An old post about Kinmont brakes showed up today, which made me appreciate the Wilson Welding brakes I have for my Model A project. I'd called Bob Wilson a month or so ago to order a pair for the front, with the question of whether they'd work with Speedway's new repop Buick drums. "Well, I don't have a set o' them here", he said, "so I can't say, but, the kicker is, I ain't making them any more anyway." I was disappointed, as I was counting on using them on this car, and shared my complaint here. A guy close to me here turned out to have two pair, brand new, machined for a Ford 9", so I bought those, and a pair of new Buick 45 fin drums from Speedway. Then, a fellow from Texas contacted me, who had a pair he took off his '27 roadster (built he said by Troy Ladd) to put disk brakes on, and would I be interested? Complete with refurbished Buick drums and Ford hubs. "Yes, yes I am", I said, so I now have a complete set. They will indeed work with the new drums, which I think I'll put on the rear, not that it matters much. One front backing plate has been beautifully polished, which is both good news and bad, since I now either have to polish at least the other front one, and two drums, or bead blast the shiny one to make it match the rest. Maybe the best alternative would be to paint them and just polish the edges of the fins. Anyway, the similarity, in both the appearance, and the rarity, given that Bob Wilson isn't planning on producing any more, and the fact that I KNOW the work great (having had them on the front of my '34) reinforced my decision to pull the trigger on this set. The rear set had been machined for the Ford rear, but happily not drilled for the flange, which is different on the 8" rear that I'm using than the 9". I had foolishly tried to drill them in one of the (brand new backing plates) myself, but I wasn't able to hold the backing plate on my drill press table and the drill wandered, so my buddy Jake is welding the errant holes up and using his new mill to re-drill the holes properly, and going to drill the drums and front Ford hubs for a small Ford bolt pattern, which is what I have in the two sets of wheels for the car. I don't know if they'll end up as desirable as Kinmonts, but they're actually prettier, they work, and I have four of 'em! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Good score! Polished no less! I’m agonizing over selling my setup, rather than hide them under the fenders of my 41 pickup. As soon as I do, I’ll have seller’s remorse. But I would have discs on my pickup. Sigh...
They really need to be out in the open, don't they? I don't need six of 'em, so my advice would be to keep them and build a roadster. That's how I came to be building the Model A, I had the DeSoto Hemi, so building a cheap roadster seemed sensible! ( Suddenly, it's not so cheap...)
When I bought my '31 Hiboy as a "mocked up" rolling ch***is with Brookville body about 15-16 years ago it had Buick drums on the front with Lincoln backing plate repros, most likely from Speedway and on the rear I could see Buick drum fins just peeking out to the inside of wheels on the 9"rear. I got it home and started work and discovered there were no shoes or anything inside the front, called Mr. Wilson and he sold me all the "innards" for the front. The back turned out to be just Buick drums with holes slotted to inside to slip over the ford lug studs just for show! There were stock Ford brakes and drums underneath, LOL. Finally finished up the car and have been driving it several years with Buick/Lincoln combo on front and stock Ford on rear, works fine. But I kept admiring those beautiful Wilson backing plates on photos and wanting some for the car. I knew that Mr. Wilson was about my age (83) and that if aging was affecting him like it did me that likely the day would come when he would say "enough", so I ordered a set of the backing plates with shoes, cylinders, etc. from him. They are still in the box he shipped them in over in a corner of my shop where I can open it up and admire then once in awhile! Still trying to get some other work done on this car and other things, but hope to soon put those backing plates on the front, take the current ones to rear along with the drums that were faking it on the rear. I have over 50 years as a machinist and enough machine tools to do the job. Just gotta get enough get up and go in gear.
I would think that is correct. The one pictured is a right side plate and it appears the steering arm is in the ‘mirror image’ of the missing fin. Which, were the backing plate mounted on the left, that is where the steering arm on that side would be located. That way, only one casting was needed to serve both sides. Ray
I didn't know how old Bob is, but I totally understand his situation. I'm 66, and I'd be hesitant to have several thousand dollars in raw castings setting on a shelf as well. Having done the '34, and having all the bits to do this at all 4 corners, it's no big deal to set them up for your front end. Do it! They look nice "as cast", so do it! I don't know if the Lincoln backing plates would work on the 9", is there enough "meat" left to drill for the 9" flange? Having said that, I enjoy just opening the box and looking that polished one myself! It's like automotive jewelry.
The rear could entail more work than it's practical to do, but after I get the front done I do plan to look it over. We used to run them on oval track cars, but that was using quick change rears with modified 3/4 ton axle housings.
Probably, although, the steering arm clears with no problem as it is. Which, is simply because I hung that backing plate on the right side because it's not up against the bench like the left side is, and I could take a photo!
The ones I have for the rear have a much smaller center opening machined out for the flange than the fronts (which are machined for the round 40 style spindles). My buddy is fixing my ham-handed (H.A.M.B. handed?) attempt at drilling the mounting holes in the one I Eff-ed up...
Sweet. As far as polishing Andrew (Andy) Tants does one nice job of polishing aluminum pieces from the rough.
I could do it, if I was motivated enough, but I'd have to buy some new sisal wheels and compounds for my buffer. My pal Crafty B is set up and does all his own polishing on his cast aluminum bits, I could take them up to his place and use his buffer, but, I think maybe painting them and just polishing the tips of the fins would be a viable alternative.
I'm sorry to hear that he won't be making them any more. I really liked them when they first came out but they weren't anywhere near my budget. A few years later a got a complete front setup in a labor trade, backing plates, drums, hubs, the whole enchilada. I squirreled them away until I had a suitable car. Now it looks like I'm going to use them on my '33 pickup, sure glad I grabbed them when I did!
Just ran across this. I've since acquired DOM's Roadster from his son Frank after Dave p***ed. I actually found these Buick drums and the new Wilson Welding Backing Plates in the box just as dave described in Dave's shop when we loaded the roadster. Looks like I have a new project! This lets me know exactly what I need to do with these parts. Dave wrote this 2-7-21. Almost right at a year ago. RIP Dom. You are missed my friend. Finding this is great but a phone call would be the best. Thanks, Josh
That's good to read, and sad to read all in the same pargragh. On the Wilson's maybe somethings have changed since a year ago, I believe Brian B*** has picked up all of Bob Wilson's torches and carrying them, so that Wilson Welding brakes live on.
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