'48 Lincoln street rod brakes

mainstreetprod · 2021-09-26T22:17:53-0400

Elsewhere on this forum there is a long discussion from 3 years ago where I was troubleshooting my brake system. Car is a '48 Lincoln Continental with a Mustang II front end, 9" Ford rear with drums (probably '74 Torino). In the previous thread, over a period of several weeks I went from a stock 74 Mustang front disc setup to Wilwood 11" brakes and a 7" dual frame mounted booster. I was dealing with low vacuum to the booster and eventually sorted that out. Performance went from "mechanical brakes" level to OK hydraulic brake performance- nearly impossible to lock the wheels, but somewhat adequate. I've driver the car several years like this and only once had a hair raising stop when someone pulled in front of me.

I still think the performance could be better and may finally have figured out what the problem is. I've found that the brakes perform much better under severe use, such as a couple of panic stops. After warming the brakes up like this, it's possible to lock the rear wheels (still not the front) , and the front hauls you down nicely despite not locking. My conclusion is that the Wilwood brake pads are a racing formulation or close to it, so they don't perform well under everyday street use (the first stop of the day can be quite harrowing).

Best I can tell, there are only 2 other pad formulations made for this caliper and they are all more racing oriented than mine (BP-10). Anyone with Wilwood experience care to weigh in?

brading · 2021-09-27T02:36:11-0400

Cannot help you with the brakes I am afraid. Just had to say that is a nice looking car.

39 master · 2021-09-27T08:42:19-0400

Several ways to go other than different pads. First, have you looked into a larger booster? Understand there isn't much room under the car but if you can upgrade to a duel 8" booster it will give you 26 percent more area. If your M/C is 1 1/8" bore you may want to look at a 1" bore which will up your pressure a bit. Last, because stopping is mandatory Have you considered converting to hydroboost?

Sweet ride!

mainstreetprod · 2021-09-27T09:23:08-0400

39 master said:
Several ways to go other than different pads. First, have you looked into a larger booster? Understand there isn't much room under the car but if you can upgrade to a duel 8" booster it will give you 26 percent more area. If your M/C is 1 1/8" bore you may want to look at a 1" bore which will up your pressure a bit. Last, because stopping is mandatory Have you considered converting to hydroboost?

Sweet ride!

Unfortunately a larger booster simply won't fit in the frame rails. I did (at the last moment) realize I needed a 1" bore and changed my order before it arrived. Don't know a thing about hydroboost but will check into it. Seems like I may end up with a hanging pedal and booster on the firewall.

johnsongrass1 · 2021-09-27T12:48:05-0400

The BP-10 compound should be the right one assuming there wasn't a mix up.
For the price of a local parts house pad at $20 it would be worth trying and see if the performance is too your liking. You would know by the end of the street.

lmsport · 2021-09-27T17:37:20-0400

does the kit use a Wilwood specific pad design?

39 master · 2021-09-28T00:28:35-0400

Got to thinking about booster and M/C location. They do NOT have to be right next to the pedal. The rod from the pedal to the booster can be several feet long if there is more room for a bigger booster back further. Did that on my Willys, they were just in front of the rear wheel.

mainstreetprod · 2021-09-29T00:14:40-0400

lmsport said:
does the kit use a Wilwood specific pad design?

Not aware of any other pads that will fit, but if there are, I would like to know. Apparently the kits come with BP-10 pads which are supposed to be for street or track. But to me, they perform a lot like track pads (better when hot).

jimmothershead · 2021-11-28T10:53:24-0500

Super nice Lux-O-Rod
Rad cam ? Not enough vacuum ? Should be about 23, check it.......
What size booster ? 12" ?

Hood Motor vehicle Gas Engineering Electric blue

Under floor ?
On our '32 coupe with a rad 383 stroker 438 hp, I run a vacuum pump.
Jim

jimmothershead · 2021-11-28T11:27:49-0500

My neighbor is 6'5". Brack needed a big car to build. I found him a very nice original 1935 Packard Victoria cabriolet coupe...121" wheel base, 5000 pounds, an original driver.
The day he got it back from Western New York, I ordered a crate 502/502, 700R4.
Used a 12" booster on the firewall with equalizer block. 9" Ford axle. Fat Man IFS with C5 Corvette IFS.
A fine Lux-O-Rod 2 years later.