Help with Modern/Pro Touring Wheels/Brakes--Finished Pic Added 10/23

[Snake45]

I'm Snake-slapping together a '69 Camaro, Pro-Touring-"ish" style. This is just a curbside/shelf model, not an A-lister or contest quality, but I don't want it to look stupid (or maybe I should say, "even more stupid").

These are the wheels/tires I'm using, from the AMT (ex-MPC) "Resto Rod" '69 Mustang. They scale out to 17.785" so I guess they're supposed to be 18".

Now I would prefer to just have black showing through the spokes but I gather that with modern big wheels like this, the brakes usually or always show. I have the disk brakes shown available, from the Revell '66 Chevelle wagon. They will go into the wheels, but they take up all the space (i.e., no air showing around them. So my questions are:

1. Can I just go with basic black wheel backs (inner) and not worry about the brakes at all, or would that just look stupid?

2. The Revell Chev wagon brakes measure 13.875" in diameter (are they supposed to be 14"?). Are they actually too big for 18" wheels? If not, what diameter am I looking for? (Maybe I can find some simple washers at the hardware store that would look the part.)

3. What's a good color for disk brake rotors? Kit chrome doesn't look right to me. I'm thinking maybe the dull side of aluminum foil might be close?

4. I gather that red is a common color for the caliper portion of the brakes? Are they all red, or is that just associated with a particular brand? What other colors, if any, are applicable?

5. What position should the calipers be in, any particular spot? Speaking of a clock face, are they usually at 1:00, 3:00, or whatever?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer this "living in the past" kinda guy.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Snake45

[Ace-Garageguy]

A couple of answers...

5) Calipers these days are typically mounted to the rear on front wheels, to the front on rear wheels...but not always. Google pix of a similar car to what you're doing to get a most-plausible clocking.

4) Wilwood, Brembo and Porsche calipers, among others, are most commonly red, but ANY color is acceptable. Calipers are routinely color-matched to a custom vehicle. Personally, I favor flat-black for heat dissipation on real cars.

3) On the street, the surface of most rotors you will see is cast iron or steel, but with a swept / somewhat shiny look from moving contact with the brake pads. I like Testors buffing-metalizer "Titanium", buffed, to simulate the look.

[hgbben]

2) Most proper 1:1 builds have a rotor almost maximizing the inner diameter of the wheel. Bigger is better IMO.

1) I personally would not put wheel backs on if at all avoidable.

[Exotics_Builder]

Well, you could do the hat and caliper in black. Wilwood offers the following, but I would have no idea how long the rotor would retain that black finish in real road use:

[Kennyboy]

That rotor Gerry is painted black for shipping and sale display purposes......the first time you hit the brakes, the black will go away from the swept surface but the hat will stay black.

Snake, you can also use a stainless steel washer for the rotor: Spin it on a drill and use an old flatblade screwdriver against the spinning washer to create the rotor machined look, then attach the caliper from the assembly above to it.

Looks like this when done \/

Edited October 18, 2014 by Kennyboy

[Exotics_Builder]

That rotor Gerry is painted black for shipping and sale display purposes......the first time you hit the brakes, the black will go away from the swept surface but the hat will stay black.

Snake, you can also use a stainless steel washer for the rotor: Spin it on a drill and use an old flatblade screwdriver against the spinning washer to create the rotor machined look, then attach the caliper from the assembly above to it.

That makes more sense although I have seen one at a show on a pickup truck. I always wondered if that had to be a trailer queen as I could not contemplate how any finish wouldn't be abraded by the pads.

[Guest]

You could go either way. Some allow the disc brakes to show because they've spent high dollar on them. Some put plastic shields on the back of their wheels to keep the brake dust off of their high dollar wheels. Neither way is right or wrong.

If you want a little air space between your wheels and your rotors, get the disc brakes from any of the Revell '32 Fords. They're smaller and made for a scale 15" wheel.

Edited October 19, 2014 by plowboy

[Snake45]

Thanks all for your very informative posts! I learned a lot!

Since "plain back" seems to be a viable option (the protective plastic backing plates), I'll just go with black wheel backs for the moment--at least until I see how I like the whole build all together. I tried the Revell Chevelle disks behind these wheels and thought they looked excessive--if I'm going with visible disks, I think I want a little air space around them to define them. I think 1/2" washers would give me the look I want--next time I'm at the hardware store, I'll pick some up.

Thanks again for all the help. And Plowboy, that '66 Impala model is outstanding--I thought it was a real car for a minute!

[Snake45]

Was over at my folks' today and went through my Dad's massive junk hardware drawer and found a number of thin 1/2" washers that should make lovely brake disks. Shouldn't be too much trouble to fake up a little red "hat" for four of them. Will post pics when I get them done. Thanks again for the help!

[hgbben]

Be nice to see what they look like when done

[Snake45]

As mentioned, I found four 1/2" washers yesterday and worked with those. I made a simple little fixture to turn them by hand against some sandpaper to take off the original goldish finish and give them a little circular wear pattern. Then I made the caliper portions out of some scrap plastic--the ID tags off the sprues of a Monogram '65 Mustang molded in red. Would have been easier to use plain sheet styrene but I wanted to use red plastic so I didn't have to worry about painting a perfect line where they meet the disk. Here's the four disks with the red tabs superglued on, and the first one has been filed down to shape, as per the nice photo above:

I WILL paint the "face" of the caliper units bright red but wanted to go ahead and get an idea of what this would look like, and take and post these pics.

Here's how it looks in the wheel:

And here's the chassis, the disked wheel on the front (the brake's not glued to anything yet, and slipped a little out of place), a plain black backing on the rear. Does the disked one look better, or plain black? I had about two hours in this altogether--was it worth the time?

[Kennyboy]

Definitely go with the disks!!

Was well worth your time, and will make the build look great!

[Exotics_Builder]

Definitely go with the disks!!

Was well worth your time, and will make the build look great!

X2!

[Guest]

Time well spent IMO. Now, cut the tops of those fenderwells off and lower it down a few scale inches.

[Snake45]

Now, cut the tops of those fenderwells off and lower it down a few scale inches.

I've got it sitting just about where I want it. I might need to deepen the fenderwells a little all around to keep the tires from hitting the inside of the body.

[hgbben]

Those look great Snake

[Snake45]

Okay, got the brakes all finished, painted, and installed. Do I have the placement about right?