Technical 1932 ford roadster juice to bendix or disc

Dumb question; but I just saw another example of incorrect ***embly in a PM.

Are your shoes on your Lockheed brakes orientated correctly? Long linings go to the front and short to the rear.

Opposite of the Bendix style that most people are familiar with now-a-days.

 

I will have to check the orientation. I want
to say they are the same length lining but I could have swapped and don e 2 longs on one wheel and 2 shorts on the other wheel…

also thank you SDS, I’ll check that build.

First task is I checked the underside of the drums and both wheel cylinders are leaking…

I remember reading or watching a video somewhere that said the new springs have to much tension and pull the caps behind the rubber and they leak. That would kindof make sense with what I’ve been seeing. Originally my driver side leaked but p***enger didn’t. Then I noticed my p***enger side had the old spring where driver had knee spring. Swapped in new spring on p***enger and now they both leak.

I got the springs from Dennis carpenter. I’m sure they source from all the same factories over seas but has anyone found springs that work better than others?

 

Most if not all the current China made front wheel cylinders* are made wrong. The drilling is such that the lip of the cup in the large bore is uncovered when retracted fully.

We found that by milling the slot in the piston about 5/32" deeper it eliminates the problem.

Some people cut back the ear on the shoe to achieve the same thing. Personally don't like that idea even if it achieves the same thing.

Some people say they are able to turn the adjuster cam out during ***emble to preclude the piston traveling in far enough to uncover the lip; tried that a few times with new shoes; either was to far out to fit drum and leaked when un-adjusted to get drum on.

Can't really believe the "spring is too strong" story; hard to fathom the pistons retracting so fast they damage the cup. Makes no sense if you think about it.

*Likely the wheel cylinders all come from the same factory across the Pacific. We had NAPA, Raybestos, plain bagged wheel cylinders from some Early Ford vendor, can't remember the brand from AutoZone, and when compared; they were exactly the same! drilled the same, leaked the same.

 

I have a couple of cheap brake pliers and they don't function well on hooking and releasing the spring. I bought a used Craftsman and they are excellent

 

Yeah, your leak is probably caused by the poorly machined new cylinders, which I explained way back on page 2. As Rich B says, the springs can only pull the shoes in as far as the cams will allow. The strongest, or weakest, spring in the world won’t make a difference in reducing the leak.

 

Well, I'll be damned...
Do I have my shoes on the wrong feet?

 

SDS, the Bendix (Lincoln) style like you have require the long shoe on the back.

The Lockheed style like 39-48 Fords require the long shoes on the front.

 

@RICH B and @alchemy im having a hard time conceptualizing the problem. So when the brake is in a neutral non engaged position the large cap sits so far back it is behind the inlet fluid hole? Or the end of the large cap where it catches the brake shoe is so far back it sits behind the rubber sleeve?


Once I understand that maybe I can understand the milling.

I get cutting the end connectors of the shoes but not sure how far to cut and would like to understand the problem fully first

 

The fluid inlet hole through the side of the cylinder is drilled at an angle. I’ve found new cylinders where the inside of that hole is a bit too close to the end of the cylinder. The inner cup lip will p*** over the hole, letting fluid leak past, and to the outside.

If the new cylinders had come with inner cup spreader springs like they used to in the old days, you might be ok. But if you push the cups in as you are ***embling the brakes, there’s nothing to push them back out before you put the fluid in (and let it leak through). That’s why we were saying to ***emble them with the cams cranked out and adjust the cams so the drums just barely fit over, BEFORE you start bleeding the brakes.

 

If you have original cylinders and shoes, you can get them rebuilt and relined by Brake Warehouse in the twin cities. They can arc the new linings to each individual drum for a perfect fit from the first press of the pedal. It’s worth the extra cost.