Need some advice here... I'm working on a '55 Studebaker coupe, just bought some mopar cop car wheels for it so I could mount some modern wider rubber on it. Question is this - the stock full wheel covers are very pretty but have no holes in them. Would they make a noticeable difference in how hard one can drive before the onset of brake fade? The MoPar wheels have six nice big holes in them so I'm thinking dog dishes may be the way to go, functionally.
thanks,
nate
Have you ever seen a cop car with full wueel covers? If you are only going to show the car it doesn't matter though.
Four wheel drum brakes on a large, heavy car? Air flow isn't going to be the main determinant of brake fade. Unless you spend a lot of time driving in mountains I wouldn't worry about it, and if you were driving hard enough to regularly fade the brakes I'd be looking at a modern brake retrofit.
JazzMan
Cop cars and other government vehicles are often blackwall tires, cheapass wheel covers, etc. I really doubt it has a lot to do with the stopping power of the brake setup.
If you are going to drive that Stude in any serious way, Nate, discs on the front would be nice. Don't know, you might be able to find parts that would retrofit at the junkyard.
Yes and no... the "bolt on" would be discs from an Avanti or Jag E-type (not easy to find) but Jim Turner makes a nice kit to use Ford discs and GM calipers... he also makes a dual master cylinder bracket for my car as well... someday I will probably be spending $$ with him...
nate
actually it's not all that heavy, maybe 3200 lbs. max. The drums are actually pretty good, I'm going back and forth between a set of later finned drums (would only need the drums themselves to upgrade) or a Turner front disc kit... it is driveable as is in modern traffic, as long as you don't drive like a complete a-hole...
nate
I did a little searching after I made that post, and found some references to Larks and other similar era Studes. Apparently disc brakes were available and by using those spindles, the Stude parts would fit a lot of applications.
We got by with drums for years, although I remember how very unreliable they were in wet conditions and when heavily pressed. I have read your posts for a long time, and know you are not the type of person to get yourself in a 'corner'.
Wheel covers can be cheap also. I understood the use of dog dish caps on police vehicles also had to do with liability from the covers coming off, which they more readily do in rough driving conditions.
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