Brakes are the most important part of a hotrod. Not sure who said that but it may well be true. Other contenders would be tires and engine. But we already know this old Dodge has tires, albeit skinny ones, and a hemi V8 engine. But does it have brakes?

If you can’t stop well, you’re going to rear-end someone with your fancy new street rod. It’s not If, it’s When. We’ve all had a scary moment when a car in front of us slams on it’s brakes and we’ve had to slide to a stop. If you can’t stop well, you’ll hit them, injure yourself and them, and destroy your beautiful creation.

That would be a cheery way to learn about new brakes for old rods, huh?

Older drum brakes like those this pickup was born with, when rebuilt, can stop well. But not nearly as well as newer disc brakes. Which is what the car in front of you has. See where I’m going with this?

So, we need hotrod brakes on our hotrod!

Switching to disc brakes on the front should be the minimum you do.

Many guys don’t want to run disc brakes because of their looks. If you are going for a stealth or sleeper look, and don’t want to give away that your 1935 Dodge is really a modern vehicle posing as an old timer, disc brakes won’t help you maintain cover. But even if the old Dodge brakes could be rebuilt to perform better, they wouldn’t really combine well with the modern suspension components already in place. No, not much chance that this Dodge will be mistaken for a strict restoration strutting along on its way to the concours d’elegance down on the beach with the wine and cheese crowd.

So, what are good guidelines? Without beating around the bush, buy Wilwood brakes. I am not going to do a commercial here. Just saying that Jay Leno uses Wilwood disc brakes on everything in his shop, and he could buy the Wilwood company. Jay and most every other high end hot rod shop uses Wilwood brakes and so did we. And not just the front but in the back as well.

If you think that driving around in a 1935 vintage vehicle is scary, particularly when boasting a high power engine under the hood with triple the original power, then what about rolling around with drum brakes and old, skinny tires that can increase 60-0 stopping distances to over 200 feet. That means every time you cruise in your drum brake–equipped street rod, it’s probably the worst-stopping car on the road. Even if you have the reflexes of a 13-year-old iPhone game geek, stock drum brakes can’t do much to save your fenders in a panic situation. Given these cold, hard facts, aftermarket disc brakes are one of the best upgrades you can make to keep your prized hot rod wrinkle-free and make it much more enjoyable to drive.

But the story can’t end here because modern power boosted disc brakes require a healthy master cylinder to push the hydraulic brake fluid through many feet of brake lines. How do you get from the brake pedal, with your heavy boot on it, to the calipers forcing them to squeeze the dickens out of the the rotor and bringing you and your machine to a fast, straight, controllable stop?

We decided to keep the big master brake cylinder off the firewall where it would be an unsightly lump competing for attention with the lovely engine. This clever piece of engineering enables the entire master cylinder to be turned at a 90 degree angle to the brake pedal instead of the usual 180 degrees thus causing the master cylinder to protrude directly into the under hood area and thus remains entirely hidden out of view under the dashboard.

You see the master cylinder completely hidden beneath the dashboard as expertly installed by Ralph. This was a trial fit before the cab had even been sand blasted. It fits perfectly but does occupy a lot of horizontal real estate also needed for wires, dashboard gauges, AC and heater controls, windshield defroster tubes, glove box, etc. It won’t all fit–or will it? Stay tuned.