Brake Drums

[boatingbill]

On e-bay they are selling 52-53 Kaiser Brakes for 9 in drums. My 51 Kaiser looks like 11 inches, so
my 9" puller is too small. Did Kaiser really switch to smaller drums in "52?

[Fid]

The shoes may be for the Henry J or Darrin.

[boatingbill]

FID: Are you saying all Kaisers 51-55 have 11" drums?

[Fid]

That I don't know for sure. Since the 1951-55s all used the same body shell they likely all had the same drums but I think it would best for someone who knows for sure to answer that one. My response was to suggest that there were other KF cars produced in those years. Often times the parts are in KF boxes and the sellers don't know which cars they fit so the advertise them as Kaiser. These parts could be for Darrin or Henry J. Are the part numbers listed? If so I can verify if they are for HJ or Darrin but I don't know for sure on the full size Kaisers.

[joefrazer]

Except for some 47 and 48 K&F that used wheel studs/lug nuts instead of wheel bolts, all K&F drums are the same for the big cars. The Darrins also used the big car brakes. HJ brakes are not the same and aside from the master cylinder and perhaps some minor hardware, nothing interchanges.

[boatingbill]

From what was stated above, it looks like the brake sets being sold by several people on E Bay
are 9" for HJ and maybe the Willys autos, not for Kaisers even though they said the brakes
listed are for K521, K522, K531, K532. A lot of incorrect listings out there maybe in part by Kaiser
buying our Willys in 1953?

[Fid]

Many of the errant ebay ads are by sellers who know no better or got their information from "my friend who knows..." so you really have to be careful. I used to try to help sellers by letting them know what things are and I so often received responses such as "...my 80 year neighbor told me that and he would know..." or "...my friends swears that's what it is so..."  I guess this is why defense attorneys will tell you "The worst witness is an eye-witness."  It's also why I stopped trying to help ebayers years ago. You can't really blame them, they have no idea who some random person is who just sends them a message.  It all boils down to caveat emptor.

[Fid]

Here's another example -
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Kaiser-Frazer-Hubcap-/220847581578?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item336b8aa98a

Is this a KF hub cap? Not one I know of.

[joefrazer]

It's an Olds poverty cap.