Hydraulic brakes

[Chris Haynes]

What year Hydraulic brakes work best on an A?

[1931 flamingo]

39-48 but 42-48 easier to adjust.
Paul in CT

[Russ B]

46-48 for adjustability, I am ignorant about 42s, but makes sense that they would be same as 46-48. I would use any 39 and up spindles, not Model A's with spacers. The newer spindles give you better tie rod ends.

[2manycars]

I think if I were going to change to hydraulic brakes, that I would use the kit that features self energizing Bendix brakes, not the old fashioned Lockheed style brakes.

http://www.droppedaxles.com/37-48_Ford_Brakes.html

[Mike V. Florida]

There are complete kits available from some of the vendors. The advantages are, complete with all parts needed, instructions, help on the phone, replacement parts later on, no need to scrounge and rebuild the old ones you find.

[BillLee/Chandler, TX]

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Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

There are complete kits available from some of the vendors. The advantages are, complete with all parts needed, instructions, help on the phone, replacement parts later on, no need to scrounge and rebuild the old ones you find.

This is the best way to go.

My experience .....

My car came to me with 39-41 on the rear and 46-48 on the front. The car had sat for several years, the brakes were bad, the first step in my ownership was to R&R the entire system.

I never felt the brakes worked well, probably a fault of the person installing them rather than the standard "mechanical vs. hydraulic" war.

I wanted to install Bendix brakes in place of the Lockheed style. Looked around and found a set of Mel Gross front drums which I wanted to use to get the "Model A look" back (i.e., 11" vs. the 12" drums on the earlier Ford brakes). Found and salvaged a set of brakes off of a 49-5x F1 pickup. Started machining.

NEVER AGAIN!!!

Ended up only doing the fronts. I made it work, but every part in the system was machined in some way, there isn't a stock part anywhere and I dread the day when I have to fix something, or perhaps the next guy! I won't even start to identify what it took to do it since I don't want anyone to make the same mistake I did!

With 20-20 hindsight, I wish now I had gone with the MT system. The cost would have been more, but surprisingly not all THAT much! And I would have had all of the advantages mentioned above without the aggravation I "enjoyed".

[john in illinois]

I use MT brakes on the front and 48 ford brakes on the rear. The Ford brakes are easier to install on a Model a rear axle.

When I first put the system on my Tudor,the brakes took a lot of force on the pedal. I was using a Ford 1 1/8" master cylinder. I switched to a dual circuit
drum-drum Mustang master cylinder. It has 1" bore and made the brakes very easy to apply.

I have had no problems after 9 years an 24,000 miles.

John

[rer_239]

on your rear brakes did you have to turn the backing plate so that the wheel cylinder is not at the top?

[JohnLaVoy]

MT Products manufacture everything including new backing plates so you don't have to figure out which ones are good or need work etc.
www.mtcarproducts.com (559) 562-5840 they are in Lindsay, CA

[Jim Brierley]

If using 39-48 brakes, Clings makes a very nice kit. [email protected] or on the web www.clingsaftermarket.com Bendix is nice but standard Ford brakes are more than adequate. 1" is the standard master cylinder size, I've considered using 7/8" for easier pedal input, now that some of my strength has dissipated. I also recommend silicone brake fluid, it doesn't attract moisture like regular fluid. V8 spindles are nice too, but not absolutely necessary.

[steve s]

I second Jim's endorsement of Dennis Cling's kit. Of all the various aftermarket Model A stuff I've bought, the quality of Cling's products is tops. That includes his serpentine fan belt kit.

[klawockvet]

As long as you are thinking of hydraulic brakes you can also go with tube shocks. If you cut off the shock mounts in the rear you can put 40-48 backing plates on straight up, which allows normal eBrake routing and normal bleeding. The bend in the lines is tight but it can be done. I put 40 brakes on my A and then later went to Bendix from the Early V8 Garage in Pomona on the front. Huge difference. I made the switch primarily because of leaking wheel cylinders. Three sets from three different suppliers. All were trash. The Bendix cylinders have been on several years with no problems. Its also easy to mount a master cylinder on the transmission or battery box and do a bell crank with the stock pedal. Be sure to use steel tubing. Not rocket science and made me feel better driving at freeway speeds.

[California Charlie]

Originally Posted by Chris Haynes

What year Hydraulic brakes work best on an A?

