I average 3-4 complete drum brake rebuilds on 50's cars every summer. Nothing wrong with drums on a cruiser and they were standard for over 60 years. Our Auburn will lock up all 4 wheels and have good brake feel. Our 42' Cad had great brakes before I tore it down. An even setup and acrched shoes make good brakes.
We are going with Wilwoods on dads 442 because I've never thought GM single piston caliper brakes were any better than drums. Used to drive a 72' chevelle with full drums to work everyday. I put a 4wheel disc conversion and the brake pedal feel wasn't as good as the non power drums they replaced. Now I'm not saying drums are the best but I think they are better than guys give them credit.
Power can be another story though. Usually chevy's and fords of the 40's and 50's were pretty sad. You had to step up to a Buick, Lincoln, Caddy and pay for power. I've driven a lot of this stuff and cheap cars are usually pathetic. Did a bunch of work last summer on a 49' Chevy tin woody that would cruise about 50mph. I know from previous experience that a 49' Buick would easilly cruise the highway no problem. It wasn't until the 265 v8 came out that chevy started to make something worth driving. Lots of good motors replaced with 350's over the years that probably weren't any better than the engine it replaced. Good nailhead Buicks, Oldsmobile rockets, ohv cadillacs were all replaced by the street rod guys with a 350. Usually the only improvement is the transmission which is mistaken for engine power. Early auto trans weren't good for performance and made some of these cars real sluggish. Buick Dynaflow is the worst. It's the smoothest thing around but was horrible for fuel mileage and performance. Made a nice car to cruise though.
I could keep rambling, I've driven most of the big iron from the 30's through 50's. You had to pay to play back then. Back then guys hot rodded because they couldn't afford to buy a real car. I guarantee if they could have afforded an SJ Duesenberg they surely wouldn't have dinked around putting 3 carbs on a little flat head ford.
We are going with Wilwoods on dads 442 because I've never thought GM single piston caliper brakes were any better than drums. Used to drive a 72' chevelle with full drums to work everyday. I put a 4wheel disc conversion and the brake pedal feel wasn't as good as the non power drums they replaced. Now I'm not saying drums are the best but I think they are better than guys give them credit.
Power can be another story though. Usually chevy's and fords of the 40's and 50's were pretty sad. You had to step up to a Buick, Lincoln, Caddy and pay for power. I've driven a lot of this stuff and cheap cars are usually pathetic. Did a bunch of work last summer on a 49' Chevy tin woody that would cruise about 50mph. I know from previous experience that a 49' Buick would easilly cruise the highway no problem. It wasn't until the 265 v8 came out that chevy started to make something worth driving. Lots of good motors replaced with 350's over the years that probably weren't any better than the engine it replaced. Good nailhead Buicks, Oldsmobile rockets, ohv cadillacs were all replaced by the street rod guys with a 350. Usually the only improvement is the transmission which is mistaken for engine power. Early auto trans weren't good for performance and made some of these cars real sluggish. Buick Dynaflow is the worst. It's the smoothest thing around but was horrible for fuel mileage and performance. Made a nice car to cruise though.
I could keep rambling, I've driven most of the big iron from the 30's through 50's. You had to pay to play back then. Back then guys hot rodded because they couldn't afford to buy a real car. I guarantee if they could have afforded an SJ Duesenberg they surely wouldn't have dinked around putting 3 carbs on a little flat head ford.