Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

All great advice. Thanks everyone. I did a whole lot of thinking about what to do next on the brake front. I scrubbed the shoes, hit them with brake cleaner, and then let them warm up by the bank of water heaters. They got a little bit better, but were still soaked all the way through—way worse than the first time around. So, I did what any hot rodder would do: I took to the internet to find a creative solution. From what I had gathered, that solution was to buy an old toaster oven so I could bake the shoes.

Yesterday, I sent out inquiries about five different ovens throughout the city. I laughed at the thought of a $10, grease-splattered-and-heavily seasoned example with a lazy door sitting on my fire escape loaded with a pair of 1940s brake shoes. Within a matter of minutes, noxious smoke would billow out into the atmosphere like some sort of small-scale nuclear meltdown. Would it work? Your guess is as good as mine.

Then I took a step back. This is a car where I've done everything in my power not to take any shortcuts. Now isn't the time to start. So, with that, I called up Jeff at Moose Motors. He'll be re-lining and arcing the shoes for my drums, getting them ready to stop better than ever.