I'm currently going through the Model A Hydraulic Brake conversion. A really big headache of which I've spent a lot of money and time and knuckle busting effort with.

I bought one kit on eBay which was nothing but a bunch of modified junk. I bought another kit from a well known vendor, and found a very good product, but now running into a problem I have not found anyone who will support and physically help me out at this stage. Of course there were constructive suggestions for me to look into, but I need expertise support to focus on the exact problem I have before I invest more money into this aspect of my restoration project.

What I'm basically saying from my current experience is that before you start into a Hydraulic Brake conversion, ensure you have someone on your side to be able to physically come to your aide when you run across those problem installation issues.

I've become so frustrated with this part of my restoration project, I'm about ready to give up on the whole project and list it all for sale.

[KenCoupe]

I have 40's on the front and 46-48 on the back. I had a lot of help from Early V8 Garage with my brakes. Great people! When I bought the car, it had hydraulics on it, so I reworked it rather than changing it back to mechanicals. I did some of the work with their help and advise, but they cleaned up my work and finished it off for me. The brakes work great and I have never had any issue with them since completed.

Ken

[California Charlie]

Originally Posted by KenCoupe

I have 40's on the front and 46-48 on the back. I had a lot of help from Early V8 Garage with my brakes. Great people! When I bought the car, it had hydraulics on it, so I reworked it rather than changing it back to mechanicals. I did some of the work with their help and advise, but they cleaned up my work and finished it off for me. The brakes work great and I have never had any issue with them since completed.

Ken

Ken, I emailed and called the Early V8 Garage and no one bothered to return my call or answer my email. This is part of the frustration I'm having with trying to get some help with my hydraulic brake conversion problem and why I recommended to Chris to have someone readily available and willing to get him over the hurdles of the brake conversion.

[1931 flamingo]

Cal Charlie: What's the problem(s) you're having??
Help is always available here and/or on the EV8 Forum where hydraulics is usually the norm.

Paul in CT

[California Charlie]

Originally Posted by 1931 flamingo

Cal Charlie: What's the problem(s) you're having??
Help is always available here and/or on the EV8 Forum where hydraulics is usually the norm.

Paul in CT

Paul,

I appreciate your interest to make a comment to help me out.

I had great success with the front brake installation. No problem there. The problem I'm having is with the rear brake drums rubbing against the backing plates. Both drums are doing that. My backing plates are from the most reliable Vendor and have been modified perfectly. I think the rear axle is fine, but I don't have the expertise to rule that out. I had the rear drums cut back according to instructions, but don't know if the machinist made the proper amount of material cut off. Both rear drums being used also came with the eBay junk kit I first bought, so I don't know if they are the problem.

So now that I have the entire back end assembled, I don't know if the drum rubbing is caused by a rear axle problem, a drum problem, or something else that I'm missing. If the guys at the V8 Garage would only make contact with me to sort things out, I'm certain I could move forward with this aspect of my project. I live only a few miles from them and don't understand why they don't make contact with me. I have no way to get the chassis to their shop, and I don't have the rear wheels on the chassis because of the rear drum issue.

I'm not asking for someone to check this matter out for me without payment compensation, which I mentioned in my correspondence to the Early V8 Shop. I'm a shade tree mechanic just asking for a little professional expertise to get me over this problem matter.

I wouldn't want anyone to be at this point in time like I am, and that's why I replied to Chris forum about hydraulic brake conversions.

[asapguy]

I've installed 39-48 & F-100 brakes on three diff. Model A's. Never used a kit. If your backing plate is rubbing against the drum you need to use axle shims. The V-8 drums have a larger tapper & go onto the Model A axles to far. Just a thought & something to check.

[steve s]

That was my one disappointment with the Cling conversion for the '46-'48 Ford setup. I understood that between his modification of the backing plates and my having the edge of the rear drums milled off, I would not need to use shims. Not so.

Just be sure and snug the axle nut on real tight if you're using shims. My understanding is that they greatly reduce the security of the taper/key connection. Before I learned this lesson, I sheared several axle keys (sounds like your transmission exploded). Haven't had any problems for last 20 years.

[Railcarmover]

been a field mechanic forty years,I always looked for a shady spot to work..always felt a feller who found a shade tree to be smarter than the fool who works in the direct sun.