Front Brake Actuating Arm

[Charles Reese]

My understanding is that the front brake actuating arm housing was painted (black) before assembly, thus leaving the dust ring, brake lever pin and end of shaft unfinished. I assume this was done by the vendor on a jig of some sort. So how do modern restorers reassemble this unit (i.e., peen the lever pin) without goobering up the paint on the housing?

[Fred]

Originally Posted by Charles Reese

My understanding is that the front brake actuating arm housing was painted (black) before assembly, thus leaving the dust ring, brake lever pin and end of shaft unfinished. I assume this was done by the vendor on a jig of some sort. So how do modern restorers reassemble this unit (i.e., peen the lever pin) without goobering up the paint on the housing?

Hi Chuck, VERY Carefully !!

[Tom Wesenberg]

You could paint it assembled, but put a thin layer of grease on the spots that shouldn't have paint.
If any paint gets on them just pick it off with an Exacto knife.

[Rich in Tucson]

Hi Charles, I have some photos of how I did some recently here:

http://richwhalen.smugmug.com/Applie...tion/i-QhDsQ3K

Mine were not painted when I peened them however I think it could be accomplished easily with some soft padding between the shaft and fixture tools. And careful use of the torch, as always. The lead bricks I use are probably non-marring as is.

[Charles Reese]

Mr. Whalen: thanks for the great pix!!! I wish more of us would take such photos of their 'shop fixes' and share ... "a pix is worth 1000 words, etc"

[700rpm]

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Originally Posted by Rich in Tucson

Hi Charles, I have some photos of how I did some recently here:

http://richwhalen.smugmug.com/Applie...tion/i-QhDsQ3K

Mine were not painted when I peened them however I think it could be accomplished easily with some soft padding between the shaft and fixture tools. And careful use of the torch, as always. The lead bricks I use are probably non-marring as is.

Rich, that is a great series of photos, and very nice work. Thank you posting.

[Roger V]

Here is a jig a friend made. The actuating arm is just for display, not one that was riveted. The mounting stud is attached to the holding block to stabilize the housing. Below the lever you can barely see an adjusting bolt (accessed from under the c-channel) to position the lever so the rivet is vertical. The ring holds the zip gun shank vertically. The shank is from a blank ground to match the original shaped upset on the rivet. Obviously, this is an extreme for fine point. Functionally, any method to upset the rivet is going to work. Once the rivet swells and there is any kind of head, the lever is not going to come off.

[d.j. moordigian]

Roger,

I like the fixture your friend made!
I know this is anal......but Charles is anal. You will need to make
the fixture for left and right.......the rounded part of the rivet is
to the back on the ones I've studied,...flat to the front (1928).
I haven't studied any of the later ones.....

Picking nits........

[Charles Reese]

what started this was my understanding that the 'end' of the shaft, the 'dust ring' and the 'rivet' were NOT painted. this would suggest that it was assembled after painting ... i am curious how this would have been done without scratching the painted surfaces (perhaps they didnt care on an assembly line) ... or more importantly, how we would do this at home garage without a jig of some sort. roger v's jig is great but i would only be doing one set.

[Kevin in NJ]

Mine were just squished in my vice.

Does a great job.

But I do have a real big vice that can generate a lot of closing force.

[Roger V]

Originally Posted by d.j. moordigian

Roger,

You will need to make
the fixture for left and right.......the rounded part of the rivet is
to the back on the ones I've studied,...flat to the front (1928).
I haven't studied any of the later ones.....

Picking nits........

You're correct of course. He can weld an extension on the edge with threaded hole for an adjusting bolt since there is not enough surface area currently. The opposite-hand lever can be "flipped" so the upset is on the correct side.

As with many posts, sub-posts often go off on a tangent. Probably, there is no documentation as to what the results were to be, but I doubt Ford was concerned about scratched paint in that area. After all, they were not concerned about no paint on certain parts and fasteners. Since it wasn't specified, that I know of, for allowable scratches/blemishes, we have to end up without for the judges.