I found this on another thread, Great Info: The procedure I used to adjust the shoe centering is as follows: With brakes fully assembled, the anchor bolt nut tight and with the brake drum in place I first loosen the anchor bolt nut slightly, just enough that I start to see the lock washer underneath it relax just a touch. Doing so will allow the anchor bolt to move but not let it go cockeyed from the tension of the brake shoe return springs. It needs to stay perpendicular to the brake plate. I then turn the lower brake shoe adjuster through the slot with a typical brake shoe adjuster spoon tool until the shoes contact the drum, the drum is locked and can't be turned by grabbing the drum with two hands unless extreme force is applied. I then take a rubber mallet and swat around the diameter of the brake drum, about where the top and bottom edges of the brakes are. If anything is hanging up the impacts will knock everything into place. At this point I grab the drum with two hands and try to turn it again. Almost always I find that it can be turned with a heavy drag meaning the shoes settled a bit and aren't quite as tight against the drum. I then tighten the adjuster 1 or 2 more notches as needed to lock the brake drum again. At this point I tighten the anchor bolt nut and back the shoe adjuster off 15 notches. The drum will stay locked until about the 6th or 7th notch. By the 12th it should turn freely without touching the shoes. The brake shoes are now centered and clearance set. I find that 15 notches on the adjuster is a good compromise so that the brakes aren't super touchy and sudden when the pedal is pressed.
Found this also: By chance did we speak on the phone some time back? This seems very familiar... Getting the shoes centered in the drum is a major factor in how well these brakes work. Just the slightest bit off and the braking power becomes significantly compromised! That large plate at the top/inside of the brake plate above the wheel cylinder should absolutely be parallel with the shoe and the shoe should rest on it along with the two raised areas on the plate about in the middle of the shoe. They are there to keep the shoe aligned parallel with the drum surface. It looks like your brake plates may have suffered some slight manufacturing defect and could most certainly cause the issue you (hopefully) were having by allowing the shoe to twist when applied. Good catch! The other factor that is so important is that the shoes are arc-ground to exactly match the radius of the drum so that you get full heel to toe contact. It is very rare to have a shoe match the drum perfectly right out of the box.
Well… I started finding some things… Take a look at the spring and tell me what you see? Also, I don’t know if it was just this time, but I put the anchor pin wrong. It wasn’t lined up with the flat sides. Also, the bottom front shoe moved a whole inch or so, and dug into the front of the drum. So basically, it was doing a twist in at the top and out at the bottom. And I think it’s mostly because of that spring and also the anchor bolts couldn’t move, in order to be adjusted properly. So I put the bad drum on and now there’s no uneven dragging. it is a straight consistent drag, I also hogged the anchor pin hole out, so the hole in plate and the support are even all the way through. and it has a little more adjustment up and down. Plus I am trying Rich’s spacer idea for extra alignment. I also used that guys method with the hammer, to center the Anchor and shoes, So…. wish me luck!!!! I’ll keep you guys posted!
Well… Partially Fixed…Jerry Rigged! The Spacer works great on top, and trimming the end of the spring to clear the shoe….fixed the hang up on top issue, However the one Slightly warped drum, still likes to feed the Bottom of the front shoe into the drum Face. So I swapped the shoes, and drums, from side to side That helped! ( reversing the direction?) I then came up with another idea. I installed 2 extra Shoe Springs at the bottom with the # 8 shorter pins, and that seems to work a-lot better. So I am gonna replace the other 2 Lincoln springs with the shorter pins, so its even all around. And stronger. I really feel that the shoe/backing plate springs are really weak on these reproduction Lincoln brakes. They move every which way.. they barely hold the shoes on the backing plate. So far each little improvement seems to help, and I don’t see it causing an issue since it still rotates and energizes. It just won’t go out from the plate now, towards the drum face, the spring Will bottom out way before that. What’s the worst that could happen? Maybe…. Wear-out the backing plate flat spots quicker? oh well, it still will be a lot safer. I think it was hyper extending the wheel cylinder pins when it was twisting because I lose all pedal when I was rolling, but when I stop, I would have a full pedal. I forgot to take a picture before I put the wheel back on, but where my fingers pointing is where I put the new ones I just drilled holes through the backing plate. It’s just ridiculous that you have to spend all this extra time and energy on expensive parts that you buy! I think I have like $1200 into these stupid brakes and Drums!
I am finally getting somewhere with these Effing Brakes!!! So I added number 8 pins on all four Shoe- springs! adding the 2 extra at the bottom really helped! Also, I use my little die grinder sander to get out any lines, and ridges in the drum. Then I sanded it by hand with 80 grit until it was smooth and also the high spots on the shoes now I can see where they are, so I think as they wear in, I’ll well, inspect, and just sand them every once in a while, and then eventually they’ll be the same shape . It was pulling to the face now it seems to work fine! I noticed as I was driving it, The brakes are working a little bit better Each time, I stop. I think eventually they’ll seat themselves, so I think they’ll be fine. Hopefully! cross fingers.!!! Also, I put the hood top on and gave it. It’s first bath.!
Remember, way back when I wanted to do the Patina thing?? Well, I forgot that the hood was that way! But now it looks like shit compared to the rest of the car lol!!! I’ll fix it eventually with my magical rest oleum turbo paint!!!
Working on the hood today! I can’t believe the hood has no body filler in it. No dents after 90 years crazy!!!
...Raw, unpolished, unfinished, I shared a bit more so you can see the aviation theme around the riveted aluminum with flows from outside to inside...bit of leg rubbing on the driver side......glad you got the brakes fixed...they are really critical accessories...
