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1940 plymouth wheel cylinders


1940Mopar

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Not unless you find a parts store that's been in business for at least 40 years, and happens to have a set on the shelf.

Wheel cylinders for the '35 to '42 MoPar (stepped-bore) have not been in the major jobber catalogs (Bendix, Raybestos, Wagner, NAPA) for at least 25 years.

To the best of my knowledge, the only source for new wheel cylinders for this application are specialists such as Andy Bernbaum or Roberts MOtor PARts.

When I did a complete brake rebuild in my '41 De Soto about 10 years ago, I was lucky to find three NOS wheel cyls at a swap meet; I put brand new cups in those, and purchased the remaining wheel cylinder from Bernbaum.

When I bought my one new WC, they were running about $50 each; which may seem pricey, but when you look at the cost to have them sleeved, at $50 -$60 per sleeve (two per each wheel cyl), you'll spend $100 to $120 per wheel cylinder (plus shipping and the rebuild kit) to have them sleeved.

Sorry to be the bearer of "bad news"...

De Soto Frank

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He's right about the cost......I recently paid $50 each for two rears from A Bernbaum. Have not installed them yet. Looked as many places as I could and found none handy.

My O'Reilly store can get certain front cyls for a 47 model Plym but not all cyls.

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Before I would buy new wheel or master cyls. I would take the old ones out to a brake shop and see if they are eligible for honing. I have honed out a bunch of them and all but one worked just fine. It takes some pretty bad rust pits ot mess one up.

Also I am not surte but I think 48 ford used a step down cylinder-= you might get one from a 48 ford rear and see if it will work. But try the honing out first

Lou

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Lou:

About a year ago one was able to buy individual cylinders from both Burnbaum and Roberts, but now ( as you probably know ) they only sell all four together. When I bought mine I needed all four, so no big deal.

I searched for a new or NOS for my right wheel since I still have a leak past the rubber even after 3 kits. The only ones that do a single cyl. sale is White Post Restorations 540 837 1140 as far as I have found. So far I have been living with the leaky brake.

My 1940 Parts list shows part number 857062 for front right and 857063 for front left.

Good Luck

PS: You were very helpful on my task of Steering gear removal, rebuild and reinstallation several months ago. Thanks for that also.

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  • 5 weeks later...

The 1942 and earlier "step-bore " wheel cylinders CANNOT be purchased from the modern auto-parts store. :( ( unless one of them is ordering the cyls from Bernbaum or Roberts, then marking the price up.)

As I posted previously, none of the major suppliers (and that includes NAPA, that last bastion of hope) have listed, let alone MADE these cylinders since the 1970's, if that late.

There are not enough people to BUY these to make it worthwhile for folks like Raybestos, Wagner, Bendix, Coni-Seal, etc to make these wheel cyls.

Believe me, I exhausted every possible source before going to the "specialists" for my wheel cyl. :mad:

( And to add insult to injury, my buddy just got all new NAPA wheel-cyls for his '51 Hudson; I think the fronts were $15 each and the rears were about $8 each. But that car uses Bendix brakes, and the rear wc's fit drum brake Fords from the '50s through the ;70s...)

If you find NOS wheel cyls and just need fresh cups, those are standard sizes and can be found at Pep Boys, and other parts houses. The dust boots are not available, except from "specialists" or from the guys at the swap meets that have the hundreds of section-boxes filled with trim clips, rubber bushings, etc.

I'm not trying to be a grump;) ; just stating some unpleasant reality regarding the pre-War brakes. I'm also trying to save you some time and frustration of bugging your local auto store to find this stuff.

Now, before you go down the path of disc conversion, if you're keeping the running-gear stock, for $300, you can get four new wheel-cyls, and all the shoes re-lined. Then you just have to replace all the steel tubing and the rubber flex hoses. I'm pretty sure that I was able to get new flex hoses from my local auto store, in Bendix.

For about $60, you can have your master cylinder sleeved, and throw a rebuild kit in it for $20, and have essentially a "new" MC for $80.

I re-did my '41 De Soto 's brakes nearly 10 years ago, and have had nearly 30,000 miles of trouble-free braking.

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