Brake advice needed

[burner31]

Originally Posted by CarlG

Jim,
Is there someone out there making a kit to install disk brakes on a Model A?

Yeah Carl, my buddy has a '29 (yeah right) hot rod with disc brakes, and a Chevy motor too boot

[CWPASADENA]

Originally Posted by Big hammer

Is it legal to convert mechanical brakes to hydraulic brakes? Any attorney's out there?

I do not think there is any law against it BUT for reasons of potential liability, I will not do it for a customer on my shop.


Chris W.

[CWPASADENA]

One thing I have done on several Model A's is to replace the fronts with 32 Ford Mechanical brakes.


They are a direct replacement, no modifications what so ever. I believe the 33 and 34 front brakes will also work but the backing plate design is a little different and do not look exactly the same as the Model A backing plates but this is just cosmetic.


The advantage is cast iron drums from the factory and 12 inch diameter instead of 11 inch, and it also adds more braking effort to the front axle which is a good thing.


They look just like Model A brakes but are bigger.


One day there were some Model A "Experts" in the shop and I asked them to look at the front brakes on my Vicky and let me know if they see anything different than what they would expect on a Model A.After a while with them looking, the conclusion was they did not see anything and did not know what I was talking about. I have 32 brakes on both the front and rear on that car.


The rears will also work but there are modifications required and I do not think it is worth the trouble.


The down side is 32 drums are getting hard to find and there are no repo's available.
They do make woven linings for the 32 shoes so it you can find some front brakes with good drums, that will make a very good set-up.


Chris W.

[dumb person]

Originally Posted by pjdeb

Newbie questions:

I adjusted the brakes according to instructions in Les Andrews book. Thye are better, but I do not think they are as good as they should be. No way will they lock up at 20 mph.

I pulled the front drums to grease the wheel bearings. There is plenty of shoe left, but they look very glazed.

With a day's worth of effort I got the rear hubs off. Same situation. Plenty left, but look hard as a polished rock. I have read that you can rough them up with 80 grit paper or even a Dremmel.

Should the brakes glaze over like that?

Thanks.

I've roughed up my brakes with sand paper in the past. And the drum. Made a huge difference.
Something else that can make a difference is putting a handful of that pumice stone soap that people use to get the oil & grease off their hands on the lining & doing a few hard stops, then take the brakes apart & wash them out again. Roughs it up nicely and you can really feel the difference.
I did that trick on a car where the drubs were a mission to remove. Didn't wash it out afterwards. Night & day difference.