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Parking brake? We don't need no stinking parking brake!


49WINDS

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In my attempts to try and get the parking brake to actually hold on my car, I found that the band has been worn down to the rivets as a result of never being set up correctly. I also found that the drum has some pretty decent grooves worn into it which is no big surprise. I figured I could just go to the junkyard and try to pull one off the car I'd been finding some good pieces off of, but it turns out they crushed it!! I was sad and angry at the same time, how could they just crush something so rare and that was still in decent shape?!

 

So now I'm left with trying to decide if it's worth trying to get another drum, or if it will work ok to just get a new band. I tried to show the grooves in the attached picture, any thoughts?

20201001_154633.jpg

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I tried to buy a P15 out of a salvage here in Ohio some years ago, too.  It had been pretty well stripped, but still had the engine & transmission in it, and all of the sheet metal down to about the last 8 to 10 inches was really straight.  (The bottom part was simply GONE.  Someone told me that parking a car on leavings from an iron ore mine would eat up the underside, so I'd guess that's probably what happened.)  Anyway, they wouldn't sell, and wanted an arm & a leg for parts.  They later told me that they were using it as an "art canvass" for an annual Hippie Art Festival they sponsored, where people could come in & go wild painting on the cars.  When I asked again later, it had been scrapped.

 

But to your real subject, I would not be concerned about those grooves in the drum.  Maybe just keep my eye out for a replacement, if one happens to turn up.  Maybe someone here will have one to offer, what with all of the guys going with late model running gear.

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I've not heard of this being done but have you thought about getting the drum spun in a lathe to remove the worst of those groves then get the band relined and hopefully you have a parking brake again........andyd

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17 hours ago, Eneto-55 said:

But to your real subject, I would not be concerned about those grooves in the drum.  Maybe just keep my eye out for a replacement, if one happens to turn up.  Maybe someone here will have one to offer, what with all of the guys going with late model running gear.

 

I think I'd do the same: Reline the band and keep an eye out for a replacement. I suspect that with the correct (relatively soft) band lining material you will have enough contact area for the brake to hold the vehicle on most slopes. If it won't hold and you don't find a replacement in a reasonable amount of time, the existing drum could be built up with weld or metal spray then turned to the original diameter.

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Since it's not a service brake and only needs to hold the car when parked, the scoring isn't really an issue. And the one time you need it in an emergency it's gonna be pretty much used up any way.  Just get new friction material put on and adjust it to hold the car istopped.

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Thanks for the input so far, I had also wondered if it would be feasible to try and turn the drum. I also think I had seen someone selling drums (like Andy Bernbaum) but I don't remember if they showed a price. Either way I think I may just try to replace the band and see how it goes from there. I agree with with Tod said about it probably would work ok in the meantime, and honestly anything would probably work better than it does right now.

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1136315 or 952232 are the MoPar E-brake drum only part numbers for the 1949 Chrysler Royal/Windsor 6 cylinder cars.

Fits some Dodge DeSoto and other Chrysler cars too.

The used drums will have the U- joint hub included..Chrysler uses it's own u-joint hub/flange.

Edited by Dodgeb4ya
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you can purchase emergency band lining from Bernbaum and will need the brass rivets and the riveting tool to set the rivets and a counter sink tool to imake the holes inthe proper locations onthe lining.  Also look on ebay these brake linings and the metal  housing do come up for sale.  I have several complete units that fit the 38/39 Chrysler/Dodge/Ply/Desoto.  I know the mounting  notch or upper bracket is is a different location on the band than onthe later units.  Send me you emailI will check my Brake catalogs to see which band you might need.

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

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1 hour ago, desoto1939 said:

. . . and will need the brass rivets and the riveting tool to set the rivets and a counter sink tool to imake the holes inthe proper locations onthe lining.  .  .

 

I got my rivets and tools for installing from a Model A Ford parts supplier. I don't recall the cost but it wasn’t very much. As for proper locations for the holes and rivets, I just reused the existing holes in the band.

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19 hours ago, 49WINDS said:

In my attempts to try and get the parking brake to actually hold on my car, I found that the band has been worn down to the rivets as a result of never being set up correctly. I also found that the drum has some pretty decent grooves worn into it which is no big surprise. I figured I could just go to the junkyard and try to pull one off the car I'd been finding some good pieces off of, but it turns out they crushed it!! I was sad and angry at the same time, how could they just crush something so rare and that was still in decent shape?!

