Technical Buick drum conversion help

I have 2 sets of buick brake drums I am converting to early ford for my hotrod. I have one set apart but the other I can not for the life of me get the hub out. This 2nd set has the hub protuding out the drum more than the first set which dropped right out. This one will not budge. I heated up the hub with no luck and now I am going to let it soak overnight with Kroil. Any sugestions?

 

When removing the hub make sure to support the drum from the back to prevent cracking the drum. I've done dozens and the hubs can be stubborn.

 

First, hit the drum on the flat surface in between each of the lug holes, the shock will help break the bond between the hub and the drum formed by age and heat cycling. A brass hammer or a mid-size ball peen with a big aluminum or brass chunk will help prevent damaging the drum surface.
Put a cold wet rag inside the hub where the bearings go and heat only the drum, try not to heat the hub. As Krylon32 said you need to support the drum (only) from the inside. Tap the hub with a brass hammer, it should drop out. Worked for me.

 

Yes, that is my next step but have to find some tubing big enough.

 

Maybe ghetto; but once I remove the studs and drill & knock out the rivets, I take the drum and bang it down flat on the floor. Never had a hub that took more than banging it down twice for the hub to drop out.

Seems a lot better to me using gravity & inertia to get the hub out than taking a chance to bend or crack the drum center by pounding or pressing on it. Of course you have do it flat so you don't mess up the fins.

 

When the Mrs goes out put it in the oven for an hour so it expands the drum.

 

A couple years ago I did 14 drums in one sitting. I don’t remember having to heat any of them to get the hub out. Try wire brushing the gunk off the hub to help it go through.

 

Thank you all for the help. I added kroil to the flange a couple times, let them sit over night. Cut some wood blocks for backing support, put them back in the press and pressed the***** out of them until they popped. They were in there tight. Took a lot of force to get them out. No hammer was going to get them to move.

 

I hate it when people do not post when they are finished with a project. So here it is.
After getting the hubs out I cleaned up the drums a bit. Started looking for some 46-48 drums to finish the project. We'll I could find them but they were $100 each. So I spent the extra $100 and bought plug and play hubs from http://www.basskustom.com. they were $295 plus shipping. No modifications needed to the hubs as the registered on the current drum diameter. Transfer punched the hold pattern and drilled them on the drill press.
I bought bearings and bolts elsewhere and saved some money on the project instead of buying them from bass.
I then had to cut some of the inside material that supports the steel liner so the drum would clear the backing plate like the original drums did. I had to cut it so the diameter was 12.600. It then fit like a glove. I did not want to cut any of the fins like others have done as i wanted them to stick out far. I do have a cnc mill so I built a fixture and cut them. Now I just have to get the drums turned and they are ready to go.

 

Hi Srfnken,
Beautiful job.
I had to trim some off the outer edge as well, backing plate clearance. Did it on the brake lathe at work. Drilled them for the hub bolt pattern, studs through the drum from behind, flange on the outside. I love polishing, but they are just a little too many. Too many years ago, but I think they were rears originally. Found by a friend next to a garbage can in Pacifica, CA. and donated to the cause.
Mine are the 90 fin and stop perfectly from 130 MPH runs on my Coupe. (2,000 Lb. car). '40 Ford plates as you can see with the solid anchors. They are quite heavy with the steel liners. Big style points, though.
409 Bob .

 

Nice! Got you bookmarked. I have this ahead of me as well. I’ve been looking at all of the threads on Buick drum conversions, and I think I’ve got the solution for my setup. I haven’t checked yet, so I hope both the 45 and 90 fin drums are otherwise pretty much the same.

 

And of course they are a must for '50s Olds rear ends.

 

Beside Olds/Pontiac it is pretty easy to put Buick drums on a 9" rear. '50s Buick rear plates with the ugly trimmed off, a centering ring on small bearing rears or lightly sand the center hole for big bearings, a ring to pilot the drum on the axle (not in the picture), and finally transfer and drill the bolt pattern in the drum.

Lynn Pew (RIP) gave me the lowdown on this conversion.

 

@409 Bob your drums look good. Yours stick way farther out than mine. I did not think the drums were different dimensions or your hubs just make them stick farther out.

 

I like the look of this so much.