d.dunavan

Replacing the heat riser in my 50 Plymouth, just wondering what size drill bit used. D.

New at these cars as well but I have been dealing with the brakes on my 50 Ply for a while now. From what I understand the fluid will soak in then when the shoe gets hot it will come to the surface and cause that kind of pull and there is really no way to get it out. I am going to call Tennessee Clutch & Supply they come highly recommended from many people on this forum. As far as bonded linings I really don't know that much but it would stand to reason that over time the adhesive would degrade. Well hope this helps. D.

Yes, much thanks for the link. Being a visual learner these will help me tons. D.

I have recently been using a product called Metal Rescue and have had amazing results, see pics. I will also put in the after pic of my MC and it was way worse than this. I was just wondering if anyone out there has used this for a while and if they knew of any issues or down sides in the long run. Just playing the if its too good to be true it probably is angle. Thanks, D.

Yea, I noticed the backing plate was bent so I am guessing that at one time someone used a puller that clamped on the outside of the drum. So things just didn't look right to me and I went ahead and took the passenger side the rest of the way apart. Found out that the anchor bolts were not put together correctly. With what came off I can make one that is completely correct. The rear shoe had the felt washer but no horseshoe clip, front had the clip but the washer was rubber. Is that a modern replacement or can you still get the felt washer? Then decided why not take the backing plate off and clean it up and try to fix it. Noticed that the bearing looks like it has no grease on it, see pic. I have a high temp grease with molly in it is that ok to use on that bearing or should it be the yellowish grease? The brake cylinder is in pretty rough shape because the rubber boots on the outside had a bunch of crap under them so they didn't seal well and junk got in. I will take a look after I clean it up and see if the bore is good or not. That should cover everything for today. Thanks, D.

So I was just outside looking at things and a thought occurred to me, with everything adjusted correctly what would it hurt to let that little bit wear in? I guess there is the chance that the chip will cause more to chip off but if I put everything right then I would think that would be a small chance. Am I thinking right on this or am I just dreaming? D.

And now back to the saga that is “All my brakes”. Finally had the time to take a crack at the rear drums. Drivers side came off without so much as a whimper the passenger side had enough to say for both. Put both sides back together drove around and listened for the pop. Both came of fairly easy then (Thank you Bill! Thought it sounded funny but worked perfect!) I did end up striping one of the lug holes. It is only the first few threads so could I tap it and still make it work? If not I have another rear axle in the shed so no worries. About this time the wife came out and decided it was time to clean the garage so only had a short time to look everything over. I will attach some pics I took. Passenger side has a good size chunk missing out of the middle of the shoe, so new shoe or get them refaced. Does Tennessee Clutch & Supply do shoes as well? So next question I guess, with everything taken apart already should I just do all shoes and cylinders? Also I would like some opinions about condition of the hub, can anyone see something that isn’t right. Thanks, D.

Ok, so MC is in and lines are bled, pedal feel was good at first but has mushed out some so I am going to re-bleed. While doing a minor adjustment on the brakes I noticed that the passenger rear adjustment cams kept spinning and the driver rear has a bad drag on it. So I guess the next thing is to get the puller and go after the adjustments in the back and see what happens. D.

Also while I am thinking about it, is there a torque on the end plug? It just seems odd to me that there would be no torque given for it. When i fill it up is there a way to know if i didn't put something in the right place or direction immediately? I ask because I think that the valve in facing the correct direction but not sure. Looking forward to tomorrow with all of the issues i am hearing about bleeding the brakes, pretty sure that I have a good handle on it though and with the help of my wife should have no issues. I say that but I know how my luck goes, will probably spend the next two months trying to get them right. D.

Hello All, I know that it has been a while but I finally got the time and parts to get this rebuild done. I am going to post some pics of the inside of the cylinder and the finished rebuild. Glad to get this moving and make some progress on the car. D.

Don, A day late but here are some pictures of where the clutch attaches. I also found some rust on the passenger floor and the panel for the drivers floor but I don't think it's that bad. This was my first good look at the way the years of grime have stuck to the grease under there. D.

Don, I can't seem to remember now, but when I get home tonight I will take a look and see if I can get a pic. I will also take some of the MC as well. D.

I completely agree with that, I bag and tag everything. Thanks to everyone on the compliments on the car if it didn't have a couple of rust spots through the paint I would just clear the car and leave the patina because I like the way it looks. The trim pieces are going to have to come off because they are pretty dinged up. I am going to attach some pics of rust and what I think may be a wear spot in the passenger side. Quick question, the MC is pretty grimed up from grease and dust and gunk so what would the the best way to clean it if the inside is worth saving? D.

