Sometimes it takes both feet to get 2-½ tons of American iron stopped. Even though my ’60 Olds is equipped with power brakes, the drums at the other ends of the hydraulic lines don't always want to bring the 5,000-pound beast to a rapid stop. Compound that with the multiple stops involved in the day-to-day Los Angeles commute and I'm dealing with significant brake fade on a daily basis. It tends to get scary sometimes, so I decided that a disc-brake upgrade was just the thing I needed to keep from crushing minivans and SUVs into the tin cans they so closely resemble.
I did some research on the Internet and quickly realized that absolutely no one offered a ready-made kit specific to the ’60 Oldsmobile, and since I already knew that it doesn’t share any suspension components with the rest of the similar-year GM line, my only avenue was a custom-built set. That’s when I decided to call Master Power Brakes.
MPB specializes in supplying disc brakes to the automotive hobbyist, so I thought they’d be the right people to question about fabricating a kit for my driver. A brief conversation concerning my braking needs ensued, and before you could say “watch out for that tree,” I was packing a set of ’60 Olds spindles, steering arms, and a master/booster into a box for the cross-country trek to North Carolina. Included in the box were the spindle nuts, my name and phone number, and my bolt-circle preference. MPB takes care of everything else.
Once the parts arrived at MPB HQ, the technicians unpacked the goodies and set about taking measurements to determine which GM factory parts would work best for my specific application. Based on my vehicle’s weight, a set of 12-inch rotors was selected. These are the same brakes that GM installed on the late-model Caprice cop cars. They’re also the largest rotors available to fit inside a 15-inch wheel and have a 5-on-5 bolt circle to match my wheels. Let’s take a look at how MPB does it.
