backing plates.

Jim

Pop Chevy

RPO 686 must be what my car has. It's got the segmented shoes and what appears to be standard drums. I am concerned about driving them on the street, but figured I would try it 1st.

jim lockwood

Are the segments short and numerous, like in the photo Garrett posted? If they are about twice that length and less numerous, chances are the shoes are Velvetouch.

Jim

DZAUTO

REAL big brake parts have become so incredibly and ridiculously expensive that I just made my own BB setup, vented the stock backing plates, and added off the shelf parts store self adjusters. Yes, it is STILL a drum brake system, and AGREED, discs are better. But for street/performance driving, my home made big brakes do an excellent job of stopping.

rob1961

was the backing plate on these cars drilled or mesh? hard to tell in the pics. I like the home made set up. nice job.

Pop Chevy

Part number is Delco 101FF .

DZAUTO

FACTORY Big Brake backing plates had two holes cut in them (cool air in, hot air out) with wire mesh welded over the holes.

Stock backing plate left, BB right


By the way, the FRONT BB backing were NOT modified Vette backing plates. They were "borrowed" from 50's Olds and modified. This was because a deeper set back was required for the wider (2 1/2in) front drums/shoes. For street driving, it was common for owners to swap out the cerametalic shoes (which only worked when HOT) for stock 2 1/2in Olds front shoes (which is what is on my 56).

rob1961

thanks for the info. they only did this to the front? rear was same as the rest except for the finned drum? ( sorry im new to corvettes and never saw this option)

racecar14

I love these!!

jimgessner

The RPO 687 finned drum is below. Note the fins do not extend over the outside lip.


The early RPO684 drum used in 1957, 58 and early 59 cars below had fins that extended over the outside edge of the drum. Use of this drum mandates the 5.5 inch wide wheels, as these the fins rubbed on the inside of the standard 5.0 inch wide ''dog boned'' 57 and later wheels. You had to have wide wheels or American Mags or Halibrand wheels for proper clearance with early finned drums.

jimgessner

Where is 6 VETTE 1 Who posted this discussion originally?

6vette1

Thanks for all the info guys. I have a nice 61 that I bought from my neighbor that had the car since 1963. My car is a numbers matching 230HP model with a power glide. Other than a cosmetic restoration performed in the late 1990s the car has not been messed with. Motor has never been rebuilt and still runs strong. My friend just bought the car in question and we are going to do a frame off restoration. Before we start we want all the info we can get on this particular car.

Jimmy L. Blakely

Jim, nice brake photos