Chevy High Performance

Give Your Feet
a
Break & Stop With Confidence
THEF
The job is
propped tl
shoesanc
block ofw
Not all of us are stunt drivers.
There's a point when the
factory tubs just aren't going
to create enough press to
grind your sled to a halt-at
least not safely or quickly.
Let's say you need new brakes but
the hoopla or flashy calipers.
So what's the best of both worlds?
Master Power Brakes offers an 11 -inch
time to update the entire system. As for
power disc brake setup for the front of our
replacing the old with the new, it was
'66 Elco. While we could have also added
too easy. Follow along as we guide you
discs to the rear, we wanted to keep the
through and put the confidence back in
build simple and within the constraints of a
your feet.
real-world budget. Thus we opted for the
11 -inch big drum kit. It swallows the factory
QUICK N OTES
rear brakes by 1112 inches, and the price
THE INSTALL
was right. Best of all, both brake kits come
don't want to take out a second mortgage
completely assembled, ready to bolt on
to get them, and you really don't want to
right out of the box-seriously.
hassle with large, 1 2- to 1 4-inch rotors
Why the upgrade? The best way to
because that would require a significantly
describe the prowess of our factory four­
larger wheel and tire combination (which
wheel drum configuration is to compare
would only add to the cost). What do you
it to an ocean freighter. We might as well
do? When it comes to brakes, most guys
have cut holes in the floorboards so the
just want something that works without all
driver and passenger could stomp their
40 . JUNE 2008
feet down when they needed to stop.
This system is 42 years old-definitely
New power 11-inch front diSCS and
11-inch drums
BOTTOM LINE
To remove
Revarnp the entire systEll'T1and
start fresh.
we took
PRICE (APPROX)
$3,010
0'
with a larg
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nut, washl
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The last nuts to be removed on the driver
side are from the upper and lower A-arms.
We then took out the cotter pins but didn't
remove them; we loosened them just
enough to give us wiggle room. With a
little luck, the ball joints will pop away from
each arm on their own. In our case, only
the upper ball joint popped loose and we
had to rent a ball-joint remover from a local
auto parts store. We stuffed it between the
lower ball joint and the spindle, and with a
couple quick thrusts from a large hammer,
it popped loose.
The job is easy, but it will take up the better part of your weekend. To get the ball rolling, we
propped the car on four jackstands and removed the tires and the drum covers to reveal the
shoes and springs inside. We began with the driver's front and placed a hydraulic jack with a
block of wood undemeath the A-arm for support We also disconnected all the brake lines.
Next we removed the old drum from the
suspension. If you have any worn ball joints
or bushings, now is the time to replace
them. Our lower ball-joint bushing was
completely missing, as was the tie-rod
bushing dust cap. We also had to fight with
the arm that was still attached to the tie rod.
After removing the cotter pin and crown nut,
a tie-rod tool was used to split them apart
These kits from Master Power come fully
assembled and ready to install. We're show­
ing you the driver side, but the passenger­
side install is identical. We started by
guiding in the lower ball-joint stud through
the bottom spindle and threaded on the
nut, just enough to make sure the disc
To remove the hub from the front wheel,
With the hub out of the way, we removed
brake wouldn't fall out. We raised the lower
we took off the dust cap by splitting it away
the two bolts behind it, which hold the
control arm until it met with the upper ball
with a large flat-blade screwdriver. Under
tie-rod arm from the steering to the back of
joint, then we guided in the upper stud
the dust cap is where the cotter pin, crown­
the spindle. We removed these next, using
through the top spindle and threaded on
nut, washer, and bearing all sit. These must
a wrench on one side and a ratchet on the
the crown nut We tightened down all the
be removed to take the hub off. Once these
other. With the tie-rod arm out of the way,
nuts and replaced all the cotter pins with
are removed, the hub will fall off.
we could then remove the other nuts.
new ones. That's it
CHEVYHIPERFORMANCE.COM
.
41
BRAKES IN A BOX •
Removing the rear drum takes the same
technique as the front but with an additional
step. You'll have to remove the axles to get
the rear drum assembly off. We removed
the rear cover and popped out the C-clips
to release the axles. Our original set was
a bit warped, so we replaced it with fresh
28-spline axles from Superior Axles. These
factory replacements are priced at $230, are
28 percent stronger, come with studs, and
boost our confidence in our new assembly.
Stay tuned for a detailed step-by-step piece
on this procedure in an upcoming issue.
