Automotive American – Classic Vintage & Modern
Tag: Brake Drums
As a follow up to the brake drum investigation post (link below)
Gave the drum a good cleaning with the poor mans Dremel rather than the lathe, and yes the crack is too bad to use. Can’t take the risk with brakes.
As can be seen, the crack covers the entire width of the braking area. Should be able to salvage the hub as it appears to be the press in type. So now looking for new drums, update to follow.
There has been a recirculating grinding type noise coming from the Model A on hard left hand locks since we changed the brake back plates.
Simon and I set off on a road test to pinpoint the noise and Simon nailed it!
The noise was coming from the right hand rear wheel.
After removing the wheel and hub/drum assembly we found a couple of issues.
The brake shoe issue was alleviated by grinding the metal edge off the brake shoes
Once this was achieved the drum was placed in the lathe and a small amount of material removed to ensure that the drum and back plate were no longer in contact.
A final road test confirmed that the diagnosis was correct and the treatment had been a success!
Here’s some photos of the work carried out
My friend John is restoring a Model A Roadster, I poped over the night to check on his progress.
The frame has been powder coated and a number of ancillaries have been refitted, it looks great , I’m very jealous!
He also had an old frame that he’s breaking for parts, the frame had a juice brake set up, so I am going to buy the front drums as they’ll match my 1948 setup on the Sport Coupe.
When I bought my car it already had the 16″ wires with V8 hubcaps, and a fairly badly done hydraulic brake conversion.
I’ve found a page on the excellent Model A Ford Garage website, which describes a good method to identify the wheels and brake drums. Weather permitting I’ll see how I get on with the identification this weekend.
I’ve got the following issues with the right hand rear brake
Expecting more grief from the rest of the “upgrades” to the braking system 🙁
Took a first look at my rear hubs, brakes & axle shafts this weekend, learned a lot 🙂
Learned that the rear axle shafts had been shimmed, also learned that this is pretty common practice 🙂
Learned that the rear shoes need some attention, along with the backplates and hardware.
Happy that I was able to remove the hubs with my three legged puller, and I need a different castellated nut for the OSR (I think?? )
Got some useful info from the H.A.M.B. always 🙂
