[Shop-talk] 1965 Mustang Brakes

[John Miller]

> Ok, crappy answer. But as I've said here before, I really don't get into
> old cars. I have been impressed with some of the resto-mod stuff where
> they've updated all the mechanicals. And the new V8s Ford and GM are
> turning out? Wow! How'd they do that? You're supposed to have to ditch
> the push rods to make that happen?!

Not hardly; the pushrod GM LS-family motors are in general more compact, 
more powerful, cheaper to build, and comparable on BSFC to their OHC 
Ford counterparts.

> Sounds like something better to bounce off a Mustang list. Popular as
> Stang's are, there's probably something out there with a list of good
> parts & upgrades, or info on what's easy to grab from the junkyard for
> an update?

The 10in Mustang/Falcon/etc. drum brakes are pretty bad, in my 
experience, I recall in my younger days mine would not have brakes for 
half a block after driving through a puddle.

That said, brake lining materials have come a long, long way in the past 
forty years.  Old-fashioned organic lining material worked well when 
cold but barely worked at all when hot; many older-style metallic 
linings worked very well hot but barely worked at all when cold (as well 
as being remarkably noisy.)

You can do better these days.  Call Porterfield 
(http://www.porterfield-brakes.com) and tell them what you need - I've 
had good luck with their R-4S lining material having good 'bite' when 
cold (it's also a very good street disc pad) and they may have other 
options for you as well (they do a lot of drum-brake linings for vintage 
racers, etc.)

John.