Bloo

I wouldn't change the shoes unless theres something wrong, mainly because you would have to arc grind them, and that probably means sending them out somewhere. I'm not surprised the master cylinder failed. That often happens when the pedal goes low for any reason, as the seal may get dragged across some rust it wouldn't normally contact. I try to avoid doing that, but more often than not it still happens. I had to make a tool to fix that DeSoto I mentioned earlier. It was years before the Internet. In those days you just had to ask all the people you know in the business. I couldn't locate one so I threw something together to get the job done. It is amazing how badly eaten up a master cylinder can be, and still seal up and work fine for years with a light honing and some new rubber. These days I would probably just get it sleeved if it is pitted.

It's not blasphemy, and theres no theoretical reason it couldn't work, it's just that the odds are bad. I'm glad it worked out for you. A long time ago I screwed around with 55 DeSoto for about a month thinking I could do that. I was a gas station monkey in those days, and it did at least provide a few weeks of entertainment for a gray-haired coworker who had told me what needed to happen before I even had the drums off. It's not a performance I am looking to repeat. The difference is astounding when you finally get it right.

Do your weights go on the right way in either hole? Both holes look offset the same way, suggesting one of them might be for reverse rotation rather than limit. Is that an optical illusion?

They don't exist. They did exist a few years ago, but the price was astronomical. I have considered building my own out of a 6v Optima and a trickle charger, but I never get around to it. I suppose a dead battery is what it will take. I haven't had one in years.

It isn't impossible, but probably BOTH gears, the one on the cable end and the on the transmission shaft are wrong. On some cars this is possible, and I suspect it happened with yours. Lets say, for the sake of argument, that the speedometer exits on the driver's side (left, USA) of the car. If the gear engages below the centerline of the output shaft, the teeth have to lean one way, and if it engages above the shaft, the teeth have to lean the other way. If the speedometer exits the transmission on the passenger side, then the gears for below the shaft become the ones for above the shaft, and vice versa. Get this backwards, and the speedometer goes backwards. Try to mix half and half, and it just shears all the teeth off. On a normal speedometer with a needle, and zero at the left, and a hundred and something at the right, the needle goes clockwise. The cable has to turn the same direction as the needle will. It is the only way a speedometer works. Viewed from the back of the speedometer, you have to turn the speedometer shaft counterclockwise. Viewing the cable from the speedometer end, thats clockwise. Viewing the cable at the opposite end, the end that hooks to the transmission, thats counterclockwise. Turning around and looking at the speedometer output on the transmission, thats clockwise. Try spinning your redline speedometer from the back. If counterclockwise from the back makes it rise, It is like a speedometer with a needle. If it is opposite, just reverse everything in the paragraph above. Look at the cable with it disconnected at the speedometer end. I'll bet it is going the wrong way. I think it is time for some part number research and a couple of new gears.

Its a GT6. TR6 must have been a typo.

It is indeed a Lincoln, 1946-48 I think.

These brakes are wonderful when they work right. The downside is you don't get to take any shortcuts. If they have an e-brake function (I doubt it), back it off. The shoes should match the curve of the drums VERY closely. A small feeler gauge should go in at the end (look in the manual for the spec). If there is a bunch of gap, the shoes need to be arc ground. This isn't really optional unless you like mush. With the shoes back on the car, the shoes need to be adjusted so they fit the drums right (more specs in the manual). The shoes adjust both up and down, and in and out. This is done with a special tool that attaches to the hub or spindle, and has a rod that lays on the face of the shoe, and adjusts to the actual drum diameter. You run it around the shoes, checking with a feeler gauge as you go. The tool is impossible to find. Plan on making one out of random stuff laying around the shop or hardware store. Obviously there can't be any leaks, I gather you have taken care of that. I don't know about the brake booster. Generally speaking now (instead of specifically to Lockheed brakes, so I'm not sure this applies to you), there MAY be an adjustment on the pushrod coming out of the booster. If you look down in the master cylinder, and push the pedal SLOWLY (or it will squirt you in the eye), there is a big hole and a tiny hole. Any motion before the cup inside the cylinder completely covers the tiny hole is lost motion at the pedal. A booster of the type used on more modern cars generally has threads on the pushrod, or a tip that pulls out with some shim washers under it. In theory you can adjust it until you can see the seal, then back off until you just can't, plus a little more, so you are sure the seal is not resting on the hole. If you get this too tight, then due to flex, thermal expansion, and so on, there may come a day that the brakes wont release and there you sit. If in doubt, use the specs in the book instead of my way. That isn't even a start with these brakes, unless they are already working perfectly and you are just taking up a tiny bit of slack. I'll bet it is the rear brakes then. Did you back any adjusters off to get the drums off? I don't know about the master cylinder linkage (unless it is power, and configurable as I mentioned above). Did you do anything to that linkage when you had the rearend out? If you turned any drums or replaced any shoes you are starting from zero on those wheels. These are a lot of work. Good luck. You wont believe how good they are when you get them right. There is no servo action, so they have a solid "right now" feeling like disc brakes.

