1950s Better drum brakes for my 56

[Cadman-iac]

I just got done modifying my front brakes to accept a finned drum.  I also added self adjusters to it.
I wanted disc brakes,  but between  the cost,  and the issue of getting specially made rotors, which if you have one go bad, you gotta wait for another special one to be shipped, I feel it's just not worth it. Plus,  you can't know where the stuff is made, regardless of what the vendor might say. And I don't know about anyone else, but I'm NOT impressed with offshore products. So I'll just stick with American made parts that are tried and true.

  The main reason I did this was because I had already modified a '72 Cadillac rear axle assembly to go into the car, and I wanted the same drums on the front so everything matches. 
The original drums on the '56 are ribbed with a spring wrapped around it, but the '72 rear drums are finned and extend out past the backing plate to catch the air going past the wheels.  So they will cool better than the '56 ribbed drums.

That being said,  here's what I did.  I trimmed the front backing plate to remove the rolled lip on the outer edge so that it would allow the finned drum from any '60's Cadillac rear axle to slide onto the front hub and not run against the backing plate. That lip prevents the drum from going all the way on, so it has to go away.

Basically what I did was to match the shape of the rear backing plate. Now I have a complete set of matching brake drums and completely automatic self adjusters courtesy of Cadillac.

In the first 3 pictures,  the first one shows the original lip on the  backing plate.
The second one shows what I cut off,  and the third one is a shot of the shoes and the self adjusting setup.
The fourth  pic shows the drum to steering linkage clearance.  It actually does fit like it was made for it.
Something important is the shoe to shoe spring. You have to use the front springs from a '60 up to a '67 or '68 that wraps around the star wheel. Mine are from the front of a '63.
There is no room to use a more normal, or common spring like the one on the rear
brakes that sits above the star wheel because of the shape of the front backing plate. If you try to use the stock rear shoe to shoe spring on the front brakes,  it will hit and bind against the backing plate.

  The nice thing about the brake hardware is it's the stock stuff you'd find on the front or rear of any '60 to '68 Caddy with drum brakes.

I hope this might help someone who's contemplating upgrading their drum brakes.

[harry s]

Looks good.    Harry

[Cadman-iac]

Looks good.    Harry

Thank you  Harry,

I figured that the later drums were a better option because they stick out into the airstream and will cool better.

I also don't think information like this should be a secret.  It should be shared with the world freely for anyone to use if they want it.
Too many people think they should be paid for every little bit of information/knowledge they have. I don't. If I can help,  I will. No charge.
Labor on the other hand,  well.... LOL!!!
Thanks again.  Hope it helps someone.

[Abe Lugo]

Very nice, do you happen to know if the newer hub puts the wheel track width in the same place as the original drum?
Thanks for posting images and explanation.
A Lugo

[Cadman-iac]

Very nice, do you happen to know if the newer hub puts the wheel track width in the same place as the original drum?
Thanks for posting images and explanation.
A Lugo

Abe,
I wasn't able to use the newer hubs  unfortunately,  I couldn't find an Inner bearing, a spacer, and a seal that would work on the original spindle.
  You would need a spacer too, as the bearings are slightly closer together on the roller bearing hubs if I remember correctly.  I'd have to double check that later if you  want. And the spacer gives the wheel seal a surface to ride on, since the ball bearing seal actually uses the inner race as a seal surface instead of the spindle.
Even so,  I don't believe anyone makes the spacer  you'd need to make it work. I wish they did because I really prefer the roller bearings to the ball bearings. It's too easy to ruin the ball bearings. Just a little off on the adjustment and they're history. (Unfortunately I learned that from experience the hard way on my 56 Chevy. )
Hope this helps you out.
Rick

[cadman56]

I will add my two cents worth here and suppose I will get tons of grief from the forum.
I drove 56 Cads for 30 yrs with no problems braking, even in emergency stops.  If your brakes lock up just back off the pedal a tiny bit.
I would be very skeptical of owning a car that someone who is not a an automotive brake engineer doing the modification.
If you drive with one eye at least 3-4 cars ahead of you and the other eye on the car in front of you and pay attention you will have no problems.

