Am looking for a machine shop that can check a Model A police head for cracks and make any necessary repairs. Also looking for someone with a brake lathe to turn a set of Model A cast iron brake drums. A bunch of the shops recommended in past threads seem to have closed down over the years. Thx.
The only issue with finding someone to turn the Model A drums is that some shafts on the brake lathes may be to large of a diameter to fit though the hub and allow a cone to slip in the outside end of the hub. Other than that they are just brake drums and the fronts shouldn't be an issue. Some places act like they are put upon if you carry a set of drums in to have turned but to me it is just about the easiest money that a mechanic can make.
I was just thinking about this the other day when I was inventorying the parts for the brake and suspension upgrades on my Tudor. It’s been about 25 years since I retired from NAPA and was thinking about them getting rid of all of the lathes in the stores back then. I called around to a few of the box stores and found out that it’s a thing of the past. As far as I know the days of mom and pop owned parts stores are long gone in the big city but was able to find one at one of my customers shops that I can use whenever I want to. I know of a few mom and pop owned NAPA stores in the rural areas that might have one but for the most part this is a thing of the past. It’s too easy to buy new rotors and drums when you do the brakes on these cars nowadays and the need is not there anymore. So now I’m looking for a brake lathe for my garage just so I can keep working and maintaining my H.A.M.B. friendly cars.
I have logged hundreds of hours on Ammco brake lathes. I could cut anything with some effort, even big truck full-floater drums. I had to get creative with the adapter cones.
If you can't find anyone that can do the rears, you might try a VW specialty shop as they need the skinny arbor for their drums.
being a machinist working in a job shop, you would not believe how many brake drums i have turned on a engine lathe for coal and log trucks. i only ever done one set for myself, and they were fine. not saying to go that way, but it could be a option. i never touched a rotor, and pissed a few people for not doing them.
Go to C H Topping & Co. 520 West Esther St. Long Beach, 562 432-0901 Talk with Vinny Absolutely the best!
I used to use Vellios Machine shop in Lawndale, (310) 643-8540 . Definitely in your neighborhood. They were excellent and I assume still are but it has been 40 years. Charlie Stephens
@reffiesj @a36bonanza Hello, I thought that place looked familiar. It has been several blocks away from our old Westside of Long Beach house. We lived in that old house since 1953 and have used the shop during our old cruising days and beyond into our early married life. It has the reputation of quality work and excellence in products. So, yes, definitely give them a call. It is only about 17 miles from Manhattan Beach to their shop. Jnaki Long before that whole area was built up with industrial shops surrounded by homes/apartments, there used to be a giant government sponsored tract of small trailers. It was set up in a two-three block area starting at San Francisco Avenue on the West, the PCH highway to the North and Daisy to the East. With 17th street to the South. It was a huge complex of trailers built especially for the aircraft industry during ww2. After the war, the tenants moved out and the whole area was for rent to anyone. Our family and our relatives moved from the Oregon border of California down to this plot with small trailers. It was to be our home for the next several years until our dads could save up enough to buy an actual house. It took our dad two years in savings for a down payment. The trailers were built right up to the now Goodwill Surplus Center located on PCH. That place has been around since we were little kids, too. The C.H. Topping shop is in the next block over from Daisy on Esther. 520 West Esther St. Long Beach, 562 432-0901
Our local Orilies has a drum and brake lathe, as far as I know, its the only brake lathe in town. There is only one guy there that can sort of run the machine. He charged me $20 to cut .080 out of one brake drum (the max allowed on what was a pretty smooth drum, he took 3 cuts to fix the 1st cut he screwed up), the replacement drum I had to buy afterwards cost $35 (total cost was $20 + the $35, a half hour later). That was probably the last drum I'm going to have turned.
I have a buddy with a shop, he has the drum/rotor cutting equipment, which he rarely uses. I borrowed the drum lathe to cut my rear drums. Everyone in the shop was impressed that I knew how to use one. I have been thinking about getting a lathe so I can make some extra coin on the side. I saw this on CL. https://newjersey.craigslist.org/tls/d/boonton-reduced-again-ammco-brake/7689913708.html
I see Ammco and other brands on Craigslist all the time from anywhere from 2 grand to 3500 with attachments. BUT they never seem to have the arcing attachment. Seems to me that's an important part of the process. But as usual I could be wrong.
A lot of the shoe arcing machines went in the trash/scrap when the news of asbestosis started spreading around. Probably a fair amount of truth to the concern before brake lining all got converted from asbestos. Those machines has a dust collection bag on them, but they pretty much were intended to collect up the mess and not to protect the operators lungs.
In the town I livc in if you had a brake lathe that you could turn drums and rotors on and the equipment to clean heads and grind valves word of mouth would keep you busier than you might want to be. I think the O'Reilly's and Autozone still have brake lathes and the two tire stores do but one of them gets pretty whiny about doing it on carry in basis. Back about 30 years ago I worked in Tieton, Wa in the Tire store end of Jim's Garage a local institution there. I was doing a number of brake jobs and got tired of walking back and forth to the other end of the building to turn drums and rotors and got them to move the brake lathe down in our end. It blew the boss's mind that I could pull the first drum or rotor and stick it on the lathe and start it and go take the second wheel a part stopping only when I needed to reset the lathe for another pass and go again. The guys in the other end of the shop had him convinced that you couldn't walk away and leave it run and would stand right there and do nothing while they were turning drums or rotors. As far as the buy new rather than have turned, a lot of the rotors for boxes with wheels actually can't be turned as they have no extra material to do so.
You need Randy Gross. His shop is in Montebello - 714-292-8660 melmodela@aol.com A wizard at Model A brakes. He'll fix yours or can sell you new at a reasonable price if yours are junk. Be sure to take your shoes so he can arc them to the drums. You can check the head yourself. If you find cracks consider it a wall hanger. There are many repro options. http://www.modelatrader.com/brumfield/brumfield.html Has some high compression cast iron ones for less than $300 or an aluminum one at other places for $600+. Get a kit to check your old head https://regismanufacturing.com/kwik...P8QLoEcJM4hNw--Ayw3JSyrmx7jQEW2hoCfVUQAvD_BwE
The Jalopy Journal
