1964 BUICK SPORTWAGON BRAKES

[1bst1936]

Has anybody got access to a Sportwagon manual that gives width of the rear brake shoes? Mine has

2.5in ,but did some come with 2.0in shoes. I know the Skylark has 2.0in . Thanks  Bruce.

[joe_padavano]

Has anybody got access to a Sportwagon manual that gives width of the rear brake shoes? Mine has

2.5in ,but did some come with 2.0in shoes. I know the Skylark has 2.0in . Thanks  Bruce.

 

All extended wheelbase SportWagon and Vista Cruiser used 9.5" x 2.5" rear brakes.  All other A-body cars of the same year used 9.5" x 2" rear brakes.  The SportWagon and VC rear shoes are the same as the fronts.  

[1bst1936]

Joe, Thanks for your reply--I was 99% sure they were 2.5in front and rear, but needed confirmation. Reason being I purchased

drums from a well known parts supplier,shipped them to New Zealand, and found they were only 2.0in. I have been in contact 

with them and in 2 emails from them they keep saying Pronto BD8839 drums fit rear 64 Buick sportwagon. And they are still listed

in their catalog. Seeing they were said to fit rear I assumed they would fit front as well, so I bought 4!!!!  Hopefully I will get a refund

even though it is outside their 30 day return policy, and then purchase 4 correct ones, which I think are AC DELCO  18B452.

     Regards and thanks, Bruce.    PS I have 2 Sportwagons and a number of other BUICKS , DeSOTO etc.

[joe_padavano]

Joe, Thanks for your reply--I was 99% sure they were 2.5in front and rear, but needed confirmation. Reason being I purchased

drums from a well known parts supplier,shipped them to New Zealand, and found they were only 2.0in. I have been in contact 

with them and in 2 emails from them they keep saying Pronto BD8839 drums fit rear 64 Buick sportwagon. And they are still listed

in their catalog. Seeing they were said to fit rear I assumed they would fit front as well, so I bought 4!!!!  Hopefully I will get a refund

even though it is outside their 30 day return policy, and then purchase 4 correct ones, which I think are AC DELCO  18B452.

     Regards and thanks, Bruce.    PS I have 2 Sportwagons and a number of other BUICKS , DeSOTO etc.

 

I routinely find errors in parts supplier databases and catalogs.  Just try and order a motor mount for a late 1960s Olds with a V8, for example.  There's about a 75% chance you'll get the wrong one.  One major discount auto parts suppliers had a mixup in their store catalog for the brake rotors for the early 90s Honda Civics.  In that case, I knew I needed the smaller ones, which the catalog claimed were more expensive.  Big surprise when we discovered that the supposed larger but less expensive listing were actually the correct smaller rotors.  Unfortunately most vendors don't have a mechanism for reporting such errors.

[1bst1936]

Joe,  Back again and the part supplier does not believe me. They say that my Sportwagon could have been 

         modified!!! They also say they have sold 100+ of these rear drums and have had no fitment problems

         for this vehicle (64 Sportwagon).   I looked on Ebay for pronto BD8839 drums and 4 other suppliers

         say they will not fit.  I will keep on the case because sometimes the buyer is right!  I would like to get

         copies of factory Buick  part #s for front and rear drums. Any suggestions? Also Sportwagon shop

         manual would probably list drum sizes, if I can find someone with one.  Hope I am not annoying you

         with these messages. Bruce.

[joe_padavano]

Joe,  Back again and the part supplier does not believe me. They say that my Sportwagon could have been 

         modified!!! They also say they have sold 100+ of these rear drums and have had no fitment problems

         for this vehicle (64 Sportwagon).   I looked on Ebay for pronto BD8839 drums and 4 other suppliers

         say they will not fit.  I will keep on the case because sometimes the buyer is right!  I would like to get

         copies of factory Buick  part #s for front and rear drums. Any suggestions? Also Sportwagon shop

         manual would probably list drum sizes, if I can find someone with one.  Hope I am not annoying you

         with these messages. Bruce.

 

Happy to talk about this, but my experience and literature database is Oldsmobile Vista Cruisers.  I do have a 64 Vista, and the back brakes are 9.5 x 2.5.  Be aware that the Vista (and I assume the Sport Wagon) were not released until Feb 1964 and thus do not even appear in the 1964 Chassis Service Manual.  In my case I need to use both the 64 and 65 books to get the full story.  This may be the issue with your supplier.  I've taken to just ordering parts for a 1965 Vista and avoiding the hassle.  For example, RockAuto shows Centric P/N 12262005 as the rear drum for 1965-72 SportWagon and Vista, but I know for a fact that 64-65 rear brakes are the same.  By the way, they're under $40 each at RockAuto.

 

As for your supplier not having a complaint, I'm sure that the 2" drums fit fine on the rear, they just don't work as well.  It would not surprise me if those ones they claim to have sold were installed by less-knowledgeable people who were not aware of the difference.  The uninformed user might not realize that there's a problem.

Edited July 11, 2015 by joe_padavano (see edit history)