Supplier Makes Part But Won't Sell Separately

[Bingster]

Old Parts Source is selling a brake rebuild kit for my '47 Desoto (and other cars) and it comes with new brake shoe push pins for the front wheels. I emailed and asked if he would sell the pins separately but no dice.

I understand his reasoning behind that decision, but those pins are a part that I have not been able to find used or NOS. It would be nice if he'd sell them, even if he had to charge a little bit more than what might be considered reasonable.

I know these pins are different sizes for various makes and models. But if some of you need these pins as well, maybe we could band together with a larger purchase and persuade him to part with some.

[Don Coatney]

Quite possibly the vendor is in the re-sale business and is buying kits not putting them together. So for him to remove parts from one of his kits would not be an option he would be willing to do. It would be nice to know where he is buying his kits.

[greg g]

couldn't a local machine shop make up replacements based on what you have??

[Bingster]

Andy B has been out for at least the last two or three years. I've called him. But I haven't called him lately. He said to use my old ones!

[Jerry Roberts]

How much are the kits ? Buy the kits and save the extra parts for future use ? Sell the extra parts on ebay ?

[Dodgeb4ya]

Todays replacement pins are the shorter ones. Factory in the day were the long pins as OE equipment.

Bob

[BobT-47P15]

I bought some wheel cylinders from O'Reillys.

The cylinders for the rear (at least as I can remember) came with

pins. Seemed to work on the P15 coupe OK.

The front cylinders did NOT have pins. And, the indentation of

the front cup where the pin joins came to a point. My old pin

had a rounded, not pointed, end......would not work together.

So I returned the cylinders and found some elsewhere for the front.

OReilly could not supply different new pins.

[Bingster]

For a part that was so widely used it is now so very hard to find. You'd think that somebody would make them in the different lengths needed; front & rear.

You can get the brake springs, U-clips, adjusting bolts, etc. etc. but for some reason not these pins. They seem simple to manufacture.

But I do wonder how many of you would buy new pins when doing your brakes? Maybe the old ones clean up pretty good but mine were pretty pitted and rough.

[BobT-47P15]

A possible answer is -- do you know a machinist in your town??

Often those guys can make about anything given an example......

if they feel like doing it, of course.

[JerseyHarold]

What about contacting a wheel cylinder manufacturer directly to see if they catalog the pins as an individual part number? Several have online catalogs.

[Bingster]

Thanks, I'll give that a try!

[ptwothree]

NAPA sells a universal pin (push rod) that will fit just fine with a little grinder work. I lost one of mine and went this route...

[Bingster]

Hey, thanks for the tip. I'll go in and ask. Any part number?

[ptwothree]

Just ask... and take along another one to match up if you have it. They are 2 or 3 bucks apiece....it worked for me!

[Bingster]

Well, I took my push pin into a local Napa store and first off they had no pin available separately.

He looked up cylinder sets that had pins but they were not of the same design. The solid portion that fits into the cylinder was quite a bit shorter than mine.

So, it seems to me that this would affect pin travel and hence the stroke of the push pin, i.e., the shoe, i.e.e, braking sensitivity.

So we reasoned that maybe the new cylinders that Napa stocks are different designs than the old Lockheeds, and theat this new design push pin is accurate for the Napa cylinder but not the old one off my car.

I don't know. Does anybody out there?

The simplest thing to do, as somebody suggested, is to have new ones made.