Upgrading Braking Performance On This 1967 Chevy Nova
By Ron Ceridono
Hot rodders old enough to have survived the ’60s can probably recall when a car with 300-plus horsepower was impressive. Take the popular 1967 Chevy Nova as an example—it could be had with the L79 TurboJet 327ci small-block that was rated at 325 hp. Coupled with a four-speed transmission, it was a formidable package. These little Chevys had plenty of go. However, the whoa department was a little less impressive with the standard drum brakes. In base form, Chevrolet equipped Nova with 9.5×2.5 drum brakes up front and 9.5×2 drums in the rear. Those who opted for the J52 disc brake options got 11-inch rotors up front with the standard drums in the rear. Certainly, it is better than four-corner drums, but it is certainly not up to what we expect today.
As we said, 300-plus horsepower was respectable in 1967, but as painful as it is for the Modern Rodding staff who were kids back then to admit (namely Brennan), that was 57 years ago. Today, horsepower is much easier to come by, and what could be cooler than wrapping classic vintage sheet metal around a contemporary high-performance engine? As a case in point, we offer John McLeod’s (director of Classic Instruments and Detroit Speed & Engineering) 1967 Chevy Nova with a 435ci small-block that makes 650 hp, which is more than enough to make it go. Now all the little Chevy needed were brakes to bring it to a stop.
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McLeod had already equipped the Nova with a Detroit Speed & Engineering front subframe and QuadraLink rear suspension to make it handle. To make it stop as it should, he picked Detroit Speed & Engineering’s new Baer/Detroit Speed & Engineering brake packages to add to both ends. Up front, the Nova has been equipped with a Baer/Detroit Speed & Engineering Extreme+ brake package with an XTR six-piston caliper upgrade. The XTR calipers take the 6S caliper, which is machined from a U.S.-sourced, one-piece 2618 aluminum forging for ultimate rigidity. They are then treated to some extra machine work to make them lighter without sacrificing strength. Other benefits of the XTR caliper are two-piece pistons with an aluminum main body and stainless steel caps and a bolt-in bridge, allowing you to replace pads without removing the caliper.
To promote an even pad wear, the caliper’s pairs of pistons are staggered in diameter—there are two 1.625-, two 1.375-, and two 1.1875-inch—for a total piston area of 4.667 square inches. Both the standard 6S forged monoblock calipers and the upgraded XTR calipers have dust and weather seals and use the popular D1247 pads. The standard two-piece rotors supplied with the Extreme+ front brake kit are 14 inches in diameter with 15-inch rotors optional (both are 1.25 inches wide). All Baer/Detroit Speed & Engineering systems feature directionally vaned (curved vane) rotors; all high-performance rotors are slotted, drilled, and zinc plated.
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Peeking under the rear of the Nova now would reveal a Baer/Detroit Speed & Engineering 14-inch Extreme+ system, also with XTR calipers. Like the front, 14-inch two-piece rotors are standard, with 15 inches being optional. Clamping on the drilled-and-slotted rotors are six-piston calipers with smaller staggered pairs of pistons—two 1.875-, two 1.125-, and two 1.00-inch—for a total piston area of 2.887 square inches. For a parking brake, the Extreme+ kit includes a Banksia system. An extremely simple design, this drum-in-hat style paring brake has just nine parts compared to the 30 in the conventional designs.
When it comes to choosing a master cylinder, Baer/Detroit Speed & Engineering offers three bore sizes to choose from: 15/16-inch can with manual brakes, 1-inch for power brakes, and 1-1/8 for hydro boost–equipped brakes. Rick Elam, the product specialist at Baer/Detroit Speed & Engineering, suggests using a vacuum booster, typically a 9-inch dual-diaphragm, if space permits, but cautions that 15-16 inches of manifold vacuum at application is necessary for proper operation. Elam also suggests that despite the caliper piston area being optimized from front to rear, an adjustable proportioning valve is recommended to help fine-tune brake bias.
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Take a tip from McLeod’s Nova: if your car has a high-performance engine, it also needs high-performance brakes. Baer/Detroit Speed & Engineering can provide what you need to ensure your car has the whoa to match the go. MR
Source:
DSE/Baer
(704) 662-3272
detroitspeed.com
Click on this issue’s cover to see the enhanced digital version of Ultimate Disc Brakes Conversion Kit: Detroit Speed & Baer Brakes.
