----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 3:02
PM
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] '55 brakes
I don't know about where you are, but Rochester Clutch
and Brake in Rochester NY still relines our brakes and cam grinds them to
match the drums. some of the old stock brake shoes are oversize, and you wont
get a drum on unless they are ground to match. Dick
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 2:32 AM
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] '55 brakes
Gauge?
What gauge?
The
only thing useful for getting a good initial adjustment on the old
center-plane brakes was a shoe archer and I don’t know where you’d find one of
those anymore. But even not having one is surmountable albeit a pain. That was
something I learned on the very first driveway brake job I did on my ’57
Belvedere. Got all done and adjusted them (being careful to turn the adjusters
the correct direction) and, cautiously backing out and driving on side streets
only to find a very soft pedal. Re adjusting them didn’t help and it was only
after dad asked the mechanics (that’s what they were in 1962. Technicians were
the guys that played with oscilloscopes, gauges and dials in electronic shops
or hospitals) at Edwards Motor Cars. They told him that if hadn’t arced the
shoes all I had to do was drive the car gently and re-adjust them a couple of
times. I did and guess what? The mechanics were right. Two more adjustments
with putting a few miles on and the pedal was nice and solid. And the shoes
lasted as long as I had the car with normal adjustments after
that.
I’ve
seen a lot of crap written about how hard it was to get and keep those brakes
in adjustment. To me they were the easiest brakes to adjust, certainly easier
then screwing around with those star wheel adjusters on Bendix style brakes.
Once the brake had worn in to exactly match the drum (necessary even with
arched shoes) the center planes could be properly adjusted in minutes with
nothing more than a socket on a breaker bar. The hardest part (as with all
brake adjusting) was getting the wheels off the ground so they were free to
rotate. If a frame type garage hoist was available, great. If not, doing them
using jacks and jack stands was a pain.
The
two important things was to be absolutely sure the slot the shoe sat in at the
“anchor” (non-moving) end was clean so the shoe was free to slide as needed.
The other was to turn the adjuster the correct direction. As I recall
remembering that I haven’t done a set of center plane brakes since the black
1960 dodge Seneca 4 door sedan I did in 1970, both shoes on the front were
turned clockwise. On the rears, the forward shoe was clockwise and the rear
shoe was counter clockwise.
The
only gauge I am aware of that helps with adjust any brakes is the calipers
used to preset self-adjusting drum brakes. Those are totally un-necessary with
manually adjusting brakes and quite possibly a detriment on center planes. A
gauge that was attached to the spindle could be helpful in getting the anchor
end preset but the adjusters would still have to be set the “lowest” position
until the drums were on. But again I never used one. Doing the first test
drive and a few brake applications would set the anchor ends so after
readjusting after the test drive (Always a part of a brake job on non
self-adjusting brakes) they were good to go.
John
Hagen
For
a good number of years, I have been unable to find a suitable gauge to adjust
the brakes on my '55 Ply. Sometime ago, I purchased one of those caliper
types that measure drum/shoes diameter, but since these brakes have
two pivots points, it's difficult to use this gauge. The manual shows a
gauge that rotates on the spindle which is more practical and easier to
use.
I
find it hard to adjust the shoes without a gauge a pain since I don't know
whether to adjust the top or bottom anchor to fit them snuggly as this might
wear out one side more than the other one.
So,
does anybody know of a suitable gauge to use on these
brakes?
What
about the type of gauge that rotates on the spindle, is this still somewhere
available?
Jesus
'55 Ply Belv 6 cyl/ auto/manual brakes
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