<VV> brake drums for my Corsa

[Bill Elliott]

A completely stock Corvair will outbreak virtually any car of the era (and more than hold its own with new cars). If you can't lock up all four brakes easily, 
then you need to fix something. With all new parts I can't tell you specifically what, but something is not right. 

The Corvair is seriously overbraked (as compared to other cars from the era) and has so much reserve capacity that even stock shoes work well.

That being said... my opinions of the different shoes I have used:

1. Stock. Very good overall, low effort, low noise, low drum wear. Good when wet and cold, not so great when really hot. They are prone to fade in high 
use situations.

2. Kevlar. I use The Source street kevlar in all of my street Corvairs. Even better than the stock shoes when cold and wet and MUCH better when hot. 
You're not going to get fade except in a track situation (in my exeprience anyway) and even on the track they are fine for all but the fastest drivers.

3. OEM metallics. Horrible when cold but exceptional when hot. I will not run these on the street. 

Bill Elliott
Urbana, MD




>I have discovered that the drum is the same as on a lot of larger GM cars
>(Chevelle, etc.) at 9 inch diameter and 2 1/2 inch width. I don't know how
>well the '65 Corsa stops with stock brakes because I bought the car without
>a master cylinder or a fuel pump, so it neither goes or stops yet. Planning
>to convert to dual master cylinder (and electric fuel pump) since I gotta
>get new ones anyway. I have never been satisfied with the braking on my '66
>Monza, even after new or rebuilt wheel cylinders on all wheels, new brake
>lines, new shoes, and turned drums. I have never checked stopping distances
>on it though, but I can't lock up the brakes, and it just feels like it
>should be more. I want to autocross the Corsa, so I wanted the best possible
>brakes. The aluminum drums would be great, and I could always switch them to
>the Monza if I did something radical (like disc brakes) with the Corsa. I
>think there was an article from the Communique about mettalic linings and
>the aluminum drums, but I need to access the archives to find it. What
>linings do people generally regard as the best stopping power (not
>neccessarily the longest lasting) for Corvairs?





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