<VV> Re-Brakes

[Ray Rodriguez]

     I have to agree with some of the others here.  Get the brakes in tip-top condition and then have your wife drive the car.  I find the feel of these old non-power drum brakes better then just about anything else.  They actually seem to respond more quickly then power assisted brakes, and have fantastic feel.  The Corvair brakes in particular require very little effort.

     The only thing I would prefer to factory brakes on my Vair' would be antilock brakes.... now that would have to be a heck of a project.  My girlfriend was completely comfortable with the factory brakes on her Vair' till a deer ran out in front of her.  She panicked, locked up all four wheels and held the brake pedal to the floor as she slid off the road into the woods.  She didn't do any serious damage to the car miraculously, and wasnt hurt at all... but a few months later she made me sell the car because she was afraid of locking up the brakes =(.  Now I'm back to only one Vair' and you know that not fair!!!  But even she will tell you it wasn't the car's fault.  She's one of those unfortunate people who panic and lose all motor function.  She knows how to modulate the brakes perfectly, but in a real emergency the pedal goes right to the floor.

I had my doubts about antilock brakes originally, but they've turned out to be fantastic, and I'll gladly argue with anyone who says they aren't.

Ray Rodriguez
CORSA member
65' Corsa 140/4 (under construction with stock brakes!)