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If the car was raced previously, you might have racing brake pads. While it would seem that racing brake pads would be better than street, they are not unless you get them real hot, like in a race situation. You may want to check and see what brake pads you have and if they are racing, switch to a street performance pad as you will never get them hot enough to work properly unless you are riding the brake all the time.
As other's have said, check to see if the brake pads are glazed as well. If they are not racing pads and glazed, they will not work well either. You can sand the glazing off of them. Manual brakes do take more effort than power assisted, but should still stop the car efficiently.
Jim
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