Brake and suspension upgrades are usually one of the first things to be done to a newly acquired old car and oftentimes one of the most needed. Big heavy drum brake systems that were antiquated when new don't perform like a modern disc brake system and fail to offer the safety that contemporary brake packages do. But simply slapping on a new pair of binders is not that simple. Many of the existing brake and suspension components need to be addressed as well.
Recently, our buddy Dick "Magoo" Megugorac picked up a '63 Chevy Impala to take out to the local Phoenix cruise nights and was spending many a day with Dean Livermore at his shop Hot Rod's by Dean. While the Impala seemed to run fine and went down the road well enough, it lacked some of the creature comforts Magoo desired. But things like air conditioning, a necessity in the Arizona summer, would have to wait for the most important upgrade to be made first: the braking system.
Weighing the possibilities and various kits available, Magoo decided to go with Classic Performance Products' (CPP) minimum offset disc brake kit for the Chevy's stock spindles. Their kit comes with everything needed to upgrade the old shoes to modern discs, from the master cylinder to the dust caps, including a new hard brake line and hoses. It was also decided at this time that the suspension would get a fresh overhaul as well so new bushings, ball joints, bumpstops, and outer tie-rod assemblies.
We spent a day down at Hot Rod's by Dean and hung out with Magoo while he made the swap and upgrade on the old Impala and while he's more at home working on Highboy roadsters (he's built a few dozen) he found his way around the big Chevy just fine.
