If you are driving down the highway in an older car, you are at a major disadvantage if you have to make a quick stop. Many of the high-performance cars being built today have fantastic stopping power, and if you can’t stop as well as the car in front of you, that could certainly be a big problem. The owner of this ’55 Chevy improved it with front disc brakes that work well, but he wanted the Chevy to stop even better, so he decided to add rear disc brakes.
In the process of rebuilding this Chevy, it was outfitted with a Chevy 10-bolt differential. This differential is a staple, and the same style has been available in many different GM cars, from early Novas to later-model Malibus. Rodders have found that the Nova and Camaro rearends are a perfect fit in ’55-’57 Chevys, so many have been upgraded with 10-bolt units. This disc brake installation therefore applies to many tri-year Chevys, and also to any other street machine or street rod that is equipped with a Chevy 10-bolt rear differential.
The owner of this Chevy contacted American Brake & Steering and ordered a bolt-on brake kit that comes complete with the brackets, rotors, calipers and all of the hardware required to make the conversion. After he purchased the components, he contacted Dream Cars in Simi Valley, California, to complete the installation. This kit is a bolt-on installation that requires no specialized tools. If you have a normal assortment of hand tools it can be done in a day. There are a few things you should know, so we will show you how it was accomplished.