Buick finned drums front same as back?

Are the finned drums the same back and front? Could you use the back ones form a 50/60's Buick for the front of your hot rod?

 

The rears weren't aluminum. They are finned almost like the fronts but it just doesn't look as cool in cast iron.

 

I got some 80's POS in today that had aluminum ones on the rear. Those can be an option. I dont know if they are the same bolt pattern as the early ones.

 

Mid-size GM, 10" if I remember correctly.

Charlie

 

So the rear are cast iron instead of alu but other than that work the same?

 

The rear ones dont have a hub in them, and I would think that you cant swap one for the other. I'm not up to speed on Buicks right now, so I could be wrong.

 

Don't know why you would want to use the cast iron ones , but yes they would take a hub & work on the front.
A more sensible move would be to put front drums on the rear of a Buick & have aluminum drums on all 4 corners.
I did that to a 48 cad-- had to rework the drum to take the Cad rear hub & clear the backing plate--its built like an early Ford-- tapered rear axle with a key.

 

80's Metrics (Malibu, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Regal, etc..) and some 80's Camaro/Firebird used the smaller diameter aluminum drums. They are smaller than the 50's-60's Buick drums.

They will fit on the rear of most GM's from 1964 and newer. Bolt pattern is 4-3/4". They will fit on the front of Midsize GM's but the shoe lining width is wider on front drums.

 

Sciflyer72 is running the metrics out back and big fins up front. they have the came number of fins, and look darn similar.

to solve the pattern difference, initially, he ran multi lug wheels in the rear, and single pattern up front (or vice versa...)

now he's running wide 5's using speedway adapters. fronts are fronts, rears are rears.

it looks kick ass.

 

Can you take the rear backing plates off of a front wheel drive car and adapt it to use on the front of a rod with a dropped axle say? I noticed some mini vans have alumn finned drums.Seems like a good place for resources if you could adapt the center hole & holedown bolts to fit say a 40 ford center & bolt pattern or a early chevy!! i'm going to check at thelocal yard to see what has what.
the one thing about the buicks is that on a older drooped axle front end they look kinda bulky sometimes.
This might be worth digging into, we might be able to market them & support the Hamb and our drug addictions too!!
Cool
JimV

 

Jim;
I use AMC spindles to put disc brakes on early Ford beam axle spindles the entire spindle/disc brake assembly seperates from the AMC.by cutting the spindle shaft off the Ford spindles and with a little drilling you can bolt on a set of disc brakes AMC used this system well into the 80s.I don't see why you couldnt use this same operation to use late front wheel drive REAR brakes on something some rear wheel axles have bolt on spindle ends.by using a piecs of 3/8 or 1/2 inch plate between the spindle halves you could also offset the spindle halves and get a dropped axle without the hassels of bending steering arms or otherwise modifying the front suspension !