I'm reworking my front brakes. I have rebuilt my calipers, and had the rotors surfaced. I thought I should probably put new pads on at this point, since the *original* ones (I think they are actually pads I installed in the mid 70's and drove on for a couple of years), which are worn about 1/2 down, and the car has 'sat' for 33 yrs.
Alas! When I started looking for replacement pads, all of them I've found are a *different configuration* than what was original on the car. All of the ones I've found available now have added area for holes which the caliper mounting pins go thru (on the outboard pad). They *look* totally different, although it seems they will work, and might even have some advantage over the original configuration. A mfg photo showing the addition is attached.
Since I'm attempting to maintain the factory originality of the car, what should I do?
1) Use my existing pads, even though worn, as the car probably won't be driven very much?
2) buy the available pads, and *remove* the additional metal from them before use?, or
3) Do the judges overlook such changes?
4) Another option I've heard of, is to send the original pad metal backing to a 'brake rebuilder' who will rivet new pads to the old metal?
PS. I haven't yet found a source for option 4, but I've been told it's possible..
What say you fellas?
