Re: [Chrysler300] Brake Drums

[Gary Nelson <Gary@xxxx>]

Hi Gang
I will look into this brake issue. I was lucky my C project that sat for 25 
years when I bought it. The drums must have just been replace after the 
trans dumped and never moved after that. My front drums cleaned up at .010" 
over.
I will look at other drums I have to analyze the lost art that John refers 
to. I also like Georges remarks to replace the studs. This would overcome 
the worn or rust pitted studs we often see. The challenge is getting 
correct size.
I have made many a tool to work on my old parts. As I have a machine shop 
in my business this is easy to do.
The tool required to cut the staked area around the stud and one to re 
stake would not be difficult to make. We also have a 25 ton hydraulic H 
frame press to easily push out studs and a 50 ton stamping press to re 
stake studs.
I also turn my own drums as I don't trust the under paid and under trained 
personnel,(for the most part) that don't realize the importance in the set 
up so the drum surface runs true to the spindle or axle shaft that they 
mount to. after turning I mounted mine to spindles and axle shafts,(no 
backing plates) to check for run out. An indicator showed that I was less 
than factory spec. of .005" at the outside edge of the drum surface.
If anybody is interested let me know.
Last but not least the hub cap masking project is almost complete,(yea 
right he has been saying that forever). The photos of application are on my 
web site and the detailed instructions are complete and will be on my site 
next week. During this time I have completed the masks for 61 Dodge that 
Larry J. needed. Those will be on there also.
A project that I thought would take a few weeks took a few months.
The big effort was all of the thought process and writing detailed 
instructions to make the masks as easy to install as possible.
When my site is 100% complete I will post on List Serve. After that any 
body with a different cap can send it to me as Larry did and we will do the 
reverse engineering to get the mask made. Of course your cap will be returned.
I am not familiar with all 300 caps but did see photo of a 63 and would be 
good candidate for mask set.
I will also be doing masks for any make or model that at least has the 
potential to sell a few.
Gary The Parts Doc

At 08:50 PM 10/13/2001 -0400, John Hertog wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> Local brake shop in my area is run by an older man, who used to work for the
> county garage in the late 50's early 60's , and serviced all the Mopar cop
> cars. He's taught me much about the 55-64 type of brake drums. He spent most
> of his times trying to keep the brakes working on these cop cars - not an
> enviable task. They were the weakest link...Basically, where we stand today,
> there's almost no way to "do it right" . If your drums are worn, firstly,
> there are almost no new replacement drums available anywhere, and at a
> reasonable price. And secondly, the technology to remove the old drum from
> the hub and replace with a new one has pretty much disappered.
>
> These drums are indeed an integral part of the hub; they are held on to the
> hub by the wheel lugs, that have been staked over to hold the drums in
> place. In order to remove a drum from a hub and replace with a newer unit,
> there are two special tools involved.
>
> Tool #1 is made to "cut" the peened - over section of the wheel lugs. Then
> the lugs can be pressed out of the hub, and the old drum easily removed.
> NOTE : any attempt to press out the lug WITHOUT cutting the peened-over
> portion will result in damage to the grooves in the hub that hold the lugs
> into place !
>
> Tool#2 is made to peen over the new lugs once the new drum is installed in
> the hub (with new lugs already pressed in ) . This duplicates the process by
> which these things were manufactured.
>
> The big problem is that tools #1 and #2 are NLA - no longer available. I
> have seen them listed in old Wagner brake tool catalogs and such. Since
> such drums went out of style many years ago, brake shops have forgotten this
> technique, deep-sixed or lost the tools, and none are to be found anywhere.
>
> So - conclusion? our best source of drums is - salvage yards. There's still
> a good supply of these out there, with plenty of meat still on the drums.
>
> John
>
>
>
>
>
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