I have found an easy way for the back , E body rear drops in , cheap $ and gets you a solution to E brake hassles if going say 727, or 518. Not advocating trans swap just info, it comes up. E axle can be disc or drum, I chose drum. Available new aftermarket too . I did do one rear swap Dana 60 made for a race E body, into F , with Cadillac brakes, Cad has a caliper e brake.
However a great reason to get into this is ,IMHO, is it is practically impossible today to mount new 12" drums on the tapered hubs and have it come out right . Nothing to do with discs, that is a separate decision, ----Oddly, guys sell 12 " drums (kantor for one) for 57-62 , 11' for dodge too, same deal. but there are no index pilots on the hub . I think Chrysler machined the hubs and drums as a unit when these were made. Or some wild tooling. Including machining inner brake shoe diameter on the taper centerline , --so that part is perfect --and I think originally intended to be serviced as a unit. I notice some pretty beefy balance weights on some of them stock, as that factory approach might end up out of balance if drum casting metal happens to be eccentric to machined centerline. This is 1930 stuff.
I inquired, after really a LOT of pain while working with a great machinist (how do you mount the hub parts in a normal lath? Cutter is on wrong side, have to deal with centering taper(?) you have to make tapered pilot/ use live center , and any taper machining you do has to be perfect, as you have tapered air in the middle. . Quite a dance. We bought an old AAMCO (sp?) brake lathe taper set, but they do not fit small end, so we bought VW tapers , they do, but the two arbors are different OD sizes, and all this is $ and lots of frustration. And the end product still has slight runout. Even spent $ to have lathe checked , it was fine .Then 3 jaw vs 4 jaw.... Time is also money.
I discussed all this with older ex Brake Shop guy ---after literally 30 hours at trying to do it (drum can also "wobble " in that 90 degree to axle plane, a new hassle )------He told me there was a complicated process, to change drums on hubs, way back, special tooling for AAMCO brake lathe involving a "deep hole saw" looking cutter to cut 5 X around the studs where "swelled up ' or factory swaged to hold drum on hub (if you animal press it out , you destroy precision alignment /stud hole size as forcing the swage through rips it up ----been there,= hub is instant scrap metal) then they had special oversize wheel studs , that press through both stock old hub and replacement drum with holes smooth and sized for this --- and they were made to be swaged again from wheel side to hold drum. Another tool in a press. .So studs locate drum , only studs . and if not all clean , orthogonal and flat you get drum wobble. Turning after assembly did not fix it as the slightest wobble ruins that.
Now, later drums (or rotors) have a center pilot circle just slide drum/rotor off studs , drum is clamped but not centered by studs (dodge 11" taper hubs are now even rarer than 12, ,everyone has grabbed good 11" assy's from junkyards, since 60's) . Rotors can run out radially does not matter much, wear track lands where it lands.
So in retrospect, pedal still vibrates a bit on the car with all this, drum replacement on tapered hubs, gave up on fronts,(same issues as rear on this vintage) Not going here again.
--and as noted, runout in this radial direction with a rotor does not matter, if anyone ever did that w taper hubs . Forget it .
So what might be good is to work with like Moser or Strange to make flanged axles that fit the tapered wheel bearing set up (that is a great setup) but have 5 studs? Then put rotor or drum on (put pilot for drum/rotor on face ) like later cars. I have worked with them on other things,---- 5" bolt pattern and brakes in a mopar 9.25 axle truck to get GM 5" warn hubs on Dodge 4 wd. Custom axles, not too bad $.
Little different take on some very good reasons to solve all this. Call it encouragement. If your 300 brake drums hit the ID limit you will be a busy man as it stands now.(the cause of doing all this, mine had been turned by a moron in a "pro brake shop" beyond the max oversize.
Don't turn them is my advice . Ever , --- -scratches do not matter, your new shiny ones, post turning are scratched in 1000 miles, and are one step closer to scrap. . All info from school of hard knocks. Keep used shoes and matched drums on car, leave it alone if 50% left.
And discs do eliminate 'turning new shoes problem" in a total contact setup, if you do not, it grabs and pulls. Cannot find that "turn brake shoe to match drum" guy. . Large Discs on front and 17 " wheels, now you are talking, ----but not stock look . YMMV
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