Don, The MC that I pulled off today only had the brake pedal attached to it, guessing because yours on the floor mine on the column. After I re-build the MC I know that installing it back in the car should be a snap now that I know about that panel. My wife got quite a kick out of that by the way. D.

Ok so turns out that my first plan was way too ambitious. On the up side I did get the MC off today, on the down side it took me forever and I am sure that all the while the MC was taunting me and calling me names. So question on that, is the brake pedal hinge pin (not sure if that is correct name) attached to the MC and if so is the snap ring on that side just for fools like me? After I finally got the last word in with the MC I took some exterior pics. I would like opinions on overall condition. Thanks, D.

Thanks for the link, In the Army we just put it back together and if there are parts left over then we must be smarter than the person who designed it.

That is a great suggestion, thank you. You are more than likely right too because I tend not to be the most organized person in the world. My concern is when I did finally find the relief port inside the MC the entire larger hole that leads to the smaller hole was filled with rust. I am thinking that as the system has been run it has slowly clogged up one or more lines I am just not sure how to figure out what line. Also after reading for the last two weeks straight I realized that I have no idea what brake fluid was put in so in my mind that means take it back to ground level and build from there. As far as the brake shoes and springs inside the drum I will definitely do one side at a time so I can Air-Force check myself. D.

Plan for today (if I can get approval from home front 6): Pull MC and all hard lines to include inside front drums, who knows even though I can see the relief hole maybe there will be something that I cant see from the top. Inspect hard lines to see if they are worth trying to possibly flush them or just scrap and get new lines when I get back. If they are still good can I flush them without being installed on the car and if so how? When I was under the car last weekend the backs of the drums didn't have any leaks that I could see. I also took off the driver side front drum and the pistons looked really good but the hard lines I dont think were looking that happy. I look at this as a win win situation for me. 1. I get to work on the Plymouth (favorite thing to do) 2. I may learn something 3. get part of the job done 4. Who knows I might fix something. I plan to take a massive amount of pictures before I take stuff apart because I am just not the brightest tool in the knife drawer. If anyone thinks I am just jumping in the deep end too quick with this let me know please before I do something kinda dumb. So, thanks to everyone yet again for the info. D.

Ok WOW embarrassing, did not even notice the missing digit. Although like you said, once it is fixed up I know it will be a bunch of fun. I can't get any good pics of the outside right now due to the weather and the fact that my garage is full. It needs to run this weekend any way so I will take some then. I would really like opinions on condition of the car just because my opinion is quite inexperienced and probably bias. D.

Here is a pic of the odo. and an interior pic. I don't know how well these came out.

WOW! I did put 280 I so meant to put 2800 my bad. I have only put about 100 miles on it with driving to work and back for a couple of weeks. The car was bought then only driven on Sundays and then put in a garage for like 20 years. Sorry about that I was at work and in a hurry. As soon as I can figure out how to make the pics smaller I will post them. I have some interior pics but can't get any good exterior ones because it is in a very small garage. D.

My over all plan is just that to start with the MC and repair or replace everything in the system. I don't anticipate very many issues considering the car has 280 original miles on it. But at the same time this is not an area of the car that I am willing to take any short cuts on. I am currently doing research on total cost for parts with doing most if not all the work myself. I am confident if I take my time and use the book and the plethora of information on this forum I can get the job done. D.

Oh, and as far as the mechanic at this point it would be more of a headache than it is worth so I don't really see a point in it. D.

After taking a good hard look at everything I think that I am going to start with rebuilding the MC. As far as a disk brake conversion my wife wants to keep it as original as we can just because it belonged to her grandfather. I am going to look through all of the extra parts that my father-in-law sent with the car and see if there is another MC that i can rebuild without having to take the one off of the car. Again thank you all for the input and information, as soon as I get back I am going to really start into this car. D.

Once again thank you to everyone who has replied. As I start to check more of the things that have been suggested I think this may be changing from help to lets see how many ways the mechanic blew smoke where the sun don’t shine. First I was told hard lines were replaced and I cant find a new fitting anywhere in the system. Then I took the driver front drum off this evening and although not gouged there was no way it was new or even turned. Then I decided to measure the shoe lining thickness I got under 1/8 at the toe and just under 3/16 at the heal of both shoes. I know that “new” thickness is 3/16 and I have only driven about 100 miles and just cant see that much wear in that short of time. So it looks to me at least more like I will be doing an overhaul of the brake system. Not too upset about that because I think that it will be fun just need to try to get the parts for everything. So once again thanks to everyone for the information it has been most helpful and has led me to the best thing for when I have my family in the Plymouth. D.