[fishnjim]

Making the front and rear brakes the "same" neglects that ~60+% of the braking occurs with the front.   I hope you took care of the volume differences, pressures, etc. in the different wheel cylinders. 
I don't have any problem with correctly done mods, that's been going on since the early days.   The next owner might or you might, if it affects value.   Granted a lot of shops aren't any good today either.   They just carry liability insurance.
People write in all the time with unknown problems, they got from buying a car with no idea of history, so make sure you document it for the next guy. 
There's a market for good kits for this, but apparently the brake/suspension guys aren't that interested, so I suspect it's such a small niche/high risk, that they do minimum, what's stock available, and the wheel change approach.  Back 30+ years ago, it was easier to refit/upgrade stuff, but those parts are no longer available.
So much of the parts are coming from off shore now, it's almost impossible to get anything in certain segments made here.   Even the US manufacturers are putting their label on and not telling.   Some stuff I've got is good and some is junk.   I'm dealing with a hub issue right now.  Vendor, for warranty, won't even return my call.  I'm waiting to see if they call, while I write this, been 3 days, 2 hours now. 
Look at how bearings have changed, they are almost all foreign made.   Used to be just the big names.   
I don't know what the military does if we fight certain countries, and they need simple parts during conflicts.   Hope they have a lot of spares stored somewhere and no sabotage.

[Cadman-iac]

Making the front and rear brakes the "same" neglects that ~60+% of the braking occurs with the front.   I hope you took care of the volume differences, pressures, etc. in the different wheel cylinders. 
I don't have any problem with correctly done mods, that's been going on since the early days.   The next owner might or you might, if it affects value.   Granted a lot of shops aren't any good today either.   They just carry liability insurance.
People write in all the time with unknown problems, they got from buying a car with no idea of history, so make sure you document it for the next guy. 
There's a market for good kits for this, but apparently the brake/suspension guys aren't that interested, so I suspect it's such a small niche/high risk, that they do minimum, what's stock available, and the wheel change approach.  Back 30+ years ago, it was easier to refit/upgrade stuff, but those parts are no longer available.
So much of the parts are coming from off shore now, it's almost impossible to get anything in certain segments made here.   Even the US manufacturers are putting their label on and not telling.   Some stuff I've got is good and some is junk.   I'm dealing with a hub issue right now.  Vendor, for warranty, won't even return my call.  I'm waiting to see if they call, while I write this, been 3 days, 2 hours now. 
Look at how bearings have changed, they are almost all foreign made.   Used to be just the big names.   
I don't know what the military does if we fight certain countries, and they need simple parts during conflicts.   Hope they have a lot of spares stored somewhere and no sabotage.

Jim, 
Yes, I believe in letting someone know just what's been done,  just as I'd expect to know too. The last car I sold I had done a swap on it, and I gave the new owner the log book with all the history in it. (The log book being a habit I got into while in the Army. I have one for every vehicle I own.  Its just too hard to try to remember all the things I've done to each of them,  especially with my feeble mind  anymore.  LOL!!! )
I've even gone as far as looking up the part numbers for this one if I could find them,  not that  any of it is still  available from  GM now. Still,  it's there now in black and white.

As for the wheel cylinders,  I've used the ones from the '63  both front and rear,  since Cadillac has already done the engineering on that.
I will need to find another master cylinder for drum brakes, since  I have  already set up the hydro boost for discs. But I knew that would be necessary, since it was only  2 days ago that I decided to ditch the discs and determined what was necessary to use the later drums on the front. ( Thus the post somewhere earlier about sorting it out later. Not sure which thread that was at the moment. )

I remember when the Allante  came out and we had to stock support parts for any possible future repairs. I  ordered what we figured we would need,  and  when it came in we inspected it and found that most of the electronics were made in  Japan if we were lucky,  other places if not. I remember too the price on the master window switch was something like  $350.00 . STUPID!!!!
I know it could have been made here  too. GM, and the other two biggies just let labor costs get out of hand.  Then some greedy  CEO's determined that they could make the parts off shore and charge like it was made here. When  customers found out their expensive $$$$ Allante's where made mostly offshore they were pissed. Of course  they knew the bodies were  Italian coach work,  but they expected American from the rest of it.

  Anyway,  I digress once again.

I know all too well  about  bearings too. The last time I  bought what was supposed to be  Timkens, they were made in Poland.  After taking them out of the box,  I found  the  whole set  had what felt like burrs on the races.  I wound up using an old set in good shape instead.

