'39 Brake Questions
 

Hi All,

This is my first (probably of many) post here. I joined because my father will be handing down a '37 coupe to me. It's currently a 60hp car, but he's got a Walt DuPont 8BA to be installed (hence the future questions).

Anyway... Today's question is about brakes. The car has a '39 hydraulic brake conversion. One of the wheels seemed "stuck" when my father last tried to move the car. Adjusting the eccentric adjusters didn't free the wheel, so we pulled the drum and it was clear that some moisture had gotten in and deteriorated the friction material on the shoes. Surprisingly, the rest of the mechanism looked good. All this detail and the real question is just who you like for a source for brake shoes. We'll likely replace them on all 4 corners.

Feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions or need any other details.

Thank you,
Bob

Re: '39 Brake Questions
 

I like to have the original shoes relined. Several places do it, I use Minneapolis brake and equipment in minnesota. Where you at?

Re: '39 Brake Questions
 

On a car that has sat for a while, I would rebuild all four wheel cylinders on the car to prevent the possibility of brake fluid leaking onto those new shoe linings and ruining them. The brake cylinder kits can be installed without removing them from the backing plates. You will need a hone to clean up the cylinder surfaces. Unless any surfaces are badly pitted or scored, resist the temptation to simply replace the brake cylinders with reproduction parts, as some are known to have problems.



Swaping from 60hp to 8ba is an non-trivial chore, but has been done many times, and for each issue, you can get advice on this board.

Re: '39 Brake Questions
 

Be sure to have the shoes arced to match your drums whether they are new or relined. The supplier should be able to do it but if you look for an independent shop to do it after you have them you may have trouble finding someone.

Charlie Stephens

Re: '39 Brake Questions
 

Replace the brake springs too, there probably ready to break. I replaced the brake springs on vehicles when they needed shoes, and the springs were about ten-years old. I was a fleet mechanic, and ten-years was about it for the springs on vehicles that were in use every day. Also, if I'm remembering correctly the drums need to be machined to within .010 of each other on the same axle so they will stop straight. We could get away with not matching the drums on the rear if the vehicle had disc brakes on the front but with four-wheel drum brakes it you want it to stop perfectly straight you need to match the drum sizes on each axle.