Bmartin

Thanks for the help. Is this a pretty universal tool or do I need a certain width of the jaw? I found ones on ebay but they were for a Porsche.

Its number one in the picture. Does anyone know where to find one of these? So far I have only seen them for a porsche. If you know of a substitute, that would be helpful as well. Or maybe you don't need it at all, its first I've seen of it. I'll be installing new cylinders and shoes on my 1940 Plymouth Coupe.

I need one of these for my 40. Do we just email him and ask to be put on the list? Any idea on cost? If they are reasonable, may pick up two. One to try cutting and a spare in case that does not work.

The seats in my coupe look the same as Andy's. They fold forward at an angle. I don't have an adjuster rod, but that could just be missing. There is just a round knob on the driver side that does not seem to do anything..

Rock Auto does not have much for a 1940 unfortunately. But thanks for looking out. Another question has popped into my mind. I was reading other posts about residual valves, how they are incorporated into the master cylinder in older cars to keep pressure on the cups in the wheel cylinder. When I was wrangling to get my adjuster bolts lined up, I relieved the pressure in the line in hopes of compressing the cylinders in a little. Could this relief of pressure be the cause of the wheel cylinder leaking? If I pressurize the line again it may seat? It would be nice to trouble shoot the pedal before replacement. Thanks.

My master is new, but that does not mean its good. I've been bitten by that before. For now, I'll assume its good and check out other things. Disc conversion seems to run between $500 and $700 without knowing any of the hidden gotchas. I'm looking into some less expensive options to Andy for OG parts. If I stick with the drums, then I'll be renting the tool from Rich and doing it all according to the manual. What do you mean by +.06" oversize? I guess I thought I would need a maximum inner diameter measurement to know if they needed to be replaced.

Well, today was a setback. I took the drums off and removed the major adjusting bolts to slot them. You are going to need a pretty deep slot in the bolt since the adjuster binds up and its max adjustment point. I had a heck of a time getting the adjuster bolts back in and lined up. A large clamp to compress the shoes would have helped I think. I ended up using a rubber mallet to tap the shoes downward and elbow grease to get the shoe compressed. I was setting the shoes at the their full loose settings and about to put the drum on to start the process. Then the wheel cylinder started a steady leak from the front side. The adjustment could have found a leaky spot or my maneuvering could have been too rough. Or this could just be what you run across in an older car. I don't know whats original and whats been repaired/replaced. My lack of familiarity with these style brakes is limitting me. Can someone give me a explanation of the best way to get the adjuster bolts lined up? At least I'll know for the future. Next step is to calculate costs. I'll need shoes, cylinders, and possibly drums. Along that same line, I don't have the proper measurement tools for the inside diameter of the drum. So I will be taking them to a parts store to measure. What are the measurements I need to know to determine whether they need to be replaced or not? Does not seem to be in the service manual. I'll be considering the cost of the disc upgrade since that is what I am familiar with. Thanks again for all the help.

Thanks for the part numbers Rich!

I got some time to play with it today. I checked the master and there was plenty of fluid. I pulled the drums again and no blowouts or signs of a leak, pics below. I put it all back together and bled just the front brakes. Got a little air out of the passenger side. But the pedal still goes all the way down. That's all I have time for till the weekend. At that point, I'll cut some slots in the adjuster cam bolts and do a home adjustment to see if it makes any difference. As for parts, Rockauto does not show anything but rebuild kits for my year. Only place I know of to get the cylinders is Bernbaum at $65 ea. No hoses on rockauto either. So I'd like to narrow down some things before I go throwing parts at it.

wilbur 46: Thanks for the advice, couple questions. You say that the brake cylinders are listed under a 1949 plymouth. I was under the impression that laer models had dual wheel cylinders, one top, one bottom. Whereas the 1940 has a single top cylinder. Where can I confirm that these will work? Parts cross reference? When you say 'BE CAREFUL with the wire in the relief port, what damage can happen when I put it in there. Don't want to screw anything else up. Also, to be more clear, the pedal goes almost to the floor and the brakes still work a little. Just about at the floor. It helps a little to pump them up. Not sure if I made that clear in the first post. Perhaps I should go back and edit. Thanks Don: I do not currently have access to the brake tool. Once I get this figured out, I'll be trying to find a tool with all the new parts. Or maybe get a disc conversion.

First off, the brakes will be fixed properly. I just want to get back to a baseline if possible First thing I plan to do is pop the drums off again and make sure I did not have some sort of blowout. Then check the master and bleed the system. If no good, go for the adjustment and rebleed. Other thoughts: I know that the mechanic who worked on it before I got it had a heck of a time with the brakes and replaced the master cylinder. I know he pulled the floor to adjust the rod on the master cylinder. He may have adjusted that incorrectly and I was on the very edge of it being adjusted past that hole they talk about in the manual. I wonder if he just found a sweet spot with the cyinders in his adjustment. I adjusted them and they are now in a spot where they let in air. I'll post up my findings for sure, with the holidays and work, it will take awhile. But I'll get it figured out. In the mean time I'll look into one of those home brake bleeders and pricing of disc vs repair of these. Still need to pull the rears to see their condition too. After having this awhile, I have little faith in the mechanic who worked on it.

A great idea, but mine look a lot newer than original. The brass fittings have zero corrosion. I'll keep it in mind, its just hard to understand how removing the drums and then putting them back on can make the pedal go to the floor. Right now I'm thinking of performing the brake adjustment discussed here: http://www.ply33.com/Repair/brakes My best guess is that the mechanic managed to get the minor adjustment just right. Either that, or bleed the brakes. Perhaps taking the drums off somehow allowed the questionable cylinders to ingest air.

