31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

Help! I'm fairly new to this old stuff and this forum.

So I have a 31 tudor with a desperate need for some brakes. It's been in a barn for who knows how long. One rear service brake rod was still attached to the car. So I buy a new set of rods. Fronts are no problem. Rears though aren't right and I don't know why.

With the front clevis pin in, the rear eye on the rod doesn't align with the eyes on the brake lever arm and you can't get the pin in. The rod is at an angle, but the arm is more or less parallel with the chassis rails.
Attachment 357109

If I attach the rear end of the rod (which is a struggle) and put the front on the cross shaft, the rod is bent. Can't be right.
Attachment 357110

The other side is exactly the same. All I could think was that the end of the rod would need to be bent, so I dug out the one original rod and the end is bent, but that still doesn't seem right to me.
Attachment 357111

I haven't touch the arms or anything else on the brakes, they're exactly as the car came to me. Could the arms have been swapped over to the wrong sides maybe?

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

Yes they were swapped. If you are going to drive the car, I highly suggest that every thing needs to come apart and inspected then repaired as needed. Brakes are something that repair should not be avoided. DO IT RIGHT YOU AND YOUR PASSENGERS LIFE DEPEND ON THEM.

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

I posted my experience here a few days ago. When I bought my car my rear brake rods kept bending like yours. Found out the car had early V-8 shocks and the arm configuration bent them every time. The rods should NOT be bent. From the looks of things it would be advisable to pull the drums and do a real evaluation of what you have. Not trying to rain on your parade......It's only because many of us have been there.

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

So I've pulled the assembly off one side and eventually got the lever off the shaft. Bit of wire brushing revealed an 'L' on it. The other one has an 'R'. If you're sitting in the car facing forward, the 'L' was on the right hand side. That confirms it, right? Or did Henry pick left and right as he stood facing the front of the car?

Bigger brake rebuild than I wanted at this stage, but it's got to be done now for sure.

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

L is on drivers side, R is on passenger side. It's as simple as that.

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

Welcome to the club Zephyr! Looks like you have a great straight ready to restore/drive car. When you redo the brakes make sure you get new cast iron drums, as they will stop you a whole lot better than the steel ones. Besides, the steel ones are not really designed to be turned. If you stick with the steel, then you may want to get the steel reinforcing bands to help dissipate heat.


Mike

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

You will be spending the money sometime so why wait for the inevitable inflation to cost you more by waiting to do the job. Have you inspected the innards yet? You may have a car that was stored away after a recent brake job.

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

"Driver's side" is a little ambiguous as I live in one of the few countries (UK) that have the steering wheel on the other side. However, the car is Danish so left hand drive all the same.

There is still some meat on the drums, so I was thinking of just getting them turned down a little to clean them up. If I do replace them, I'll be sure to get cast ones.

J, I like the inflation argument, I'll use that one the next time spending on parts comes up with my girlfriend.

I've had the car for a quite a while now and I've done some work on it, like a swap in an engine and gearbox as the the original was stuck. It's got different headlamps and now sports a windshield (a 28/29 windshield that needed some adaptation). It's got two 17 inch wheels and two 18 inch wheels. The 17s were on one side, 18s on the other. Must have been an early circle track racer. I bought it from a Dutch friend whose dad had bought land and a barn with a load of old Fords in it. From the paperwork (all in Danish) it looks like the car was last on the road in 1965 - the left/right swap of brake leavers certainly appeared old.

I'll be asking loads more questions as it seems the norm for the parts manufacturers to omit fitting instructions from all but the most obvious of parts.

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

Welcome to a great hobby, Zephyr!

Obtaining parts from the US will be a challenge, but it can be done. Be sure to ask for advice on parts and suppliers. They are not all equal.

We have other FB members in the UK. Perhaps add a location to your FB profile (county is good enough, if you are comfortable with that). I used to live in Berks., near Ascot. A beautiful place.

Feel free to contact me any time with questions at [email protected]

Most of all, have fun with it!

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

Wellcome to the Barn

Also join the Model A Ford club of Great Britain
We have about 350 members so some will be near you

John Cochran

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

Going right to your question, from the pictures the brake levers need to be reversed L to R and R to L. They is a twist in each lever. Remember the measurement from lever to lever across the axle housing is greater than the measurement across from lever to lever on the brake shaft. Hence the reason for the twist in each of the rear brake levers. Switch the brake levers side to side and you will be fine.

Good luck,
Sofield

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

Thanks for the replies guys. This has prompted a bigger brake rebuild than I planned, but I'll be doing the switch this weekend. I guess I assumed I'm the only one capable of making mistakes! In this case, the levers appear to have been undisturbed for a very long time. No pins in the castle nuts holding the brake assemblies onto the axle and no bolt in the emergency brake lever on one side. Someone was definitely tinkering!

I've shipped stuff from Snyders (like a new roof) and it was totally painless. Already in the UK Model A owners club!

Re: 31 Tudor new brake rods need to bend?
 

Unless you have a RHD car.


Sitting in the drivers seat and facing forward, Left side is the same as your left and right side is the same as your right.


Chris W.