To get this sled stopping like it should, or at
least to modern-day standards, we also or­
dered Master Power's booster and master
cylinder kit First, we loosened the four 9/16
nuts that held in the original manual master
When we first lined up the holes to bolt
on the new 11-inch drums, we were a little
concerned that the inner diameter of the
Master Power backing plate was larger than
the outer diameter of the stock 1 O-bolt ax­
lehousing it was being bolted onto. Master
Power's tech line explained that these kits
With the rear axles out, we loosened and
also fit 12-bolt rearends. As long as the bolt
removed the four bolts retaining the drum/
holes line up, you're good to go. We bolted
backing plate to the rear axlehousing. It's
the new drum backing plate and tightened
simple; we just used an impact gun on the
it all down using the stock hardware.
cylinder and pried it away from the firewall.
In our case, the piston rod that ran through
the firewall to the pedal fell out Next, we
disconnected the stock piston rod fork from
the stock pedal location by pushing out
the stock pin. Master Power even supplied
us with a new one so we could toss the
original piece.
front and a wrench on the back. The new kit
does not come with hardware, so be sure
to keep the bolts with their associated nuts
and lock washers in a safe place.
Like the front and rear brakes, the master
cylinder kit and booster come fully as­
sembled with the bracket that mates up to
the firewall already attached. We fed the pis­
ton rod through the original opening in the
We wanted to make sure the new drum
We locked in the axles and buttoned up the
firewall and tightened the new booster and
backing plate had a nice, flat surface to at­
differential cover. We also reinstalled our
master cylinder down with the original hard­
tach to, so we used some degreaser and a
rear brake lines. Finally, we slid the new
ware, using the 9/16 nut and lock washer.
wire brush to remove surface rust and burs
drum cover over the studs to finish off the
This particular kit will sit at a slight upward
from the axlehousing.
assembly.
angle, so know that it's completely normal.
42 . JUNE 2008
BRAKES IN A BOX For the fluid to get
To arrange the lines,
to its specific loca­
they must be criss­
tion, be it the front
crossed over one an­
or rear, we had to
other. Then we thread­
install the universal
ed in the hard lines
distribution block.
to the bottom of the
The good news is
master cylinder. This
the supplied hard
may take some mas­
lines will only fit on
saging and patience to
one way. We made
get in, but it will fit. We
sure to position the
should mention that
distribution block
the kit also comes with
with the proportion­
a universal bracket, but
ing valve facing
we're not going to use
the front of the car,
it at this time, at least
while the hard lines
not until we shoehorn
will face the inner
the big-block we have
driver-side fender.
on standby.
We began by
With the master cylinder
threading in the
and brake booster at
new hard lines but
an angle, the piston rod
made sure to leave
that attaches to the ped­
them somewhat
al will follow the same
loose so we would
path. In our case, we
have enough
could simply reattach
wiggle room to
the brake pedal into
move the hard lines
the original hole set by
as necessary when
the factory. We inserted
we installed it in
the new pin and locked
the car.
down the cotter pin as
well. This will give us
our 4:1 pedal pressure
ratio. Anything more
than 4:1 would probably
send us flying through
the windshield.
MFG
Goody
MP Bral
Superiol
Vintage'
Originally the '66 came with measly 14­
inch rims and P195/60R14 tires. It would
have been nice to utilize them with the
new brakes, but they just wouldn't fit. We
didn't want to go crazy with large rims or
huge tires, so we went with a plus-1 rim all
around. Our rolling stock of choice were
Vintage Wheel Works V40 rims, 15x7 in
front and 15x8 out back. The only differ­
ences between the two are their width and
backspacing. To fit over the larger 11-inch
rear drums, the rims were ordered with a
minimum of 3112 inches of backspacing, as
specified by Master Power Brakes.
For tires, we wrapped Goodyear rubber on
all four corners. We weren't going for any sort
of Pro Touring look here; this sled is going to
be a driver. So we ordered P215/60R15 Eagle
GT-HRs for the front and P225/60R15 Eagle
GT-H Rs for the back. While these aren't the
stickiest tires offered, they will definitely fit the
THE SHOPPING CART
bill and get this thing moving down the road
MFG
ITEM
PN
PRICE
Goodyear
P215/60R15 front
Eagl.eGT-H R
2@71
P225/60R15 rear
EagleGT-HR
2@74ea
11-inch front vented disc kit
DB1741P
11-inch rear vented drum kit
DR1700K
850
400
master cylinder kit
BM1744
250
MP Brakes
for initial testing. CHP
ea
Power booster &
Valve line kit
VL3360K
140
Superior Axles
Rear axles
EV10-2
230
Vintage Wheel Works
15x7 front
V40
15x8 rear
V40
2@ 200Ela
2@225ea
mAL
$3,010
GET THE HOOKUP
GOODYEAR
800.321.2136
•
goodyear.com
MASTER POWER BRAKES
888.251.2353· mpbrakes.com
SUPERIOR AXLES
888.522.2953
•
superioraxle.com
VINTAGE WHEEL WORKS
714.690.7400· vintagewheelworks.com