Sounds good, enjoy the family time. Maybe we can meet up at a cruise in once I get back on the road.

Definitely digging the customizing, great looking ride!

SWEET! Been wondering it there were any others in town. Let me know if you need a hand or want to lend one. I can use all the knowledge I can get. I gave myself some brake issues and need to work those out to get it back on the road. I'm hoping to go to the big swap meet next weekend, probably Sunday. Let me know if you'd like to meet up. Brian

Yah, thats definitely the best way to do it. If funds were available, I'd be going disc. But its just not possible right now. It was working just fine before I pulled them off. I see no reason that it couldn't be working just fine again if I can get back there. The grabbiness was no big deal really, I should not have touched it. BUT, here I am. Anyone who is into tinkering got any ideas?

Agreed on the reason for the pull. Definitely contaminated. Still confused on the pedal though. Gonna pull em back off after the holiday to see if one of the cylinders magically let go at the perfect time. Doubt it, no mess of fluid leaking out.

1940 Plymouth P9 I bought the car with questionable brakes. While waiting for it to get shipped, I had a guy out there work on it. He replaced the master cylinder, adjusted the brakes and fixed a leaky line. Got the car and it stopped decent, but always pulled to the right when cold. Got better once warmed up. I decided to take a look to see if I could just adjust it out. I jacked up the car and spun the wheels, the passenger wheel was dragging quite a bit so I followed the minor brake adjustment process from the manual. Take it for a spin and its actually catching worse. So I decide to pull the front drums. They come off pretty easy. Look inside, no obvious issues, but there is a little sludge on the passenger side. Peel back the dust cover on the wheel cylinder and and there is fluid there. So I've got a leaky cylinder, put it on the list for replacement. Mind you, its been stopping with no fade to this point. Driver side is better but still damp. Need to replace both. So I put the drums back on, they go one easy. I adjust the minor adjustment again and set it back close to where it was. It was too tight with a lot of drag, but it worked. Get in the car and now I have no pedal......crap! I've got the minor adjustment set so there is a lot of drag forward, and some drag reverse. Similar to before, except the driver is a little more drag. So whats the deal, its got to be close to where it was when I took off the drums. If anything, its dragging a little more. Where did my pedal go? Was the adjustment just right on the hairy edge and I lost the sweet spot?? EDIT: Clarification on pedal action. It pretty much goes to the floor, but the brakes still stop the car, just not very well. I get a stiffer pedal if I pump it up a few time. Sorry for the confusion.

I got some help today from a buddy and got to inspect the shift linkage as it moved. The spring on the lever that shifts between the rails is shot. Anyone got ideas on a replacement? The ride has been pulling to the passenger side when I hit the brakes. Real bad when its cold, pretty much goes away when I get it warmed up. So we pulled the drums. Found that both the forward and reverse shoes are identical. Manual says they should be different. Also found that the wheel cylinders have fluid behind the rubber seals. So those need a rebuild/replace. Passenger had a bunch of gunk built up behind the shoe, most likely from the leaky cylinders. So the shoe may have been soaked with brake fluid, causing the grabiness. So a brake job is in order at some point. To be honest, I have not been bothered by it so far. Will keep driving for now. A fruitful day. CAUTION: Do not use PB Blaster on the inside of the car! Its not that important for your seat rails to move. The stink is too high a cost!

I finally got a little time to tinker with the car, not sure it will last, but I'm going to take advantage. I started off by servicing my air filter. First time for this and I'll be going to the paper filter conversion next time. My garage, hands, clothes reek of Kerosene. I've got the heavy duty air filter. Which brings me to the draft tube. I've been searching the site for my specific year and I could not find anything. My draft tube has no slash cut and is angled towards the front of the vehicle. As if its trying to push the air in and then out the oil filler filter. With the way it fits against the block, there is no way it could face down or to the back. Is this correct for my year? Also, there is a cavity at the block that looks like its for a filter. The manual says that models with the heavy duty air filter will have a filter on the draft tube. Anyone found a good replacement for that? Mine is missing. Lastly, I need a new oil filler filter, is the best option to just buy a new one from Bernbaum? I'd really like to never have to mess with Kerosene again. Being in the desert, it will need cleaning more often. Well, back to the garage.

Plymouthy, just for clarification, which NV3500 application are you using? Jeep or Dakota? Thanks.

Please post up the results. I've got similar issues. Grinds into third when cold. Grinds into 1st when hot unless I'm still moving forward just a bit.

Where does the adapter put the AX15 shifter with respect to distance from the front seat. That seems to be one of the bigger issues for me when looking at a swap. The S10 T5 is the furthest forward that I have found.

I though I saw a post over on the HAMB that someone offered an adapter to fit the AX15 5 speed to the Flathead 6. I'll see if I can search it up. Here is the guys website, I believe he is on here as well. http://www.qualityengineeredcomponents.com/ Give him a call as the adapter is not mentioned on the webiste that I could find.

Take your meter and go to the next step in the wiring chain. Most likely there is a terminal block under the hood, see if you have voltage there with the jumper wire on. Could be a bad connection or spade lug. If you've got enough jumper wire, you can work through the system bypassing each piece in the chain, step by step. Electrical issues can be frustrating. I like to make a photocopy of the wiring diagram in my manual and check things off with a red pen.