Although working on the brakes seems a long way off for my project, I intend to do exactly as Arran suggests. On my 51 Limo, I intend to service the Ausco-Lambert brakes as they are and bring them to servicable condition if at all possible. I love learning about new (or old) technologies and the way they used to do things. So iften, the way things used to be done were superior to the way they are done now, they were just not as economically viable as some other ways. We aren't necessarily getting better cars, we are just getting more profitable and more marketable cars...I digress. Keep it stock if possible is my motto. If not, make sure you can change it back in the future. ----- Original Message ----- From: "A. Foster" <monkeypuzzle1@xxxxxxx> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, July 25, 2005 1:43 AM Subject: IML: Re:Ausco-Lambert Brakes (was 1954 Crown Imperial Limousine-WPC meet 2005 Hi; The disk brakes on these cars are designed and function quite differently from the Budd brakes on later cars. The full name of the braking system used on these cars is called The Ausco-Lambert total contact disk brake, they do not have callipers and rotors they have a system more in common with a clutch from a manual transmission with frictional material bonded to a plate which is pushed against the inside surface of the iron housing to stop the car. One interesting aspect of these is unlike the modern disk brakes they are self actuating and do not need a booster. All too often there is a temptation with some people to chuck out and replace something slightly unorthodox that they don't understand rather then investigating more and trying to make it work. I for one would dig into it to try to get it operational just to find out how it performs, that's what makes it interesting. Anyone can go out and drive and modern car, any day, with all of the latest performance and characteristics; not everyone can go out and drive a surviving piece of 50+ year old technology, especially a Crown Imperial Limo, so why try to make it like everything else? The argument of "better to have it on the road" is getting a little old with me; when you have a car of such limited production I think that it would be better kept in a museum or restored properly then to hack it up to fit expediency or some whim. From what I understand about the brakes on those cars the only parts that cannot be found are the cast iron housings and the pressure plates, everything else can be broken down into it's constituent parts and replaced. The wheel cylinders, according to Kerry Pinkerton, are the same as those used for the ordinary drum brakes, the springs, bearings, nuts, and bolts can all be substituted with proprietary items. The pressure plates, although unobtainable new, can have the friction material replaced by any shop that rebuilds brake shoes and clutches. If I had a car so equipped, and could not make the system serviceable, then I would convert it over to the drum brake system used on other Chryslers of that year as the spindles are the same. When you have a car this old the majority of its parts will have to be either rebuilt or ordered from mail order outfits like EGGE, most cannot be found on the shelf at your local NAPA, that's just par for the course. What I don't understand is why he swapped the engine over from a 331 to a 392, if he wanted more power then the substitution of a 354 would be more logical as it almost a bolt in and uses a block of the same deck height. Again I hope that he kept the original parts around and documented everything that he did so it can be converted back if need be. Best Regards Arran Foster 1954 Imperial Newport Needing a left side tailight bezel and other trim parts. I could use a pair off of a lesser Chrysler but that would not be right. ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm