The Ford Barn

HCO41 · 10-15-2024, 01:22 PM

My son and I are starting on our 1937 Coupe The '39 brakes were seized. So we decided to replace the shoes, wheel cylinders and springs. We bought a kit for '39 brakes.
We started at the rear. The parts were made in China. (JUNK)! Instructions included a note saying to grind off material at the cylinder end of the shoes if the drum will not go on after adjusting the shoes all the way in. I started getting suspicious at that point but we proceeded to grind off enough material so the drums would slide on with a little drag. When we went to install the Emergency brake hardware, we found that to get the anchoring holes to line up we had to spread the shoes. After getting the emergency spreader in place we found that the drums would not go on. At that point we stopped. I'm considering a "Lincoln" drum conversion using the wide 5 drums. I found one source that claims to be made in the U.S. They're made by Boling Brothers, out of California.

Have any "Barners" had experience with these conversions? Are there other kits to consider?

10-15-2024, 01:22 PM	#1
HCO41 Senior Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Lyndon, Vt. Posts: 459	'39 Lincoln style brake conversion My son and I are starting on our 1937 Coupe The '39 brakes were seized. So we decided to replace the shoes, wheel cylinders and springs. We bought a kit for '39 brakes. We started at the rear. The parts were made in China. (JUNK)! Instructions included a note saying to grind off material at the cylinder end of the shoes if the drum will not go on after adjusting the shoes all the way in. I started getting suspicious at that point but we proceeded to grind off enough material so the drums would slide on with a little drag. When we went to install the Emergency brake hardware, we found that to get the anchoring holes to line up we had to spread the shoes. After getting the emergency spreader in place we found that the drums would not go on. At that point we stopped. I'm considering a "Lincoln" drum conversion using the wide 5 drums. I found one source that claims to be made in the U.S. They're made by Boling Brothers, out of California. Have any "Barners" had experience with these conversions? Are there other kits to consider?