We’re actually on Buffalo Creek in Union County. Also God’s Country. I chose this place because of its proximity to Penns. I have been up in that drainage and have an old 1920’s fly reel with “Roaring Branch” scratched into it. We’re pretty blessed here.
Outback and Dennis - thanks for the encouragement. I’ll get it sorted. There are currently dangerous thunderstorms in the garage, so it’ll be another day or so until I can get into it again. Perseverance contributes to achievable.
Ryan, glad to see the drums being put to good use. Although there's certainly no fine print with those brakes I sent over, it's worth noting that the provided shoes were arced by Randy Gross to work with those exact drums. The woven shoes will stop much better than the molded shoes you have on there for the service brakes. I know it's extra effort, but it'll help your car's ability to stop. If you do plan to keep them as-is, don't worry about a little bit of drag. The shoes will wear with a bit of driving. Keep up the great work. I love seeing the updates on this thread!
OK, You qualify for a lawn guy. Those brakes will be great once you sort them out. As Joey knows when properly set up and adjusted they work fine. Just a bit more attention has to be payed to them.
My Dad was from Salona...by Mill Hall. Used to ride the train to go see his folks. My grandparents would pick us up in Williamsport. I love the country there and should plan a road trip back sometime. Your brake drum and shoe set up should work just fine. I am running the soft, bonded brake block on my Vicky and it stops better than the woven ones on the Cabriolet...and the Vicky is heavier. The secret is to get all 4 corners to actuate at the same time. If one hits ahead of the others, the brake pedal travel stops and the others don't participate....not like a hydraulic system where the fluid can compensate for mis-adjustment until the displacement becomes too much... Gotta' get all the slop out of the brake lever components from wear. Disconnect the break rods at the backing plates and make sure the levers are all the way 'back' or brake shoes fully retracted Then adjust the brakes to where they just barely drag You have to physically hold the brake pedal all the way out from the floor With the brake rods still disconnected from the brake levers, adjust the clevis, on the brake rod until the pin slips thru the lever. (I use spring clips instead of cotter keys to make future adjustments easy.) Do this to all four corners. I stop on a gravel or dirt road surface...if one corner skids, lengthen the linkage by turning the clevis a half turn at a time until it doesn't skid. On a note about Teds floaters. You can't distort the backing plate with the mounting bolt...stud...fastener.. for the floater. Sometimes there is interference/fit issue and sometimes there isn't ...depends on the backing plates. If the backing plate gets distorted, the floater can't move back and forth Also, the Teds floater is prone to hanging up...rolling backwards will release it and usually with a slight 'pop' I've had to file, grind the corners of the floater to get it to quit being a *******. I also use a graphite, spray-dry lube...goes on wet but drys. Good luck there and it takes some fiddling but once you get it the mechanical brakes will stop on a dime and give 7 cents change.... Edit: Should also add that Snyders sells a cup that goes on the brake pushrod that is in the kingpin to the wedge. It lengthens the pushrod to help with lever travel geometry ...I've also just gas welded some length on the rod too. If the brake (pull) rod clevis is too close to the end of the rod, I have gas welded and forged rod together to lengthen... make sure you tighten the jam nuts
Thanks for all the comments. I’ll reply more later… I was taking care of the brake drum nonsense. Procedure: Crank with hub puller as far as possible. Get bent that the shoes have ****ed and everything is jammed up. Mount tire... yank... slam... Patrick Swayze Roadhouse kick... And we’re back to where we were two days ago.
A bunch of steps forward and only one step back? That is progress! Besides now you know you need to find more clearance before they go back together and from Joey you know they have been together before. Glad you got it apart.
That is starting to look pretty nice. There have been some fairly decent and reasonably complete A ch***is show up for sale in my area lately that make building one seem pretty interesting.
Oh it’s so interesting! We’ve been having fun. This is totally achievable if you don’t have an instant-gratification mindset.
Plan for today was to get the brake shoes swapped to the ones Joey sent along with the drums, but it’s storming and we’re under tornado watch. So… @kb cookout mentioned that I have early splash aprons without a “bump” and there may be clearance issues with the brake mechanicals. I got panicky so ran out between lightning bolts to see if I’m going to be grumpy. SEEMS like we’re ok. Once all the brakes are together we’ll mount these for real and make absolutely sure.
You're too far west! Here in Kelly Township, 10 miles east for you out of towners, it's barley drizzling. Today's adventure is battling bird poop from my feathered friends nesting on the rafter support braces. I asked the cat for help, but since it's not mealtime, it's nap time.
Alright. I'm 95% sure that my aprons have a bump. If yours give you headaches, I'll swap you for mine when I bring the fenders up. I'm using juice brakes, so it won't matter here. Anything to keep Spencer's machine on track.
We seem to have avoided the worst of the storms. But it was iffy enough to keep me under cover! The bird poop… constant battle for us as well!! Old farms, eh? Thanks, friend. I think we’re ok. Going through some info online, it looks like the hump was added for clearance of the emergency brake return springs… unless I’m missing something, all the brake linkage clears the aprons. But I could be missing something. First rodeo here. Or… first circus. Interesting. Airplane or boat?
I like the second one a lot. Should you letter it? I dunno... It's going to be a good looking car, no matter what. Those open cars have great proportions.
I’m going to. Spencer wants to make “merch”. That coat in the avatar was hand painted. Doing more than one of that particular design needs a silk screen rather than a stencil. I need to learn that skill!
Good lead, Crusty! Its too hot to do good work… I managed to get the brakes all put together with Joey’s components. And they roll nice! However… they both need come back apart. I forgot the emergency band springs on the driver side and on the p***enger side… I put the roller pins in backwards. So the head of the pin isn’t riding on the track. The cotter pins are. I think. It’s too hot!
I'm following your project in the quiet and I like your progress, and the black and white photos, very old school. Last week we had 90 degree temperatures here in Sweden and crazy high humidity, no fun at all. Now it's more managable at around 70 degrees.
Indeed, the shirts are cool, such a talented family, we all should be so lucky to be that talented and that creative! Thanks from Dennis.
Thanks for the support, fellas. Trying to gather the courage to attack the brakes. Again. The heat and humidity is oppressive. It’s like working in a fat guy’s armpit in the jungle.
The Jalopy Journal
