The 56 Buick rear brakes have the same hole pattern and the same offset as most of the 9" Fords. In other words, bolt the rear plates on the Ford axle, redrill the drum patter and slip it on...you're done. I found this out when I was playing around with rear discs from a 70's T-bird. They'll bolt on to the Buick axles as well. 50's cad also uses 12" brakes and use the same rear plate. The front brakes on the caddy are more similar to the 58-60 Buick. I can't recall the offset but I can check it out. Got a bunch of these 50's and 60's Buick plates. I've used or sold alot of the quick bolt-on plates that will fit early Fords though I think. If anyone needs any info concerning a certain palte fitting a certain axle, I hould have what's necessary to check the compatibilty.
What I have is a early ford REAR hub, turned on the back side to fit snugly in the Buick drum , I would center it, on the OUTSIDE of the drum, so that when the Buick hub was reinstalled the undrilled bosses would fall correctly. Drill one ford pattern hole , install a temporary bolt & nut to insure no movement, then drill the rest. Then reinstall the Buick hob , using bolts & nuts in some of the buick stud holes, & then drill the hub thru the new Ford pattern in the drum. You will need a drill press with a large enough throat to do this , a bench press won't do it.
A machine shop could do it, would be my suggestion anyway to ensure they are right and they should be able to do it without removal. There are a number of ways to put studs in too, lug stud, socket heads, etc. I know it's not the cheap way, but............. I'm trying to get Marq to measure his hubs to verify if the early ones will work too. Ol Fueler's idea works too, putting that first bolt in is critical! One word of caution : If not comfortable with this don't do it, things can go south real fast if your not tuned in to everything that's going on while drilling these in this way. I didn't notice if he mentioned it but transfer punches are necessary.
IRONHUNTER posted an answer to install the Buick backing plates to a late model Ford rear. On the 'T' in the photos that I built; I used the complete 1956 Buick rear axle and torque tube (shortened considerably). Bolted right up to a 1938 Buick top loader trans. This bolts right up to the Buick standard shift bellhousing with the exception of one ear. I drilled and tapped for that one. The engine is a 1956 Buick nailhead.
Alright here's some pics to sink your teeth in to. The inner adapter is an aluminum mock up, because I was not ready to put the real ones on permanently yet. These show the nut when assembled, the backer mods I did, whole assembly in the drum and the relief machined in the drum at the iron liner. I also got some rough dim's of Marq's 58-60 hubs and from what he's given me compared to my 61+ hub everything is within 1/16th so I am going to assume it will work on the early ball bearing hubs as well.
Looks good. I understand a little better now with the pics. The mods to the backing plates are pretty simple. Looks authentic.......works like new!
29 RAT - what did you do on the bottom of the backing plate with the two holes? What shoe mechanisms are you using? I haven't looked at my brake guts lately so maybe that is a dub question.
The late backers actually have what look to be swaged pins and not bolts like early ones, they also have shoe registers on them that early doesn't, anyway I cut the pins off inside ground em flush so from the outside they look original. I am using late 70's GM 12"x2" self adjusting self energizing brake setup. I also cut that whole pocket out and recessed it for the adjuster.
Ray Thanks! Is there enough metal on the 9' axel to redrill in the Buick pattern? ( I have 5 nice 56 Buick rims with WW's
Frisco Thanks interesting info. I have a 56 standard bell and just let a 56 3speed with floor shifter go by on E-bay with out bidding. I really want an overdrive tranny so I can highway drive with lower rear gears.
What does concern me though is that i also have a cone on the front bearing and think this may move when all bolted up.I need to take some photos for you and post them on here..................Marq
My 2 cents.... I would think it may depend on the pattern in the ford axles, if you have 5 - 5.5 I would assume your OK. BTTT
Post some pics, but I don't see how it would move, this in essence is no different than bolting them on a buick spindle. The large keyed washer and nut keep everything in place.
The Buick is 5 on 5", most Fords 9" are the same or 5 on 5.5" so yes there is enough. I'd have to get out and measure anything other than that. I used a 55 Ford passenger rear under my 31 Plymouth, and put on 60 Buick front backing plates with 64 finned drums. That rear, by the way, is the same rear from 49-56 as far as I can tell. The plates were the correct spacing on that rearend. I used the original Ford axle pattern on it and redrilled the drums, and for the backing plates I had to open up the center hole and re-drill the holes to bolt to the axle housing. Last night, while I was laying there trying to go to sleep and my mind running 240mph, I remembered something else on the 50's Buick rear plates bolting to the Ford axle; I think I did have to modify two of the mounting holes. It's not a big modification, but two holes don't line up. I had to weld up ttwo holes and grind it smooth, put bolts in the two holes that lined up and marked the two that didn't line up, then drill them. Not a big deal. This post and discussion has got me thinking about a lot of this stuff and trying to remember a lot of things I've done in the past with the Buick brakes. If I can this weekend, I will lay out some of the different years in the shop and do a little remembering with the camera this time. Frisco, thanks for sharing your stuff. You know, we could get together and write a pretty interesting book on just this sort of stuff. Be nice to have all this info in one location...
This is a great thread. Thanks for the information, guys. Last year when I asked some of these questions, I got responses from HAMBers that were all freaked out. "I wouldn't do that!" "Dont mess with the brakes!" After those HAMBers who were too scared to try improvements, I saw information where a guy turned his mechanical backing plates upside down on a Model A and added hydraulic cylinders. Hooray for the thinkers and innovators!
I didn't have time to read the whole thread if you mentioned it.....but are you're adapters going to be heat treated ? I think unhardened would peen and wollow out from the weight and beating on front spindles/bearings over time.
Given the application and the tolerances I'm holding should be a non issue, however I have deferred this question to the shop I'm working with since my metallurgy is real rusty. However I have done things like this before with no trouble.
I won't be around probably till Monday morning, anyway we got enough interest so Monday I will start finalizing everything and get back to everybody on payment etc.
In the interest of making the quota, you can put me down for two sets, rather than the one set I spoke for.
Looks like we made it, time to ante up. I'll send PM's too just covering the bases. Here's the deal - Get the cheese coming pronto so I can get em going, 5 or 10 off the top for my gas etc., and figured since we reached the quota that we should show the Man a little respect so I added a bit for the HAMB. $50 / set shipped in USA others will be handled acordingly $42 for additional sets Add $2/set for Paypal (ckirby@whaleysteel.com) or Money Order to: Chris Kirby 3441 Crandon Dr. Davison, MI 48423
I got a sneek peek at this set-up yesterday. After the welds are cleaned up and the p[lates are painted, noone will know the difference. Chris and Terry really did their homework on this one.
Alright there going to the machine shop real soon! if you want in let me know, I'm not running but a couple of extras.
Order is going in today, still a few days though to add to it. Also I got pm's from enough to make the quota,but so far only have less than half the dough. I'm going forward with the order....
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