That is way cool!!! Is that a sports coupe? How’s the rattles with all those rivets? Or Is it pretty tight? Do you know what you should do is have the top lightly coated, in a flat white bedliner. Just tell them to do it thin so you could still see the rivets. I always love that aircraft look. I’m kind of fascinated with World War II planes World War II in general because all those brave young boys and men and women! building the planes!!! Back when it was man and machine as one together to kick ass.
Well, happy to report that the brakes are working good, and getting better as they wear-in. Those lower springs I added really helped a lot, specially, with those repo Buick drums, cause they’re an inch wider on the inside then the shoes. I drove her to work yesterday it was 39° and my Arvin heater is working awesome especially since I added the Bronco Manual water control valve. That way I can throttle the heat, instead of turning the petcock off turning the petcock on like the old Tap-in type. I just throttle the cable just like you would an old bronco or truck from the 60s. I also feel a lot better with lap belts, and door safety latches. Going to try and paint the hood top this weekend. Just got a wet sand it. Already rubberized the bottom! That’s it for now. Hope you guys have a great Veterans Day weekend. The wife is already planned out a bunch of free meals for the next two days since she’s the vet!
Just read the whole thing, Awesome! Total whirl wind of things going on and you made a real nice driver out of it. Looking forward to further updates.
Wow, you’re awesome it’s like 46 pages or something! It’s got a cool family story. Thanks for the interest.
Thanks 33...pretty good timing on this discussion...with the story on this Sport Coupe being an Aircraft Serviceman came back after WWII and bought an old car and made a Hotrod...move forward to 63 and here we have it...not my creation but I like it too...You are right that in Wartime those skins were painted so the suggestion to paint it is very valid but I like it unpainted too as after the war the bigger Birds were repurposed for civilian use with polished skins. On the exterior the bare Top matches the rear fenders which are also bare... I have cycle style fronts (vintage spare tire ring) I'm fabbing for the front and they're steel but stripped and fine sanded they look like the bare aluminum...Bonus! Noise, the coupe is raw...so no insulation really so it has rattles, squeeks and is pretty noisy...90+ decibels but truly it's not the riveted structures...The roof does oil can a bit with the wind, cooler temps and speed but I always say Hotrods weren't built for luxury... So that takes me to your discussion of Aircraft...I worked for 27 years at MDC in Malton, ON, a subsidiary of the former McDonnell Douglas Corporation your way and the plant I worked in was a former Canadian Wartime plant that produced WWII Lancaster Bombers, 433 of them in fact along with Britain that produced the bulk of the around 4333 total built for that hell that was WWII... I have two connections to those Lanc's...Grandma worked at the Plant in 1942 for three years working on them and in 1999 to 2014 I worked on removal and restoration of a Memorial Lanc on a plinth in Toronto as it was rotting up there...that's another roundabout connection to this postwar inspired Hotrod...It was built in Penna by Jerry here at the Hamb who has a wartime family connection so it really could have happened either side or our great nations really...Allied enough or what eh! I'm still having fun with this thing...glad you are too... Sorry long winded but it's really an interesting story all around...We'll remember them tomorrow but I think of those that met that hell and continue to even today...living or not... A couple of Pics... ...Lancaster WWII Wartime configuration... ...Lancaster Post WWII Reconnaissance configuration...Painted and polished ...Lancaster Post Wartime Civilian configuration...Some Paint mostly polished ...Restoration FM104 Stogy has a Moment of Silence with this Big Bird... Quotes... "3,932 of the Lancasters of 7,377 produced were shot down during the Second World War" "There are only two airworthy Lancasters left in the world" https://www.raf.mod.uk/aircraft/lancaster/ "About half of Bomber Command's 120,000 aircrew, 55,573 to be precise, were killed over Nazi-occupied Europe – the highest casualties of any unit in the Second World War and 15 times more people than those who serve in the RAF today. The average number of missions completed by Lancasters before being lost was 21" https://www.forces.net/heritage/avi...ish-ww2-bomber-took-fight-straight-heart-nazi Note that a huge amount of what we're looking on this Aircraft similar to the B17 is the same thickness aluminum skins and same size and style rivets as on the roof on the Hotrod... Not really OT because this is the inspiration around the Hotrod build...Jerry's influence would have been the B17...Jerry and Koz really nailed it in my opinion... We always talk of building to period so this is really a plausible story even if the build was 2010... Stogy's long winded but it's like we're in the garage shooting the shit so to speak... @33Doll you really done a standup job on the Doll... Maybe your next project might be aviation inspired...but there's no reason you can't have something in the Doll that fit the theme somewhere without being overdone... Cheers Hamber...
Well, got the hood painted! So…while I was waiting for it to dry. I was playing around with rubbing, out the fender that had overspray on it from when I hit it with the paint twice, back when I painted it. so you can see what it looked like before, and what the rest of the fender looks like as I work my way back. it’ll start to look better and better. The hood, I’ll let Dry for a month or so and then it should be pretty easy to Sand and Buff!
Yeah! And he said you can’t do enamel! Well it does burn up with a buffer, But slow by hand a little at a time Works.
Hotrod/Customs are cool, agreed...Jerry dreamed it up...plausible reaches back to a postwar origin...thats the inspiration...I can't recall if your sedan was an older Hotrod was it a stocker your Dad started with not that it matters...
It was bone stock and he added to it overtime, never redone, just refurbished in the areas he modified. I am the first to tear it down to the frame and back.
Yes, our Hotrod's have many evolutions, some older some newer...I love them all...I'm pretty open to the whole caboodle...you are really dialing in yours quickly...can you drive all year around there...I'm parked for 4 months or so now...
The Jalopy Journal