Yes. Why wouldn't you use a helicoil? Epoxy is really sketchy around gasoline. Even if not around gasoline, it's still a kludge to use it on threads. The only reason I can think of to try epoxy is if there isn't enough metal around the hole to drill oversize for the helicoil.

If my tires are ever flat enough that they are bulging like that, I will put some air in them.

But it really can't be. Trulyvintage posted an image of an 810x90 tire on his rim, and those tires are for 630mm (approx. 25") rims. 28x3 would be for a 22 inch rim. That would be quite a lot of stretching....

I don't believe Trulyvintage mentioned whether he was avoiding Coker, or just the Excelsior brand. Some love Coker, some hate them, but they are impossible to avoid. As far as I know they own every vintage tire source except Diamondback and Blockley. I have never seen clinchers of any sort in the Diamondback catalog, and Blockley doesn't list anything that looks like it will go on a 25 inch rim.

https://books.google.com/books?id=u2I2AQAAMAAJ&lpg=RA3-PA416&dq=32 x 3 1%2F2 clincher&pg=RA3-PA416#v=onepage&q=32 x 3 1/2 clincher&f=false Is this any better?

https://books.google.com/books?id=u2I2AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA416&lpg=RA3-PA416&dq=32+x+3+1/2+clincher&source=bl&ots=-jN2TbKMmi&sig=ACfU3U1-x3XdDIgsJ5DQ6uZNPjukJ_aaaA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj69rPLmNLiAhWN4FQKHYg2DqwQ6AEwCnoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=32%20x%203%201%2F2%20clincher&f=false I'm guessing 32 x 3 1/2.... but it could have been metric then, too. Not many clinchers are made. Assuming it is a 25 inch rim, you may have to take whatever size is made. That excelsior you found might easily be the only one.

26.25 measured where? Metric rims on an American car of that era is certainly not out of the question, but something doesn't add up. Coker's page for the Excelsior 810x90 says it fits a 630mm rim. 810-90-90=630 so that adds up. 630mm = 24.8 inches. Are you sure those aren't 25" rims? In any event I suspect you will need to go metric to find clinchers.

You definitely want to take that to someone who really knows Dynaflows. As I understand it, on some Dynaflows the band can unhook and the link fall out. It might be a fairly easy fix.

In your travels, watch out of the corner of your eye for one of the old Snap-On wheel balancers that you crank by hand. A shop I worked in years ago had one. It was a brand new machine at the time. In addition to the normally used cones and cups, it came with an adapter to center on wheel lugs just as you want to do. It wasn't specifically for wire wheels, as there are also other wheels that require it. Some French wheels have no large hole in the center, etc.... The machine looked like this looked like this:

I will send a PM later today or this evening when I can get home and compare pulleys. It looks like it will work.

http://boosterdeweyexchange.com/

Yes, it is the BCI group size system. I guess it's a North American standard, but I suspect these sizes range all over along with the cars that use them. We also see European DIN battery sizes here. Those tend to be low profile 12v batteries. Some have close (but probably not exact) BCI equivalents. Far less frequently we see sizes from the Japanese system. The Honda AN600, AZ600, and Toyota Prius (3 different sizes) are the only North American market examples I can think of. Those all had top posts that were tapered lead but tiny. For 2 of the Prius ones there was no BCI size that even came close.

I think single sided whitewalls are a postwar innovation.

I like it. Where is the ground cable?

Optimas are nice because they don't leak, and they don't corrode up your battery terminals. I bought a 12v one for an Alfa Romeo in the summer of 1995. That Optima was stolen when it was 18 years old. It was still working fine. They are expensive, but worth it. You have to shop around for the best price. On the other hand, if you let it go completely flat dead the Optima will be just as shot as any other battery. Depending on the car and how it is used, it may make more sense to buy the cheap one. I second JFranklin's advice. Go to a battery store, or someplace that does tractors. The overwhelming majority of 6v cars use a Group 1. Group 2 is slightly bigger, and sometimes used as an extra capacity option, or in larger cars. You can measure to see what you have. Group 1 is an extremely common tractor battery. There are also 6v batteries intended for Volkswagen that have about the same footprint as a Group 1, but are shorter in height. They used to be the most common one to find in a parts store, but today I think the Group 1 is more common.

There is only one Optima 6 volt model as far as I know. It is not the same size or shape as any original battery, so it probably isn't in make-model-year listings. The one size they do offer will fit in the space allotted for most original 6 volt batteries, but you would need to confirm with a measuring tape. https://www.amazon.com/Optima-Batteries-8010-044-Starting-Battery/dp/B00099HVN6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=6v+optima&link_code=qs&qid=1559516068&s=gateway&sourceid=Mozilla-search&sr=8-1

In my area the inability to go 50 (or better yet 60) is quite limiting. You have to go on the fast roads around here for short jaunts in order to stay on the slow roads. A long time ago I asked in this forum who had driven cross-country, and what are the routes to take in a slower car. A few people gave really good answers for their area, but the thread didn't really get much traction. It wasn't near enough to connect the dots across the lower 48 of the United States.