Weak brakes on 30 Roadster Survivor

Didn't think of the firewall bowing - thx

 

nice score man. You here in san diego?

 

Things i do when fixing or rebuilding brakes on an old car

#1 turn drums

#2 relign brake shoes

#3 rebuild or replace wheels cylinders

#4 rebuild or replace master cylinder

#5 check over and or replace brake lines and hoses.

#6 ARK BRAKE SHOES

#7 ADJUST BRAKES CORRECTLY

brakes arent something to mess with and car should be taken to make sure they are safe and good.

The biggest thing that people dont to nowadays is arking the brake shoes, it makes the largest difference in a brake job, people always complain about 40 ford brakes and drums in general, come for a ride in my 34 p/u and ill put your face into the windshield, its all about makeing them work correctly.

IF youve done all the above and they still dont work check the brake pedal ratio.

Good luck you have a neat car.

JEFF

 

do the simple inexpensive things first---could be glaze on drums or shoes...

 

Yep, La Mesa area

 

Got the brakes running great now. Thanks to all for the feedback.

 

Your white survivor and also the blue one in this thread are very cool. Nice cars.

 

What was it?

And, what is arcing the shoes?

 

Great !!!
And yea , what was it ?

 

Arcing is grinding the shoe radius to match the exact diameter of the drum that that shoe will be used on. There once was a rearcing machine at most garages...not now.

Any car that has a complaint on the brakes, you always want to look at the wear mark on all the shoes. If the drum is way too big (worn out) of a diameter compared to the shoe, then only 1/3 or 1/2 of the shoe is really grabbing.

 

Cool im in el cajon.

 

m/c rod length ... may need a sorter rod as its bottoming

 

Might have been one bad piston...
Went through everything, flushed system, resealed one piston, etc. Now it works great.

 

I had a customer with a nice '37 Ford, but he couldn't stop it with both feet.
Pulled all 4 wheels, inspected cylinders, measured drums...(I had a machine, so arced shoes)

Just prior to his buying the car, the seller installed a Wagner M/Cylinder, it was chrome.
I measured the bore, it was 1-3/8" diameter.
Customer HATED removing that chrome master! LOL
Replaced it with the right bore... car would lock 'em up after the repair.

The guy STILL asked me if I was SURE he couldn't put the chrome one back on?

 

Correct bore M/C should be 1-1/16" .confirm no frozen W/Cs . I have found old lining seems to not have the same friction qualities as it did new. Those early ford drums can measure 12.090 to be usuable per Ford specs. Check pedal ratio needs to be in the 5-7 to1 area ,6 to 1 prefered. Make sure you hav at least 75% lining to drum contact.