Jorg , all of my vehicles are virtually 100% stock. I have been driving my 1956 Coupe DeVille as my primary vehicle for 25 years. It has excellent drum brakes will cruise at 80 miles an hour for 9 hours straight without breaking a sweat on its original engine that has never been rebuilt.
I use the 1950 Chevrolet pickup for work and regularly drive 55 to 65 mph on interstate traffic, and in stop and go rush hour traffic on the freeway. It also has properly rebuilt stock Huck brakes. The engine itself has never been rebuilt as far as I know. At least not in the last 30 years.
Four wheel drum brakes when properly adjusted and kept in good order work perfectly with no drama. Why do you think tractor trailers , dump trucks, and box trucks, etc all use drum brakes?
How fast do you want to drive in an antique truck? If you put a V8 in it are you really going to be driving 80 or 90 miles an hour? I doubt it.
I'm a firm believer in not trying to reinvent the wheel with my vehicles. The engineers that designed them knew what they were doing and they function perfectly when properly maintained.
All of my vehicles with the exception of the modern (post 1972) Ford trucks, have breaker point ignition, single brake reservoirs, and drum brakes.. I have never been worried or afraid of driving any of my vehicles in modern traffic on any type of road.
I understand the limitations of each vehicle and I don't attempt to drive beyond their limitations.
I vote for keeping it stock. One advantage to that is that if something breaks, you have a shop manual right in front of you that tells you exactly how to fix it.
Last edited by Otto Skorzeny; 10/20/2026 6:33 PM.
