Brakes – Part 2

The first thing I am learning from this project car it that time flies. I started working on the brakes almost a month ago and this past Sunday the car was finally drivable. I am sure glad this car is not my daily driver!

Re-assembly of the brake system went smoothly. Of course every project has some “issues.” I first installed new wheel studs in the rear axles, changing the driver’s side left hand threaded studs to right hand threads. To keep the axle from turning as I pulled the studs up, I placed a bar through the back plate and then through a hole in the axle flange. This kept everything from turning as I installed each stud.

The first little problem I ran in to was that I could not easily install the wheel studs in the front wheel hubs. The front wheel studs must be installed with the hubs off the car. Unfortunately, as I tried to tighten a nut down on the stud to pull the stud through the wheel hub, the hub kept turning in my hand. I could not find an easy way to hold it still so I had to come up with a jig. I ended up using 2 of the wheel stud holes to bolt the hub to a 4’ x 2” flat metal bar which I then bolted to my workbench. This allowed me to install 3 of the studs. Next I modified the jig so that I could bolt it to 2 of the just installed studs, then again bolted it to the workbench. This worked great.

Another issue I encounter was with the rear brakes. A little U-shaped clip is used to hold the parking brake bracket to the brake shoe. That U-shaped clip was a bear to get back on. The clip was thick enough that squeezing it closed while holding it in place took several attempts. I should have replaced it with some type of snap ring.

After I had all the shoes and springs installed on all 4 wheels, I realized that I had mixed up the primary and secondary shoes. I had to take everything apart and switch them around. It was amazing how fast the parts went together the second time around. Note to self: The primary shoe is SHORTER and goes to the FRONT.

I installed new inner and outer wheel bearings in the front wheel hubs. They installed nicely but I realized that the inner bearings required oil seals and that they did not come with the bearings. So it was back to the auto parts store to pick up a couple oil seals.

Finally I packed all the bearings and the wheel hub with nice clean grease and installed the hubs and drums on the front of the car. All four tires were then installed using a new set of lug nuts. With a little help from the kids, I manually bled the air out of the brake hydraulic system. The car is still not tagged so our test drive was limited to the neighborhood. The brakes worked fine although the pedal was a little low. I think a few turns on the adjuster and it will be good.