MORE Hints from the Model Garage (Popular Science, Nov '53)

[Bob Riding]

Looking through an old (1953) Popular Science magazine and found a bunch of stuff on the "new" 1954 Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge. Desoto didn't make the issue for some reason. This hint was for the "long-used Chrysler parking brake". Anyone employ this technique?

[grea235]

What a coincidence.  I'm currently putting an overdrive together and swapping in a better brake band. 

 

When I tighten the lower guide bolt/screw, the band twists forward and drags.  It looks like there's too much of a gap betwen the band and the mount.  I was going to weld in a shim, but I think I will try a bend over shim like it shows.

 

Thank you very much for posting this!!

[Bob Riding]

58 minutes ago, grea235 said:

What a coincidence.  I'm currently putting an overdrive together and swapping in a better brake band. 

 

When I tighten the lower guide bolt/screw, the band twists forward and drags.  It looks like there's too much of a gap betwen the band and the mount.  I was going to weld in a shim, but I think I will try a bend over shim like it shows.

 

Thank you very much for posting this!!

You're welcome. It must have been a common problem for it to be PS worthy!

 

[Bryan G]

Good timing here, too! I've been fighting mine for over a year. I burnt up a new band from Bernbaum. No matter how I adjusted it, it was either too tight when the brake was released or too loose when it was engaged. Last weekend I installed a NOS band, with proper gaps per the OEM shop manual, but no stopping power. I'm not going to tighten it beyond specs this time, but work to find the root cause.  I noticed that the last band wore very unevenly front to back, and I think the shim would help with that. Everything else on mine looks okay...I'm planning next on buying a new cable to see if that will fix the problem. We have a little hill downtown, and if I could get the car to hold on that incline...it would make my week!

[Bob Riding]

On 1/6/2023 at 7:55 PM, Bryan G said:

Good timing here, too! I've been fighting mine for over a year. I burnt up a new band from Bernbaum. No matter how I adjusted it, it was either too tight when the brake was released or too loose when it was engaged. Last weekend I installed a NOS band, with proper gaps per the OEM shop manual, but no stopping power. I'm not going to tighten it beyond specs this time, but work to find the root cause.  I noticed that the last band wore very unevenly front to back, and I think the shim would help with that. Everything else on mine looks okay...I'm planning next on buying a new cable to see if that will fix the problem. We have a little hill downtown, and if I could get the car to hold on that incline...it would make my week!

I plan to replace my lining on my wagon and would be interested in your results.

[JerseyHarold]

Could a local shop reline the emergency brake band?  Might be cheaper and quicker than dealing with mail order.

[Eneto-55]

Long time ago, but my Dad got mine relined (through Regency Olds, where he worked at the time) by Tulsa Brake & Clutch Supply Co. INC.  Also did the clutch assembly rebuild, and relined the disc.  (On 10-22-1980....)

 

According to an internet search, they are still in business, at 129 N Lewis Ave, Tulsa, OK 74110  (918) 582-2165.  (They were on 11th St back then, but the telephone number is the same!)

 

But another on-line search shows them at the same location as listed on the invoice from 1980, at:

Tulsa Brake and Clutch Supply Co
1335 E 11th St, Tulsa, OK, 74120
(918) 582-2165

(Also the same telephone # as above.)

 

[Back then, it cost me $10.00 to get that band relined.....]

[61farnham]

22 hours ago, JerseyHarold said:

Could a local shop reline the emergency brake band?  Might be cheaper and quicker than dealing with mail order.

I recently had my spare E-brake band relined here in the U.K. when I had my brake shoes relined, cost me £25.00 for the E-brake band which is around $30.00 to you much cheaper than buying a new one. My Plymouth service manual states a lining thickness of 5/32".

Edited January 9, 2023 by 61farnham

[Bryan G]

On 1/8/2023 at 3:19 PM, Bob Riding said:

I plan to replace my lining on my wagon and would be interested in your results.

Well, I've been fooling around with my parking brake for at least a year and half. As mentioned above, I'd replaced the lining for the 2nd time. Everything adjusted to specs but no-stop-em-mopar. I decided to replace the one thing left in the equation, the cable. I shopped around and Andy Bernbaum had as good a price as any, $111 as I recall. (Some of the descriptions others didn't inspire confidence, either.) The replacement cable has a modern nylon sheath vs the original which is made of metal. It does have a quality look and feel. Bernbaum makes a big deal about making sure you give the exact model so they can match it up. 

