which brake pads?

[10secBu]

Stock GM disc brakes on a '79 Malibu. What type of pads should I be using. Got the front end apart for bushing upgrades and front brakes need some attention. Everything was new years back, but used all stock parts. Need to know what kind of pad I should use? something soft like a stock cheap replacement? or something semi-metalic, ceramic, etc?

Car is running 138+ mph, and is getting harder to stop. I plan to upgrade to aftermarket 4 wheel disc next winter, but need to rebuild the stockers for this season.

thanks for any input
Todd

 

[Supe]

I know that Hawk makes a drag racing specific brake pad. Otherwise, I was told to use the really soft stuff, as the semi-metallic/ceramic stuff doesn't have enough time to build up any heat.

 

[540Malibu]

i was very impressed with the ones i have for stock pads, i used raybestos brand semi metallic with riveted on backing plates. i think the major reason they worked so well was because of the rivet holes alowing the gasses to escape.

i also removed the dust shield from the spindle

 

[CutlassRacer]

Back in the days when stock eliminators had to use stock brakes, we used the cheapest pads that we could get for the fronts and then bought two sets of rear shoes to be able to use 4 of the shoes with more lining. The cheapie front pads are really soft and worked very well for us.

 

[Doug Keen]

IMO at speeds like ours, I don't think you want a soft pad on that thing. I use AE pads from NAPA on my Regal and for now it is fine absolutely no brake fade. I too plan on a disc upgrade all the way around in the near future. The AE pads from NAPA are their premium semi metallics, which should give you the best stopping power without brake fade.

 

[10secBu]

Thanks guys for the input.

I wound up ordering a set of Wilwood PolyMatrix E pads yesterday. We'll see how they do once it's all back together.

 

[Anonymous]

Why did you choose these over the other Wilwood options?

 

[10secBu]

Why did you choose these over the other Wilwood options?

I chose these by the recommendation from Wilwoods tech, plus a racer I know who runs a heavy (3800+ lb) bracket car that is quite tough on stock brakes. Wilwoods techs recommended either the Poly E or the BP-10 "smart Pad". I went with the Poly E since knowing one car using them with good success. This same racer used to run the Hawk "black" pads but he stated they were harder on rotors. The Wilwood Poly E seemed to be a nice compromise of braking power cold & hot as well as brake rotor life.

I haven't even driven the car since redoing the brakes & A-arm bushings. I will drive it one day this week to the alignment shop to "bed-in" the linings before doing some T&T this weekend at the track.

 

[Anonymous]

Did you get a chance to test the changes yet???

 

[10secBu]

The brakes work incredible now...amazing how well they stop. The only drawback is they dust the wheels pretty bad.

No conclusive results on the GW bushings.