So my Dad and brother picked up a 9" ford out of a 58 T-bird to use in my brother's (fleetmaster) 47 Chevy coupe. However I am having a helluva time finding brakes for this thing! We had dutchman machine new axles based on the stock dimensions, with a the addition of a Chevy lug bolt pattern. But now I can't find anybody that makes the brake drums. My dad and bro destroyed the drums when they dis***embled the rearend, ***uming they would be easy to replace. However, this happens to be an odd year! The parts store catalogs skip right over the 57-58 brake drums. Napa lists the shoes as 11" x 2". I called Currie and Dutchman, but they supposedly can't supply or build them. The housing end is an early large bearing, the drum register diameter is 2 7/16" and the brake spacing I measure at about 2 3/16". Dutchman told me that the drum register diameter on my axles was too small for their brake drums. Currie told me the drum register diameter wasn't a problem, the problem was the brake spacing, there smallest being about 2.35" I also called ABS power brakes, and the guy there had heard of this problem before. He said the T-bird, Fairlane, and Ranchero rearends from that year were all the same, but they didn't have anything that would work. So my questions is... has anybody had this problem before? or does anybody have some decent brakes from a 58 they are willing to sell us? Thanks!
Try this place. They deal in T-Bird only. They are in Portland Ore. Bird Nest 503-231-6669 or on line at www.tbirdparts.com They have helped me out many times. The Wizzard
The Jalopy Journal
