55Driver

Just bought my first 64 vette. Safety says upgrade. Any ideas which upgrade works best?

Nowhere Man

If you drive the car like you have sense and not tracking the car doing heavy braking all the time they will serve you well.

Vet65te

Welcome to the Corvette Forum. You'll be hearing a lot of comments on whether to stick with the drum setup or switch to discs. My 2 cents is that you'd be fine either way. I've had pre-67 GM vehicles with their stock drums, but freshened up and adjusted right, and they work just fine.
Mike T - Prescott AZ

jim lockwood

Try this: Get up to a reasonable speed and stand on the brakes. If you can lock up the brakes, then your tires are the limiting factor and different brakes won't stop you and faster.

55Driver

64 has a single line coming from master cylinder for front and rear brakes. If I loose a line, I loose all brakes. looking to upgrade to new master cylinder. Do I need a new booster or will old one work?

55Driver

What about Master cylinder. Upgrade to dual lines or stay with one line.

jim lockwood

That depends entirely on your comfort level.

A single line MC will work perfectly well as long as you ensure that all the other parts of the brake system are well maintained.

Personally, I've never felt the need to convert to a dual MC on any of my old cars.

Frankie the Fink

If you have some situational awareness drum braked will let you know there's a problem long before its catastrophic; and that point should never even bee reached if you do proper maintenance.

SWCDuke

If you maintain the system properly the chance of losing the brakes is very low. What is the condition of the brake fluid? If you can't see the bottom of the reservoir ithe system needs to be flushed and should be flushed every two to five years depending on climate and driving conditions. The damper/wetter the climate, the more likely moisture is going to get into the system and cause corrosion, which will eventually cause system failure. That's why the system should be periodically flushed.

Take care of your brakes and they will take care or you.

Duke

gleninsandiego

I have done the switch on a 63 from single circuit drums to dual circuit 4 wheel discs.
(However, I have yet to drive on them as I am finishing the rest of the car)

It is a significant undertaking so it depends on what your driving is going to be like
As stated above, if you are cruising, then I would stick with the stock set up.

On the other end of the spectrum, if you are doing spirited driving on mountain roads
with thousands of feet in altitude descent in a short amount of time, then the change
may be worth it to you

Once you start modifying it, it sets off a domino effect on other parts of the braking system,
especially the rear parking brakes.

My best suggestion is to talk to VanSteel about what your options are and the cost involved
If you look on their website you will see it isn't cheap.

After several iterations, I got most of the liquid side parts and lines from Corvette Stainless Steel Brakes
but they have since moved and maybe changed direction/management

Glenn in San Diego

66427-450

Since you’re asking for comments, I’ll give you mine, don’t hack up your car, keep your 64 Corvette, a 64 Corvette. The drum brakes if maintained and adjusted properly will stop your car just fine.

inspectorudy

My two cents is if you want the dependability and no-hassle braking then go with front discs on your car. I have a 64 and the drums have just been rebuilt and "Adjusted" and they are twitchy and pull on and off. They will stop the car very well only if I make a sudden stop. Partial braking is not consistent. I know I can take them back for a redo but then what? I have had disc brakes most of my adult life with trouble-free service and since there is no indication that they will blemish the looks of your car I would do it. Remember you drive in the real world and not an antique one where originality counts. It's your car so do with it as you wish.

Subfixer

I had my 64 for 17 years with the drums. Even with multiple higher than normal HP engines, it never failed to stop. Autocrossed it for several years as well. No issues.
I used drums and shoes from Hotrod Brakes.com.

66427-450

Ditto, I autocrossed my 64 FI car for years, as well as drove it on the street, never had a problem stopping it, even with hard use on the MIS banked oval/road road course, those were the days.

GTOguy

This. All my drum brake/single master cars stop just fine. I've driven my '65 GTO this way the past 39 years. Check the system over periodically and it will be fine. WAY more trouble free than the 4 wheel disc set-up.....one big reason why I prefer the '64's over the later cars. (The interior and side panels up front are the others).

SJW

My '63 has standard drum brakes, with DOT5 fluid. They work exactly as designed, consistently, and will definitely lock the wheels in a panic stop. I wouldn't change a thing about it even if somebody bought the parts for me.

Live well,

SJW

SJW

Something is not right with these brakes. It's possible that all that's wrong is the arc radius of the shoes doesn't match well the radius of the drum(s). But, the inconsistency leaves me suspicious that something else isn't right. This can and should be diagnosed and resolved.

Live well,

SJW

StormBringer

Just went through all of this on my 64. Personal opinion if the car is not numbers matching and you have a reason to want disks. I personally drive my 64 hard enough to overheat the fronts.

• Any floating piston front brake kit you want to choose that clear your wheels and keep a zero offset. (400-1200$ depending on what you pick)
• 1969 Camaro disk/drum master cylinder with proportioning value (~180$)

If you can over drive those brakes in a 64 then you have impulse control problems on the street. You don't have to go crazy

jim lockwood

Anyone who can over drive the large, stock C2 drum brakes on city streets or on public roads has bigger problems to resolve than whether or not to install a disc conversion.

Frankie the Fink

Agreed and on 63/64 cars disc brakes are not a "blemish-free" upgrade; the slope in the rear of the stock wheels will not accommodate disc calipers..