My 54 Plymouth has the original drum brakes all around. Have new master + wheel cylinders, springs, shoes, etc. I redid rears but had to get a local shop involved to get fronts done. Stops okay but still taking some getting used to. I'm so used to modern discs and its been a while since I've driven anything with drums all around. Any suggestions on breaking 'em in or is it a "the more you drive" situation I'm dealin with?
Plydo make a disk conversion for the front of your Plymouth. Pretty straight forward kit.. PM me if you want contact info for them..EVILT
just curious when you stop how far off the floor is your pedal? i got a 53 dodge and my brakes suck -dan
The double wheel cylinder, non self energizing brakes on Plymouth's and Dodges can be a bear to get correct. They are very sensitive to proper arching, of matching the shoe and drum diameter. There are two adjustments for the main anchor pins and the minor adjustment cams. there are two schools of thougth among Mopar enthusiats. The touch feely school, and the you can't get a good adjustment without using a brake gauge like miller or Ammco. Also thrown in for good measure is the pedal free play adjustment on the linkage to the M/C. I have a 46 Plymouth, I had the system done by a fellow at a commercial equipment shop who had about 45 years in the brake business. My brakes stop reasonably well, the pedal doesn't move more than 2 or three inches from the top of the stroke (after 4 years). The only problem I have had is premature lock up of the right rear in a near panic stop. An adjustment cleared that up, and some fade when driving in hilly country. Obviously they don't stop a quickly as new disc setups, but are very adequate for "normal" driving. For a good basic setup go to the P15 D24 website WIP in the left scroll down menu this will walk through touchy feely setup on a Dodge Pickup. Also the Graham Paige club tech area shows the making and use of a homeade setup gauge, and walks through its use. (they used a similar system) http://www.members.shaw.ca/graham-paige/don1.jpg http://members.shaw.ca/rjsill/tech.htm Also, sometimes these systems will apply themselves and not release, this is usually do to the reliefe hole in th ebottom of the M/C getting fouled by a piece of rust or other stuff. This hole aloows the fluid to return when the brakes are released. If it becomes blocked the pressuere won;t release and you are driving against the brakes causing heat and more pressure. A paper clip down the hole will usually free this problem. The other point of blockage is the vent in the M/C cap. Also don;t over fill the reservior, leave a bit of air space at the top of the M/C. The plymouth Dodge site seems to be off line due to server problems or I'd post the link to the brake page www.p15-d24.com Lots of good tech info there for Mopar Flathead sixes and other period mechanical systems. Sorry for the long winded post, but opposed to Enzo Ferrari's felleing the barkes ara no important, dey just slow you down, I think we all agree that brakes are quite improtant.
Here is the info for MOPAR brakes from 42 till 60 or so. http://www.merc583.addr.com/mopar/framesets/wipbrakeframeset.html
Thanks for the info. May brakes work OK but driving in heavy traffic is no fun. Pedal travel is 2 to 3 inches but the pedal still feels a bit soft. The guy that did the front brakes drives a 58 dodge pickup with a similar setup and he used the touchy feely method of adjustment. I've had the brakes apart myself so am familiar with the adjusting system just not very confident in getting it right. The MC is new as well as most other parts. Got them from oldmoparts and Kanter. After spending the bucks on the original rebuild hate to spend the bucks to do a disc conversion but may do it just for the peace of mind. When the brakes were rebuilt I tried a couple shops to get the drums turned but they took one look and said they wouldn't fit the lathe so they are back on just the way they came off. They weren't in too bad of shape so I'm not overly concerned about that. My front was lowered with a coil cut. The original shocks were left on the car. I have an old magazine that shows a bracket kit that could be installed to mount the tops of the shocks higher. Looks fairly straight forward. I found a bracket from the front of an 80's Ford Econoline van that looks like it would do the trick. Bracket acutally was for the front brakeline setup but is fairly heavy duty and bolts to frame. Any pointers on proper location and mounting would be appreciated. A guy with a similar setup said I need to knock the rubber stops off the frame to keep the suspension from bottoming out. Is that a good idea?
I'm a firm believer of the corrrect tool for the job, in this case. I have a '50 Plymouth with the same front brakes. I bought the Ammco tool to adjust them, and after using it, I don't think you could possible get them right by "feel". There are two adjustments, major and minor. And one effects the other, and vice versa. I had to adjust both the major and minor several times in sequence to finally get the shoes centered in the drum. There's no way in hell you'll ever get it right when all you can "feel" is if one of the shoes is draggin inside the drum. By feel, there is no way to tell if it is the tow, heal, or middle of the shoe. By using the tool, you assure that the entire surface of the shoe will be in contact with the drum. The tool also measures the diameter of the drum, and transfers that measurement to the shoes, making sure that they center in the drum. I drive my car daily in all kinds of traffic situations, except heavy freeway traffic, and feel like the stock brakes are adequate when adjusted correctly. Of course they will never be as good as a disc conversion, but thats a given. Pete
I agree with Blueskies, but I made my own tool kinda like the one on the Graham-paige site, but out of metal. Once you figure out the program it is relatively quick and easy to use. If I had to rebuild/ buy new everything, new shoes, turn drums, etc. I would just go discs for about the same total cost (this is what I am doing on my Chrysler), but on my Plymouth I made the tool, kept the drums and they are working OK too.
Anybody ever used the Plydo disk conversion kit? Does it work well? What years will it fit (like will it work on '37 Plymouths)?
I have heard good and bad about PLYDO. The bad has always been about getting catalogs and such, not about the quality of their product. In my catalog it looks like they do a kit for your car. They seemed to know what they were talking aboout when I talked to them. Here is their number.. 304-475-3245
Ya just have to get used to driveing 'em. back then you had to know how to drive, remember? The shoes will break themselves in within a few miles or should. I think you'll find that in a panic stop if you slam the brakes it will lock the tires up just like about any other brake. They will fade quicker than discs and if your used to antilock brakes you'll have to develope the habit of working your foot a little.
"Olddaddy" on the Hamb makes a disc conversion kit similiar to Plydo but less expensive. This is what I'm using on the Chrysler. I'm not done yet, but quality seems good. Here's his post from the classifieds: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65770&highlight=plymouth+disc
Southfork; I have installed the PLYDO kit on my P-15. I bought the basic kit from PLYDO and everything else from the local auto parts store. Total cost around four fifty. Instillation went well and they work great. Don Coatney
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