Ivey Posted February 13, 2018 Report Share Posted February 13, 2018 I am planning a brake upgrade on a low mileage original business coupe. I have found several options for front disc brake upgrades. I am looking for ideas to upgrade the rear drums either with discs or newer style self adjusting drums. Does anyone know of backing plates and brake assemblies that will work on the original rear end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dartgame Posted February 13, 2018 Report Share Posted February 13, 2018 Check with AAJ brakes in Portland OR. Nice people. I used their kit on the rear axle of my 52 coupe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyHarold Posted February 14, 2018 Report Share Posted February 14, 2018 4 hours ago, Dartgame said: Check with AAJ brakes in Portland OR. Nice people. I used their kit on the rear axle of my 52 coupe. Did you retain the original rear axle and just upgrade the backing plates/shoes? How did you handle the emergency brake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48hoopty Posted February 14, 2018 Report Share Posted February 14, 2018 ECI hot rod brakes has a front disc upgrade, a rear disc upgrade (using the OEM axle) and a master cylinder bracket to add a dual circuit master cylinder. Quite spendy considering you can swap an 8.8 disc rear replace front coils and rear leaves etc for the cost of their rear kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonstop Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 You can also add Bendix rear drums instead. Did it, and all that was entailed was drilling the mount flange for the other backing plate. Also gave me the chance to have slip on drums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivey Posted February 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 What bendix backing plates did you adapt to the rear axle? What vehicle did that come from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dartgame Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) Jersey Harold - you cut off most of the backing plate so it becomes in essence a bearing and seal retainer. You remove the drum from the hubs and reuse them. The tricks are the standoff’s and the caliper adapter...No changes to the emergency brake - still using the trans mounted brake for that. Edited February 15, 2018 by Dartgame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyHarold Posted February 16, 2018 Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 2 hours ago, Dartgame said: Jersey Harold - you cut off most of the backing plate so it becomes in essence a bearing and seal retainer. You remove the drum from the hubs and reuse them. The tricks are the standoff’s and the caliper adapter...No changes to the emergency brake - still using the trans mounted brake for that. Interesting approach. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48hoopty Posted February 16, 2018 Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 5 hours ago, Dartgame said: Jersey Harold - you cut off most of the backing plate so it becomes in essence a bearing and seal retainer. You remove the drum from the hubs and reuse them. The tricks are the standoff’s and the caliper adapter...No changes to the emergency brake - still using the trans mounted brake for that. I'm lost on this. Why go that route when you can get a very modern amd reliable disc system. Stops better, parts easily available, very reliable. An 8.8 disc moves the parking brake to the rotors. I'm not sold on the ECI kit for a couple reasons. Namely the keeping the old rear as I'm not a big fan if the 4.10 ratio. If stopping is a priority, as well as reliability, ease of maintenance and durability, I'd swap the complete rear. The original brakes are ridiculous expensive and the fact that a special tool is needed to install makes keeping the drums more a novelty. If the bendix plates use the same drums and internals why do it in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dartgame Posted February 16, 2018 Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) Hoopty - my car has 40 Kmiles on it and the axle works fine, and has no leaks, the wheel bearings are like new. That was my reasoning. I agree with your logic, I was planning to do an 8.8 swap but when I found I could get discs for the rear I went that way instead. The brakes themselves are all late model parts easily available. If I do end up having problems an axle swap is the plan. Edited February 16, 2018 by Dartgame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonstop Posted February 17, 2018 Report Share Posted February 17, 2018 On 2/15/2018 at 8:16 AM, Ivey said: What bendix backing plates did you adapt to the rear axle? What vehicle did that come from My brakes came off of a 65 Coronet, but the backing plates from a lot of different years will work. They are 10 inch drums, but you could probably adapt the 11 inch drum set up as well. I also bought 8 3/4 bearing retainers. Since they were thick (plenty strong), I Bolted them to the flange behind the backing plates. I didn’t have to cut up the original backing plates this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.