I am not arguing that drum brakes were superior or as good as disc brakes. I am just saying they could be dramatically improved by using really good linings, Some of the home built sports racing cars of the era got good results with finned aluminum Buick drums but the best drum brake setups couldn’t compete with discs. Ferrari found that out in the early 50s at Lemans when they got beat by the 30 mph slower Jags.
Mercedes crutched their drum brakes for a while by adding an “air brake”, a big metal panel behind the drivers head that flew up to catch the air and slow the car.
They were a fairly early adopter of disc brakes all around.
I know the W114 and W115 had disc brakes all around, and I believe that body style was introduced for the 1968 model year
The SL roadster from the 1960s and early 1970s might have even had discs all around during its entire production run. I know the 280SL had discs all around, but I’m not entirely sure about the earlier 230SL and 250SL. I’m talking about the “pagoda” SL . . . many of you will know exactly which one I’m talking about
There might be even earlier Benzes with disc brakes all around, but I can only talk about what I’ve personally worked on.
Rick . . . where are you?
I’m waiting for you to argue that drum brakes should still be used front and rear on new automobiles
I’ll be a little picayunish here and point out that what is being discussed is dual piston master cylinders. Dual master cylinders have been used and I believe there are still companies offering the hardware to install them on stock cars.
@db4690, I need you for a sanity check. My bucket list car list includes a 1970 or 71 300 SEL 6.3. Please tell me I should just go buy the 62 Caddy with the dual master cylinder. Thanks.
Old Mopar Guy - Your profile says you can’t drive anymore . It seems that having a bucket list vehicle would just be beyond frustrating .
I had a chance to buy a collector motorcycle at a decent price . I passed because a poorly done knee replacement keeps me from being able to hold one up. The thought of it just setting in the garage was to much to bear.
I don’t do “day to day” driving anymore, but I’ll occasionally drive a collector car. I’m a “collector” though, and for guys like me just “possessing” something is often enough.
@oldtimer-11. I don’t remember if it was Consumer Reports, Mechanix Illustrated or another publication that tested brake linings. I do remember that in the tesi, Grey Rock was the best.
it costs a lot of money to acquire one of those, and a lot of money to keep it in good condition, let alone bring it up to par, if it’s not yet in good condition
I don’t know if you’re planning on doing any or all work yourself or not
anyways, it’s going to be a lot easier to find somebody comfortable working on the 62 Cadillac, at least in my opinion
Finding somebody to comfortably work on the 6.3’s fuel injection and air suspension isn’t going to be easy
I used to maintain my uncle’s 280sl, but that’s the sum total of my Benz experience. I last drove a 1970 6.3 when it was new, and it was a life altering experience for a kid who thought the ultimate in performance was a big block Mopar.
Here’s a brake question I’ve always been curious about. Around 1968 I was riding in a neighbor’s car, slow speed through the neighborhood, the car was a Buick as I recall, and they drove through a fairly deep puddle of water. The driver then shouts out “No brakes!” Sure enough he was pressing on the brake pedal as hard as he could, but the car barely slowed at all. In maybe 30 seconds- one minute the braking returned to normal. I’ve never had that experience myself on any of my cars, one car of mine going back to the early 60’s, so wondering how that could happen? I made a point of not riding in that car any more … lol …
Yeah the pleasures of drum brakes. I do remember some lessened brakes when they did get wet but don’t remember a total failure. Even with disc brakes now though, when I run through the car wash with the under body spray, I can tell there is some degradation when I first apply the brakes. I’m just ready for it and apply them a couple times and no problem. I’ve never noticed it in the rain though or going through a puddle. Maybe it’s not a problem when in motion, I dunno.
That Buick was sort of a high end car at the time, it might have had disk brakes. Maybe the first versions of disk brakes weren’t so good when wet? I’ve always had cars that are either all-drum or at least rear-drum, and never noticed that problem to that severity after driving through a puddle.
That Buick, even if it was an Electra, had drum brakes. The discs were optional in 67 and 68 and became standard in 69. The way to avoid the " no brakes after a puddle" issue was to lightly apply the brakes before going through the puddle and keeping them applied until after the puddle.