 

So now I'm left with trying to decide if it's worth trying to get another drum, or if it will work ok to just get a new band. I tried to show the grooves in the attached picture, any thoughts?

 

The drum on my truck looked very similar, the band was also pretty bad.

Hardly a chance to get a decent replacement in my area, I put the worn drum to the lathe. Couldn`t get worse ..

I just can recommend to try it. Watch out not to remove to much material, the wall thickness of the drum might get too thin.

Plus consider to buy a thicker brake band to compensate the diameter change of the drum. I got mine from an ordinary tractor supply.

Waaay safer to park the truck since then, works since 6 years w.o. any trouble.

 

e-brake-drum.jpg.ba8c7851d42fa5c5e7e76163c29b7e1f.jpg

 

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4 hours ago, desoto1939 said:

you can purchase emergency band lining from Bernbaum and will need the brass rivets and the riveting tool to set the rivets and a counter sink tool to imake the holes inthe proper locations onthe lining.  Also look on ebay these brake linings and the metal  housing do come up for sale.  I have several complete units that fit the 38/39 Chrysler/Dodge/Ply/Desoto.  I know the mounting  notch or upper bracket is is a different location on the band than onthe later units.  Send me you emailI will check my Brake catalogs to see which band you might need.

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

I see the replacement lining on Bernbaum's are available for around $40 or the whole band for $65 which seems like a decent price. They also claim to sell the drum too so I may reach out to them and see if the pricing sounds fair. Moparmall.com sells them as well but for almost $200.

 

Rich- my email is apmattern@gmail.com

Thanks for your help!

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65 for the complete ready to installband is a very good price I know you can find lining cheaper than Andy put he is making a profit. If you search on band lining you can find a manufacturer and then get the lining for your old band and have a spare.  I would go with the new lining and metal band.

 

Rich Hartung

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A working parking brake is a good idea......well........remembering to release the parking brake is a better idea...........lol...............many years ago, actually 1972, I'd got my Learners Permit, the Dodge had had its burnt out wiring sorted out by a local mechanic and I'd convinced my father to be my "experienced driver" and sit beside me when I took the Dodge out for a driving lesson...........lol............Saturday afternoon, not much traffic, we'd got onto the main highway 2-3 miles from home and in a bit of traffic, I'm in the middle lane, sitting on 30-35mph  having taken off from a set a traffic lights about 400yards along when........shudder, shudder, car starts slowing........"Dad..can you smell smoke?.........Yep, Son......Dad....we are slowing down........any idea why?..........son, have you got the car still in gear?.......foot on the accelerator?...........oops.........still got the handbrake on?......err........oops, yep, sorry Dad.......not any more!"...............even 48 yrs later I still remember how effective mopar handbrakes can be..............this thread has brought back some not lost memories..........regards from Oz.......lol........andyd 

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My first car was a 62 Chrysler Newport, which also had the parking brake on the back of the transmission (but an internal type drum).  Automatic transmission, push button shift, no 'Park'.  I was going to college outside of Minneapolis.  The parking brake didn't work anymore.  (The car was getting pretty old already, this was in 77 or so, and I didn't want to go to the work of fixing it.)  I kept a folding wheel chock beside the driver's seat, and would open the door and then ease the car forward or back until the tire rested against the wheel chock.  When leaving, just reverse the procedure.  At school the parking lot was level, so I didn't often need to do this, mostly just when visiting downtown Minneapolis.  I was a bit worried that someone would park so close that I couldn't reach the wheel chock to leave, but it never happened, and I was also never alone, either.

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5 hours ago, Eneto-55 said:

My first car was a 62 Chrysler Newport, which also had the parking brake on the back of the transmission (but an internal type drum). . .

 

I think '62 was the last year for the parking brake on the back of the transmission for cars. I think the '61 Plymouth we had (before I learned to drive) had the parking brake on the transmission. And I am almost positive in my recollection that the '63 Plymouth wagon (car I learned to drive on and first turn a wrench on) ran a cable to the rear drums for the parking brake.

 

The '63 Dodge D200 pickup I had in the 1970s and 80s had the parking brake on the transmission though. Pretty much like my '33 Plymouth but with a whole lot beefier construction as one might expect for a truck.

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Since it seems to be story time:

Back in the mid 1960s a 49-54 Plymouth was considered a "Transportation Car" and you could buy a nice one for about $150.

