[Marshall V. Daut]

Yes, hydraulic brakes in a 1932 Coupe! Please read my earlier posted thread today about the 1932 Coupe clutch chattering follow-up before wading into these brake questions. That will provide some background information to help answer my questions.

In a nutshell, my friend’s newly-acquired ’32 five-window Coupe had been converted to 1939-42 hydraulic brakes – and it wasn’t a pretty job, nor a functional one. Despite adjusting the brakes per past “Fordbarn” postings, on-line videos and Ford’s own instructions, we still have ZERO brakes. They have been bled multiple times with no improvement. Today I removed all four drums to see if perhaps brake fluid was leaking from the cylinders. All four were dry. I did note that all eight brake shoes are badly worn, which may be a contributing problem if the drums have been turned too many times. But using the top adjusters, I was still able to lock up the brake drums while turning the wrench. So, we should have at least SOME braking action. We don’t. The brake pedal goes to the floor with no resistance.

Please look at the four accompanying photos of each backing plate. While one person pushed in the brake pedal, I watched the shoe action. Only the left rear showed any signs of significant shoe movement – and only the back shoe moved. On the other three backing plates, it was the forward shoes that moved, but they barely moved - and I mean BARELY! I had to watch the action a couple times to discern even that little motion. Obviously, unless the shoes move outward, there will be no brakes.

O.K. Now for my questions – and please remember that I am Model A and T guy, not early V8, especially not where hydraulic brakes are concerned. This is all new territory for me. I'm just trying to help my friend.
(1) Shouldn’t BOTH shoes move outward at the top when the brake pedal is depressed? Only one shoe per backing plate makes any kind of an attempt at movement.
(2) How far should the top of the shoe(s) extend when activated?
(3) Why do the front shoes try to move on three of the backing plates, but only the rear shoe on the left rear plate?
(4) Should we replace all four cylinders?
(5) What obvious installation problems do you see in these photos? Are the backing plates oriented correctly?
(6) What can you suggest is causing the brakes to behave like this, if the previous observations are not the reason?

Let’s start with these questions before I move on to nitty-gritty adjustment questions.

Thanks!
Marshall