Question about brakes...

[Polishmeatballpizza]

I would like to keep these wheels;  just gotta clean them up and find some centercaps.

[elagache]

Dear George and mid-60s Buick wheel spinners,

I would like to keep these wheels;  just gotta clean them up and find some centercaps.

They look fine and you could either buy new center-caps or with some bumming around you probably can find a set of decent used center-caps.  Do you know anything about the size of these tires?  Are the 14" or 15" rims?  15" rims would give you many more options for a disc brake upgrade as the larger rims are more popular.

Cheers, Edouard 

[GS66]

George,that will be a vintage look!

[Polishmeatballpizza]

Dear George and mid-60s Buick wheel spinners,

I would like to keep these wheels;  just gotta clean them up and find some centercaps.

They look fine and you could either buy new center-caps or with some bumming around you probably can find a set of decent used center-caps.  Do you know anything about the size of these tires?  Are the 14" or 15" rims?  15" rims would give you many more options for a disc brake upgrade as the larger rims are more popular.

Cheers, Edouard 

14" wheels. Hopefully they will polish up nicely. Has anyone ever painted the spokes on these?

[elagache]

Dear George and mid-60s Buick wheel spinners,

Do you know anything about the size of these tires? 

14" wheels.

You can find disc brake kits which will fit on 14" rims but you'll need to be more choosy.  I would expect that you can paint the wheels.  After all I've painted HO scale parts so 12" to the foot is easy street.  However you might find some advice on how to do that.  I took the easy repo route.

Cheers, Edouard 

[Polishmeatballpizza]

This should work, right?
https://m.summitracing.com/parts/rsd-afxdc14

[Loren At 65GS]

Looks like it should do the task and the $$ isn't bad.

 Loren

[Polishmeatballpizza]

Looks like it should do the task and the $$ isn't bad.

 Loren

I was thinking how much i would spend in drum brakes just for the front,  and for just a little more i can get discs in the front. I can always leave the back as drums.

[Dr Frankenbuick]

This has some good information on the swap.

[elagache]

Dear Loren, George, Good Dr., and mid-60s Buick fans of sufficient braking,

I was thinking how much i would spend in drum brakes just for the front,  and for just a little more i can get discs in the front. I can always leave the back as drums.

Front disc and rear drums are still used today.  Unless you really want to keep up with the BMWs and what not, it will give you very satisfactory braking.  Leaving the rear drum brakes means you won't have to remove brake dust from all 4 wheels when you clean the car. 

Don't forget to pick up one of these though . . . . . .

https://www.opgi.com/skylark/PK1200/

After all, you want the car to look the part of having front disc brakes, don't ya'? 

Cheers, Edouard 

[Polishmeatballpizza]

Dear Loren, George, Good Dr., and mid-60s Buick fans of sufficient braking,

I was thinking how much i would spend in drum brakes just for the front,  and for just a little more i can get discs in the front. I can always leave the back as drums.

Front disc and rear drums are still used today.  Unless you really want to keep up with the BMWs and what not, it will give you very satisfactory braking.  Leaving the rear drum brakes means you won't have to remove brake dust from all 4 wheels when you clean the car. 

Don't forget to pick up one of these though . . . . . .

https://www.opgi.com/skylark/PK1200/

After all, you want the car to look the part of having front disc brakes, don't ya'? 

Cheers, Edouard 

I'm not worried about keeping up with anyone, I just want the brakes to work!

I looked at OPGI and Rockauto.com for the following pricing. I can get everything I need for the drum brakes for approximately $435.00. For just another $80, I can get the disc brake setup, using the same spindles. And, these should fit my 14" wheels. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

As far as replacement pads for these aftermarket disc brakes; will they be easy to find? Will I ever get in a situation where I will not be able to find these replacement pads?

I'll leave the rear brakes as drums. I believe most people do this, don't they?

[GS66]

Discs is an upgrade. Some prefer the USA made kits over the Chinese one's but it may depend on how much you plan to drive the car what quality level you go with. All are at least good nowadays. I am not an expert, just talked to people on the many Power Tours we have been on. When my brakes go bad I will move to discs as well for better safety.

[cwmcobra]

Hi George,

I'm in the process of doing a full restoration of a 65 GS convertible and I've opted to upgrade to discs on the front.  Bought a kit that is similar to the Right Stuff package you referenced at Summit.  Except I've decided to upsize wheels to 15", so have a slightly different kit than the one shown in the Summit link.  Consensus of the discussions I've had says that the Chinese kits are very functional and reliable.  I've installed mine and have to say that I have no complaints about the quality of the components. 

So, I'm with you.  For $80 I'd upgrade also!

Chuck

[elagache]

Dear George, Jim, Chuck, and mid-60s Buick "victims" of my sense of humor . . . 

Don't forget to pick up one of these though . . . . . .

https://www.opgi.com/skylark/PK1200/

I looked at OPGI and Rockauto.com for the following pricing.

Perhaps so, but you didn't click on the link.  You should go ahead and reveal the "surprise"!! . . . 

Cheers, Edouard

[elagache]

Dear George and mid-60s Buick seekers of perfection in the smallest of details,

What I was suggesting by this OPGI link:

https://www.opgi.com/skylark/PK1200/

was that you eventually upgrade your brake pedal to the style that Buick had for the cars with disc brakes.  It has a metallic disc in the center of the pedal.  You can see it just underneath the triplet of gauges in my car:



Obviously nothing to worry about until you are close to finishing up.  But that brake pedal brings a car up just one more notch of cool! 

Cheers, Edouard 

P.S. OPGI probably isn't the cheapest place to find the pedal, but it was the easiest place for me to find it.