newbee needs help w/49 coronet

[bearheart]

I'm so glad to have found this site--you guys are great, I've read 65 pages so far. Now my issue: My 40 coronet 2 dr has a bad hand break drum and external band which is 2" wide. The drum has pieces broken off leaving a very ragged toothy end on it. Only place I've found any is Andy Bernbaum who says there are 4 possible drums to choose from and he refuses to ship his best guess because he hates returns, wants me to send mine for comparison. Meanwhile I've got a bunch of places to take the car for other work and don't want to lay it up for several weeks while trusting someone/post office to return my original if no replacement is available, and of course having fluid drive means an operating hand break is essential.???Are there really 4 possible drums? Does anyone have part #s and a way to identify which one I have? Know of any other sources that might be more customer friendly? Does anyone have one of these drums that I could buy?....'49 coronet, no overdrive, fluid drive. 3 spd.

Edited November 24, 2009 by bearheart
suggestion from senior member

[adam_knox]

Hey mate! Congrats on the new car! Not sure about your year...If it's a 49, the following link may help,if its a 40, not so sure.

http://imperialclub.com/Part/Lit/4655Numbers/index.htm

CLick on the part you need and it'll tell ya' what it fits (not nearly as good as an actually Dodge Part Manual though).

As for Andy, have never had a problem with him trust wise. But I do understand the concern for the car being out of service for the wait. Hopefully someone else can chime in with other sources...Good luck!

[48mirage]

If you have just the standard transmission without the overdrive and not the gyromatic my parts book says it is the same drum for all Dodge 6 cylinders from 1940 to 1950, part # 683 003. If you have any other transmission, then things get more complicated.

[Normspeed]

Shel, I would think the grooves would not be a big deal for a driver. Still plenty of grabbing surface.

PS, Bearheart, welcome to the forum. Love the 40 Dodge front ends. You will definitely find answers here.

[48mirage]

You've found one of the best sites on the web for not only technical expertise but one of the friendliest places too.

As an owner of the first year Coronet you have a unique vehicle. I would also like to invite you to take a look at the Coronet Registry at

http://www.dodgecoronet.com/forum/index.php

It is a smaller site and mostly addresses the B-bodies of the muscle car days, but there are a few of us with early models on there.