[blucar]

A little clarification info on hydraulic brakes.
The words Lockheed and Bendix have been bantered around in all of the postings to this topic.
The original question posed was relative to '40 Ford brakes which are typical on '39-41 Ford/Merc cars/trucks.. This is generally referred to as "Lockeed" type brakes.
The short comings of the '39-41 brakes are that they are very hard to keep in proper adjustment due to the lower anchor points which require adjustment, ideally this has to be done with the drums off of the vehicle.
The Bendix style '42-48, have floating lower attachments which do not require adjustment.
I converted the brakes on my '36 to '41 hydraulics in 1952.. I lived in Idaho at the time, the brakes worked good for many years. I moved to Los Angeles in '56, drove the '36 in daily freeway/hiway traffic, I found the '41 brakes to be very marginal. In 1959 I got a company vehicle and did not have to drive the '36 in traffic for the next 14 years, however, even in pleasure driving the '41 brakes were marginal.
I have been in the process of upgrading the entire mechanical components on my '36 for the last few years, one up-grade requires a conversion of the brakes to '42-48 brakes with my '39 drums, which have been on the car since '61/62.