Brake and Transmission conversions in a '57

I am not going to even attempt to tackle this one, other to say why? I have made the only electrical conversion from a generator to alternator which I would choose to make to my '59, and almost got blackballed from this group, but did save all of the old parts so it can be returned to it's original state. I would see no worldly reason to replace the emergency brake, and especially the fine transmission in these cars. I have recently had problems with a gaping hole in my brake booster, which I will be having repaired in the next couple of weeks, but even jury rigged with duct tape around the brake booster, I am able to drive the car short distances without too much worry. I am not one of the originalists on the list, but I try to keep everything as pure as possible. I just have a little problem coping with electrical failure. I would also have a problem with brake failure, but before my Imp. developed this hole in the booster I never had any qualms with the braking system, and I live in a very hilly area of Southern California. I have confidence that when I get the brake booster rebuilt the car will be as good as new, and that $5,000.00 engine rebuild my ex-mechanic recommended will be about as unnecessary as his advice. Even with duct tape the car is running as smooth as glass. I don't believe that GM made any better transmissions than Chrysler, and I would further venture to say that the '59 Cadillac was a mechanical disaster compared to the Imperial, and if you want proof just talk to my father who owned one, and his cousin also. I am fairly tolerant when it comes to keeping these old cars on the streets no matter what it takes, but to alter it significantly without a hope of ever bringing it back to it's original condition makes the car just kind of a shell or body sitting on something totally different. I doubt that many people have the space to store an original transmission, and then in the future know how it all goes back together again. We have the technology today to remove the sheet metal body of an old car and place it on a completely new chassis complete with new engine, and state of the art everything, but at that point it becomes pretty much the same as those Ferrari kit cars that you put on a Volkswagen chassis. It is certainly not a Ferrari, nor is it a Volkswagen. It becomes just a mutant.