'63 Front Brake Problem

[CheezeMan]

Trying to get ready for Lexington...

I completely went through the brakes last year (machined the drums, replaced the following: shoes, springs, wheel cylinders, soft hoses, stainless hard lines, master, rebuilt the booster), but the front right brake just never adjusted or seated right. I've put about 400-500 miles on it hoping that would wear them in.

The problem is that when lightly pressing on the pedal (parking lot maneuvers or low speed stuff) I hear the front right give the normal engaging noises but then keeps repeating them like some have described as an out-of-round condition. About the only way I can think of it, is that the primary shoe starts to make contact then doesn't complete, and it repeats with the spin of the wheel. Just like it needs an adjustment.

I took it to a local olde-time garage just after doing the work, and the owner said I had them adjusted almost right, and finished it for me. he told me to drive it a few miles to wear the corners off. He is also the one who machined the drums for me.

Since then I've put 400-500 miles on and manually adjusted the star gear several times, to the point where it is tighter than the left, so it pulls a little right when breaking hard.

Under harder braking, they work just fine (other than a slight pull).

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[60FlatTop]

Did you put the drum back on the lathe to make sure it is still round?

And watch out for those old time mechanics. Sometimes all they did over the years was age.

Bernie

[RivNut]

Perhaps a bit of over stretch here, but are you sure that you have the primary and secondary shoes on each spindle correctly? The longer shoes goes on the back.

[CheezeMan]

Perhaps a bit of over stretch here, but are you sure that you have the primary and secondary shoes on each spindle correctly? The longer shoes goes on the back.

Yes, checked that. This photo shows when I first put on the new parts last year.

[TexRiv_63]

Have you tried letting the self adjusters do their work? I had a similar problem with my 63, I found an empty parking lot and accelerated in reverse to about 20 mph, then hit the brakes firmly multiple times. Repeat a few times then drive forward and see if it improves. If not, do it a few more times, you should see an improvement.