Thread: brake mounting

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can anyone tell me how to install buick finned brake drums, what parts i'll need, and how to go about mounting them on my ford spindles. thanks

We are going to be doing this on a set I am going to give my Son for his '29. I've had them stashed as spares for mine for awhile, and am going to trade him the ones that are on his car for the Buicks.

There are two ways to do it. The later Ford hubs mount on the outside of the drum, and the earlier ones mount on the inside of the drum. Depending on which ones you have, it becomes a simple machine shop/lathe operation to open up the center hole in the buick drums to take the diameter of the Ford hub.

First of all, you have to grind off the round rivets that hold the Buick hubs in place, then you remove the hubs. Then you take the Buick Drums and the Ford hubs to a machine shop, and have them bore out the center hole in the Buick drums to be a press in fit on the Ford hubs. Then have them press in 10 new studs after they drill the Ford 5.5 inch bolt pattern into the Buick drums, lining up with the same holes in the Ford hubs.

I've got an article saved on how to do this exactly, and will dig it out tomorrow and post the precise info on what needs done. Do you already have your set of drums? They are getting stupid expensive now.


I'll post more tomorrow.


Don

thanks for your help don. i look forward to seeing the article

Gypsy: Yesterday I may have given you a bum steer.................or bum BRAKE, as it were. I told you there were two ways to mount the Ford hubs on the Buick drums. Early hubs from the back, and later hubs ( like '46 to '48) from the front (outside). Tonight I pulled the article I promised you, and they refer to the hubs that go on the outside of the drum. So, out of curiousity, I pulled my wheel off of my '27 to see how they were done, and they are mounted on the outside too!! I would have bet money the hubs on my rod were on the inside of the drums. Boy was I wrong.

Therefore, I will quote some important parts of the article so that you can do it the proper way. If there is still a way to use the inside mounted hubs, I would love to hear from someone, otherwise I have to start looking for a set of outside ones on Ebay, as I promised my extra set to my Son.

Here is the Readers Digest condensed version of the article:

The first thing you do is grind the rivets off of the Buick drums and lay them face up on a work surface. Tap the remaining part of the rivets out of the holes, and with a brass hammer, tap the hub out of the drum. Now measure, with a caliper (not a tape measure, this has to be very accurate) the inside cutout in the center of the Buick drum. Do each drum individually, as this dimension varies from drum to drum.

Now either chuck the Ford hub into a lathe, or take it to a machine shop to do this, and have the inside portion of the Ford hub turned down to a size about .005 LARGER than the hole it will be pressed into in the Buick drums. This is to give a light machine pressed fit. Then, with the Buick hub once again facing up on a work surface, put the Ford hub in the center of it, and with the brass hammer or a hydraulic press, tap the hub into the hole.

When you do this, center the holes for the wheel studs on the Ford hub halfway between the existing holes on the Buick drums, and center punch a reference mark exactly in the center of each Ford stud hole. Remove the Ford hub, and on a drill press, drill perfectly straight holes into the Buick drum, so that new studs can be pressed in. Then all you have to do is put the Ford hub back onto the Buick drum, press 5 new studs into each of the holes, and you are done.

I am going to try to photograph the article, but don't know if it will be readable, as it is very old and light.

But, that seems to be the way to do it. I'm taking ours to a machine shop, and telling them what I need done.

Hope this helps. Here are the pix, hope they reproduce. I don't have a scanner, and wouldn't know how to use it anyway.


Don

thanks, don for all the info. i'll let you know how it works out or if i find a different way to mount the hubs.