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1953 Dodge - What have I got into


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The fuel tank picked a fight with me today, it lost, now I can start pulling the new hard fuel line next weekend. The fuel tank is junk, underneath it's Swiss cheese, probably go with the repo tank. I know the repo tank is shorter than the original tank, so I'll make up a bracket for it.

IMG_20190127_153437.jpg

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16 hours ago, peteandvanessa said:

Here's what the front right brake looks like when I pulled it off today. The right brake lining actually fell off when I pulled the drum. Notice the hokey return spring, someone was creative there for sure. ?

FB_IMG_1548632526269.jpg

Ahhh yes. That "engineering" we all love so much. BTW, I love a good VW and have enjoyed your pics of those as well.

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When you do your fuel tank, replace the fuel level stuff in the tank while the tank is not in the truck.  It will make it much easier to pull the unit in and out until you get the float set for an accurate reading.  I didn't do that when my tank was out...so my fuel gauge accuracy is still "more like a guideline."

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4 minutes ago, Bobacuda said:

When you do your fuel tank, replace the fuel level stuff in the tank while the tank is not in the truck.  It will make it much easier to pull the unit in and out until you get the float set for an accurate reading.  I didn't do that when my tank was out...so my fuel gauge accuracy is still "more like a guideline."

I plan on installing this new tank, it's the closest I can find to the factory original fuel tank. I'll have to fab a bracket up and change the filler hose a little, but I'll fit a fuel level at the same time before I install the tank.

tank.jpg

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I fought the rear brake drum for five hours today. I won eventually, man that drum was on there tight. Got it off in the end. Cleaned it up, it's ready for the new brake Pistons, Hardline and shoes. 

IMG_20190202_123857.jpg

Edited by peteandvanessa
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Almost done with the brake refresh. but I hit this problem. I ordered a full set of rear brake pistons from a well known supplier to do both rear brakes.

The rears use two half brake pistons (one at the top and one at the bottom). Well, I was happily reassembling them, and one went together just fine, but the second one, it appeared that I had the wrong parts, (or some previous owner swapped one of the backing plates), so I need help to identify what's going on here. In the pic below, I matched up the old brake pistons with the new ones. The top row in the pic matches just fine, but the bottom row doesn't: 

Brakepistons.jpg

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The passenger side rear is complete and back on the truck. But I can't finish the drivers side rear until I return the parts and re-order them, here's a pic of the drivers side rear indicating the orientation of the brake pistons that I need (the passenger side rear is an exact copy of the drivers side rear, so I'm wondering whether some Previous owner swapped a backing plate at sometime in the past???):

what i need.jpg

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On 2/2/2019 at 5:33 PM, peteandvanessa said:

IMG_20190202_152640.jpg

This appears to be the driver side setup...the passenger side should be a mirror image.  It appears that the parts you ordered would be correct as they are mirror castings.  Scanning the parts manual, part numbers for the support plates are different for left and right for 1/2 and 3/4 ton B-series...possibly done wrong at the factory, possibly "upgraded" by a previous repair...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just getting ready to align the brake shoes to the drum before bleeding the brakes (using a home made garden pump sprayer for the bleeder). I looked on line how to align the brake shoes and made this cheap tool that fits over the axel from some kitchen piping. It slides tightly over the axel and you can then turn the axel to get the toe and heal of the brake shoes aligned, also allows the in,out distance of the shoes to be set to the drum diameter, it think it will work out pretty good.

IMG_20190222_162545.jpg

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Do the shoe linings accurately fit and match the drum diameter 100% ? 

If not your tool won't do much good as for firm pedal feel and high pedal..

The shoe lining should perfectly match the drum radius for quick adjustment and a firm high pedal feel.

Most common reason people here have drum brake problems on these cars and trucks...

Lockheed brakes work very very well when done right with soft organic linings.

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On 2/2/2019 at 5:32 PM, peteandvanessa said:

I fought the rear brake drum for five hours today. I won eventually, man that drum was on there tight. Got it off in the end. Cleaned it up, it's ready for the new brake Pistons, Hardline and shoes. 

IMG_20190202_123857.jpg

Just a quick note to warn you about the line that connects the two rear cylinders. If you don’t get it tucked down flat enough, it will make contact with the drum. 

 

It it only takes half a mile to wear through the line and dump the fluid. Ask me how I know.

 

Unless you’ve upgraded to a dual cylinder, that event will make your brake pedal useless. That’s when your emergency brake come in really handy - hope the T-handle is well oiled though it’s amazing how hard you can pull when you’re that motivated.

 

This forum has a great supply of really knowledgeable people as well as those who can share lessons learned the hard way.

 

Regards, BobB

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13 hours ago, peteandvanessa said:

I made a brake line pressure bleeder from a garden sprayer, drilled and tapped a fitting to push the brake fluid through the top of the master cylinder. Should really help with setting up the brakes.

IMG_20190223_093306.jpg

 

These work awesome....BUT you will likely have to siphon some fluid out of the MC as designed/build as it will fill to the top.  When I made mine, I left 1/4" or so of tube drop down into the MC space so when I break the seal it keeps the level below the tippy top of the MC.

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15 hours ago, Dodgeb4ya said:

Do the shoe linings accurately fit and match the drum diameter 100% ? 

If not your tool won't do much good as for firm pedal feel and high pedal..

The shoe lining should perfectly match the drum radius for quick adjustment and a firm high pedal feel.

Most common reason people here have drum brake problems on these cars and trucks...

Lockheed brakes work very very well when done right with soft organic linings.

It's pretty damn close now,  the tool I managed to align the shoes very close to the drum and also adjusted the distance from the backing plate.I can now fine tune it once I have bled the brakes.

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