My Dad's partner in a Beer Bar favored them and had just washed his before going on a date. After completing the task he went in for a shower and shave. When he came out the car was gone! Looking around he hear a commotion down the street, so he went to investigate. There was his clean Plymouth upside down in the middle of the street. Within a day or two he had another one and was very careful about setting the hand brake from them on.

 

In college I decided I needed a spare car. I was racing my SAAB 96 in autocross and it was getting temperamental from time to time. (I'd shear the key in the countershaft for 1st & 2nd and I'd only have 3rd & 4th) So I bought a 49 Special Deluxe two door. Once I was out with a friend and we chatted for an hour or so in front of their dorm. At mid night they got out and I fired up the Plymouth for the trip home. Drove about 3/4 of a mile on a foggy night when something went radically wrong! The car lost power and stopped suddenly in the middle of the street. As I sat there behind the wheel trying to figure it out I noticed tendrils of smoke coming up through the floor boards between me the the dashboard.

I tried the starter and the engine fired right up and ran as sweetly as ever, til I let the clutch out. It died without even making the car shutter.

Star Trek was popular then and one of the storylines was about the Enterprise being caught in a "Tractor Beam."

"Get us outta here Scotty!" "Captan she's givin us all she's got!"

I laughed at myself as I rolled the window down. The fog was just below the level of the street light hung over the center of the road and it made a spooky kind of glow but gave no indication of any aliens.

Nothing above me so it must be below me.

My first thought was about an old movie about little creatures from Mars that tunneled under the ground then coming up to grab unsuspecting people with Octopus like tentacles.

Another nervous laugh and a deep breath for courage and I opened the door.

I leaned over and I could see orange light under the car. I slammed the door, took another deep breath.

Then decided to face my fate head on. I opened the door and leaned way over to find the source of the orange light.

There in the darkness under the car was that damn brake band glowing a bright orange!

I sat back up feeling like the stupid 20 year old kid I was. I turned the key and released the parking brake and drove home feeling very embarrassed at how far I let my imagination wander.

I resolved to watch less TV and study more.

You can be sure it never happened again.

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2 hours ago, Richard Cope said:

Hi 49 Winds, 

Will a drum from a 39 Ply. work for you?

I have no idea but I will certainly do some research and let you know!

Do you have an extra one for sale I'm guessing?

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7 hours ago, TodFitch said:

Reminder: No offers or requests for parts on the general forums. Use the PM facility or place an ad in the classified area.

Duly noted - apologies if I looked like I was trying to request parts here.

 

Richard did send me a PM after the fact so I think he got your message too.

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Apologize, wasn't intending to break forum rules, only trying to help a fellow member find a needed part.  Wasn't trying to making a sale.  Unfortunately I'm not up on interchanging parts, not sure if the transmission I have is from a 39 Plymouth car.    I purchased at a reasonable price only for the floor shifter, and rails when converting my P8 to floor shift, works perfect with my stock trans.  However the unit appears to be heavier made especially the drum that the standard 39.  It's also blue, other 39 units that I have seen are silver.  Appreciate if someone can tell what the unit is off of.  

Thanks

screenshot Trasn.png

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  • 3 weeks later...

Got an update to my attempted repairs so far: a friend was able to machine the drum down (after me not being able to find any brake shops that would even want to touch the thing) and I was pleasantly surprised to see he got it completely smoothed out! Now my next problem is I can't get the new brake band I got from AB to tighten up enough to be able to bolt everything back up to it. I could tell the lining looked way way thicker than my old one, and I thought that was a good thing until now. My service manual states the lining should be 5/32" but from what I can tell this new one is at least 8 to 9/32". Are these meant to be filed back down to the correct size or is it possible that AB gave me the wrong part?

20201024_203406.jpg

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I'd be calling AB's and check with them re the part you received..........BTW, the drum looks very nice now...........I just checked the various shop manuals I have covering 1936 to 1958 OZ & USA Dodge, Plymouth DeSoto & Chrysler and all list the brand lining thickness as 5/32"..........maybe you got a truck lining?.............andyd 

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Thanks Andy,

 

I called AB back about the band and they claim that is the only one they show as available for my car, plus they went and checked the thickness of a few other ones and said they all looked to be about the same. So now I'm sitting here wondering if I should try and find a way to grind this band down, or return it to AB and look for one from another store. Any thoughts on how to proceed?

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