Power Brake Conversion

Adding modern conveniences to our vintage Mustangs is at an all-time high in the hobby. Every day we are seeing more and more Mustangs with three-point shoulder belts, high-back performance seats, four-wheel disc brakes, fuel injection, and more. Some of these items are added in the name of performance, while others are added for their comfort. But the most important category is—of course—safety. Upgrading your Mustang’s safety with modern braking, tires, shoulder restraints, and more should be on the top of your list for your daily-driven Mustang.

For those who want their Mustangs to look as original as possible, or at least fit in comfortably at the next Mustang show, many owners are opting for period-style additions, such as Deluxe belts with retractors, adding headrests to cars that option-ally offered them, and upgrading the brakes. While you might think that adding front manual disc brakes is a good choice (they are for the show crowd), in actuality front drum brakes with power assist can stop your Mustang better in daily use. The only time drum brakes get a bad rap is during repeated high-speed use, such as autocrossing or road racing, where disc brakes are the rule, or if they get excessively wet from standing water. Other than these two situations, power drum brakes are the better bet for street driving your vintage Mustang every day.

While spending some time recently working on the ’66 hard- top project Mustang at Classic Creations of Central Florida, owner Merv Rego brought up this same point about power drum brakes and that he too prefers them for street-driven vintage Mustangs. He also happened to have a customer’s ’66 convertible in for just such an upgrade, so we grabbed our cameras (we never leave the office without them) and captured the upgrade on film. For a standard drum brake car, all that is usually required to equip the car with power brakes is to add a vacuum booster and power brake master cylinder. Some applications also might require a brake pedal change as well. Our upgrade came from Master Power Brakes and is a complete kit as delivered for the year ordered.