1939 Buick Special Brakes

[MarkL]

Greetings, will a mid ‘50s rear 13” drum-backing plate fit my ‘39 Special, looks like the mounting holes line up, I know they are wider due to the 2 1/4 inch shoes and will track slightly wider than stock, how about up front? Will stock backing plates take a wider shoe and drum? I would like to match the fronts to the rears. The pictures are the mid ‘50s parts I intend to use, the stock rear mounting plates are shot on the ‘39… Thanks for any light. 

[Jolly_John]

No need to attempt this kind of interchange. Just call Dave Tacheny in Champlin, MN. He will have a good original 1939 BUICK Special brake drum for you. He's very reasonable and totally reliable. He's old school, and doesn't do email or texts. The best way to contact him is to call him between 4 and 7 pm Central at 763-427 3460. You can also write him a letter. His address is 11949 Oregon Ave N., Champlin, MN 55316. John

[MarkL]

Thank you Jolly _John

[Jolly_John]

You're welcome, Mark. Best of luck to you in completing the brake work. John

[Shootey]

I like to upgrade brakes on Specials. I’m away from my little black book at the moment which has the suitable post-1939 substitutions of drums, shoes, backing plates, front hubs, steering knuckles, bearings, etc. In general you need to use Century or Roadmaster stuff with the 2 1/4” brakes. I’ll  check when I get home tomorrow. If you already have 1950’s stuff you may be more than  halfway there. 

[Shootey]

Regarding using later larger brakes, can you tell me what 1950s year parts you have; that is, what year are they? The fronts are fairly straightforward although they would entail replacing the steering knuckle and bearings to 1941 and forward. As for the rears I so far have been unable to convince myself that it is a simple bolt-on. The puzzle for me is whether a 1950s backing plate would yield a proper alignment of the axle shaft face with the drums. In other words, would the 1939 axle shafts stick out too much or too little to properly locate the drums. It would be simple to test fit them to check it out. But I can’t categorically say it will or won’t work. 

Edited June 1 by Shootey (see edit history)