Drum Brakes

[Marse]

I finally got my 1951 Kaiser 4-door deluxe sedan running with all mechanicals rebuilt/restored.  I adjusted the new drum brakes per the shop manual but I am not happy because they are not very good for stopping. Scares me.  During rebuild I checked each shoe fit to its respective drum and they all looked like a pretty good fit.  I am now considering going to disc brakes.  Any recommendations about drum brake adjustments & sources for disc brakes?

Thanks,

Marse

[JoeKeys2010]

I have drum brakes on my 1949 and they are adequate. I think disc brakes would stop the car more firmly but the difference in stopping power is not worth the effort and cost. So bottom line my drum brakes are good enough.

I'd say check all the normal stuff. Make sure you don't have air in the lines, adjust the travel of each shoe so that it makes good contact with the drums, make sure no leaks exist anywhere.

If you insist on disc brakes my guess is you will have to do your homework. I put disc brakes on my Ford but it packs a 427 and I wanted stopping power. Places like Summit Raicing sell kits complete with mixing blocks. You would just have to see if a kit could be modified to fit a Kaiser. A kit probably costs $1,500.

I'd say something is not right though. Your drum brakes should be adequate.

[Fid]

One thing that causes a lot of problems with brakes on cars this old is the brakes hoses. When they get old they shrivel up and the fluid no longer flows through them as it should.  There is one on each front wheel and one in the back. My guess is they are clogged.  Remove one and try to blow some air through it. That will tell you. Replacing the three hoses can make a world of difference.

[51Deluxe]

Assuming the brakes have been completely rebuilt and are functioning well, it could just be a case of not being used to "old car brakes". I haven't had a collector car for about 20 years, purchased my '51 on Ebay and took it for a spin. Pretty scary (though not as scary as a 1919 Chevy I once had with mechanical brakes). Impossible to lock the wheels except on gravel, needing a lot of pedal effort to stop.

Fast forward two weeks, I was then completely used to the car and the brakes seemed fine. I was so used to modern power disc brakes that non power drums seemed terrible. In actuality, the brakes are functioning as they should. Like any car with drums, you want to be careful about wet weather, when they can fade badly- but most of these cars are driven on sunny days, so not a real factor. Nowadays I can cruise down a long, steep hill in our town without any trepidation at all.

Fid, you make an interesting point- while the brake hoses on my car look fine, I don't think they are new like all the other parts. I'll consider replacing them. I'll also see if I can drive someone's identical car at Jackson to see if my brake effort is out of the ordinary.

[Marse]

 :)I want to thank everyone for their helpful comments. It's going to be a lot o work on my part but I will take the wheels and drums off again and use some kind of coating on the shoes or drums to see how each each shoe is making contact with its drum.

Marse

[retired wrench]

If the shoes were new you will be able to see the wear pattern where they have contacted the drum without putting anything on them. I imagine they just need time to "seat"