Thanks for the questions and suggestions.  I really  DO appreciate them.

As for the military and a war scenario,  my running joke has always been,  "Wait!!!  TIME OUT!!! We need to  buy some parts  from  you  before  we attack you ",LOL!!  ( A reference to China for anyone  not old enough to understand).

And I hope you can resolve your hub situation soon.  Good luck.

[Cadman-iac]

Correction needed here, 

I misspoke when I said I used the '63 wheel cylinders on my upgrade.  I actually reused the original '56 front cylinders,  the '63's won't fit the '56 backing plates.
I also used the '72 rear cylinders, but I used the ' 56 shoes on the rear.
I had to dig up my notes on this  to give you the correct parts I used. 
Just FYI.

  The waste, it's a terrible thing to mind.  Wait, no, the mind, it's a terrible thing to waste.

  I was trying to think of why I didn't use the '69-'72 rear shoes on the rear, when I remembered that I tried to get new (relined) ones from my local parts store but was told that particular shoe set is no longer available. If I had used the ones I have,  I would have had to use all the hardware that goes with them,  and when it came time to replace them when worn, I would have had to swap out all the hardware again for the '68 and earlier ones.
I'll post pics tomorrow of the difference between the '68's and the later ones. It's actually not much,  but just enough to cause a headache.

[Abe Lugo]

Thanks for tying on and explaining things.
I also do most all my own work and have done it for many years. 
if you don’t ask questions then the good information is lost to time and members who leave. 
So I appreciate your time and thanks for the explaining. 

A Lugo

[Caddy Wizard]

I just got done modifying my front brakes to accept a finned drum. 

I like what you did.  I might suggest that you bevel (taper) the leading edges and trailing edges of the brake shoes.  Also, I would suggest that you add the factory groove down the middle of the primary shoe (1/2 inch wide).  The taper will help to keep them from grabbing -- smoother when trying to "feather" the brakes.  The groove in the primary shoe will help to keep the brakes cool.  The bevel can be done with a file or rasp.  The groove is best done with a 1/2 inch router bit in a router table...

[Cadman-iac]

I like what you did.  I might suggest that you bevel (taper) the leading edges and trailing edges of the brake shoes.  Also, I would suggest that you add the factory groove down the middle of the primary shoe (1/2 inch wide).  The taper will help to keep them from grabbing -- smoother when trying to "feather" the brakes.  The groove in the primary shoe will help to keep the brakes cool.  The bevel can be done with a file or rasp.  The groove is best done with a 1/2 inch router bit in a router table...

Hey Art,
Thanks for the tips. I've seen that on shoes before but didn't know what the reason for it was. 
Ya learn sumpthin' new every day! Remembering it though,  that's the key!!! LOL!!
The shoes I'm setting it up with are not new, but really close to it.  They were on the car when I started working on it.  It's also cheaper to experiment with old parts rather than buying new ones and finding out it won't work.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I like what you did.  I might suggest that you bevel (taper) the leading edges and trailing edges of the brake shoes.  Also, I would suggest that you add the factory groove down the middle of the primary shoe (1/2 inch wide).  The taper will help to keep them from grabbing -- smoother when trying to "feather" the brakes.  The groove in the primary shoe will help to keep the brakes cool.  The bevel can be done with a file or rasp.  The groove is best done with a 1/2 inch router bit in a router table...

And wear breathing protection when grinding/filing any brake shoe material, as the dust is a killer.

Bruce.

[Cadman-iac]

And wear breathing protection when grinding/filing any brake shoe material, as the dust is a killer.

Bruce.

Yeah, and to think about all the new shoes we used to grind to match the turned drums years ago at Napa. I don't think anyone does that these days.
Ours had a dust bag on it, but  you could still smell the material when you ground the shoes.
God only knows what we were breathing then.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

And see how big a dust cloud one could make when blowing out a brake with compressed air.

BUT, Asbestos material really did make for good braking, and clutch material.

Bruce.

[Cadman-iac]

And see how big a dust cloud one could make when blowing out a brake with compressed air.

BUT, Asbestos material really did make for good braking, and clutch material.

Bruce.

What do they use today for braking material? I thought it was still asbestos.