 

What I should have done: remove the old part entirely, so I could compare old & new side by side. Instead, I just started replacing it at the top end (which I figured would be most difficult.) That went fairly smoothly. When I got down underneath, though, I found a real problem: while the sheath length seemed correct, the lower end of the cable isn't long enough to reach. The cable is held tight in a bracket on the transmission, so I tried letting it hang loose, reasoning since the top end was secure, it might work. No. Too much slop. Another issue is that the cable routes between the transmission case and the transmission crossmember. Because my rubber mounts had collapsed with time, I couldn't feed the cable through. I just cut the end off the old one to get it out, but I ended up jacking the transmission (carefully) until I have just enough clearance to pull it through. It's not the main sheath that is too tight, but the clamp that holds it tight in the bracket. Just not enough room for that to pass.

 

After some head scratching, I came up with a MacGyver solution to the "shortcoming". I could just use a length of all-thread and a coupling nut to connect it with the threaded end of the cable. The trouble is, the cable end is fine thread and my local hardware store only has course. Not wanting to throw in the towel, I dug around their bins and found an automotive stud that was coarse on one end and fine on the other. So, with a couple couplers and some all-thread...I was in business! The photo shows the finished results. With this I was able to get everything nice and tight. With much anticipation, I let down the jack and backed the car down my driveway a bit where there is a slight dip...the handbrake worked! The ultimate test: it's pretty flat where I live (coastal plain) but our downtown is in a valley. They run soapbox derby races down there...so I motored on down, set the brake, and it held!!! Thank God for leading me to the solution

 

The other thing I did while I was at it was to rig up a buzzer to warn that the brake is on. Even though it hardly worked, I would always set it...and way too often I left it on. Like most of our cars, mine has a built-in warning device to flash the driver's map light if the brake is left engaged with the key in the run position. Fat lot of good that does during the day! So, I found a NOS 6 volt buzzer on eBay (Edwards brand, possibly still in production) and placed that under the dash. I tried just rerouting the wire from the bulb but I found I have too much of a voltage drop, apparently at horn relay (where this circuit gets it's current) and while it will run the flasher/bulb it won't energize the buzzer. Someday I'll see about tackling that problem but for now I just tapped another source of run-only 6 volt to power that switch. It works great...no way will I ignore that obnoxious thing!

 

Really stoked that I accomplished something today. Figured I'd pass it along, in case it can help someone else along the way. Oh, and the tip that started this thread? I don't have a lot of slop in mine at that point but I was able to wedge the ends of a scrap of flat copper into both sides, to help sturdy it up. I think that helped.

[Sniper]

29 minutes ago, Bryan G said:

I would always set it...and way too often I left it on.

 

Oh I don't know anyone who's done that, wondering why their engine was gutless and fearing impending engine seizure only to notice and wonder, what the heck is that smell then look down and see the parking brake was still on.  Nope, don't know anyone like that at all and neither does my son who wasn't sitting shotgun laughing, lol.

[Loren]

Leaving hand brake on is a rite of passage for old Plymouth owners.

When on a foggy late night my car suddenly stopped on its own and refused to move, I was worried. When tendrils of smoke appeared between me and the dashboard my imagination took off. I opened the car door and looked up and there was only a street light ( no alien space craft ) so looked under the car and there was this bright orange glow! Now I was thinking OMG! “Its the subterranean Martians! And you know they are the worst kind!” Looking further under the car there was the brake band emitting the bright orange light I saw reflecting on road. Looking all around me I was alone on the road and thinking “I am telling no one about this. This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done!”
Hey I was only 20 and I’ve had a lot of practice doing stupid things since then.

When I installed the overdrive in my P17 ( 111 inch wheelbase ) I did not want to change the hand brake cable which of course was 7 inches too short.

True Value hardware stores and Tractor Supply use the same hardware supplier ( and my “Old timer’s” is kicking and I can’t remember the name )

Anyway if you go to where the metal is to get the rod you need you will only find course thread couplers there. However if you go to where the hardware & bolts are they will have fine thread couplers in the drawers. They are very sneaky! In our little town ( population 2,200 ) the hardware store is True Value and they don’t have much but our Lumber yard gets their hardware from the same outfit and they had them. The coupler was priced at twice the money as the course threaded one but they had it!

For a first class job I bought a jam nut to lock the coupler to the cable then screwed the extension in till it bottomed on the cable to lock it. You could use two but I thought that would be redundant.

[Bryan G]

Loren, I hadn't thought of the need to extend that line for use with an overdrive. Glad I wasn't the only one who had to do an extension, and that's a good tip for finding the fine thread. Our town is that same size, with just one independent hardware store. I spent a lot of time looking all around, not wanting to trek to another town to complete my project. They did have some short lengths of rod in a drawer but it was all coarse, at least in the sizes I needed. Now, if I could weld...

[Loren]

I stopped by our local lumber yard and snapped a photo of the place you can find the couplers.

 

Hillman Couplers.heic

[Los_Control]