You see, as of now the car runs on all 4 drum brakes. For safety reasons I've considered front disc brakes but my wallet screams at the though of 1,000 dollars (900 something dollars). What do you recommend? Is it a worthy investment? Is it time the old front drum brakes move on?

YES!


Well, only if you want to drive it safely.:lildevil:

A lot of GM disc parts are interchangeable. You may have to get the spindle out to the wheel bearing but you should be able to find used parts that will bolt in. The problem is those are getting scarce.

We did my wife's first car, a 69 Firebird that's still in the family. Like night and day.

I'll see my financial situation then come to a conclusion.

I was told, that the only difference between the drum and disc brake setup was that the disc will cool faster. The drum brakes are a heavy duty system and were designed to stop the heavy car. and as far as pure stopping power the drums will work just fine under normal condition braking. Now if it was a lot of braking all the time, a disc setup would be a better option.

I swapped the front drums out on my 68 SDV to disc and I think total it cost me 300 dollars. That included: new pads, rotors, wheel bearings, seals, dust-caps, and the spindle with the caliper bracket on it.

I used the spindles from a 69 SDV as front disc brakes were a factory option. I just picked up a set from the auto salvage yard and they had the calipers and the mounts needed.

In 69 they used a 2 piece rotor and hub assembly that today is about $135 dollars to replace each side. in 72 or so they went to a one piece rotor/hub that are about $35 each. All you have to do is shave down the lip of the dust shield to make the transformation.

here is an amazing link that I found for a step by step write-up on how to do just that.
http://www.modifiedcadillac.org/articles/onepiecediscswap/onepiecediscswap.html

It took me about 3hrs to do the whole job.