1950s '54 series 62, major brake adjustment (final update)

[Dave Shepherd]

All linings were arc ground back in the day working for Cadillac, the drums were measured and the arc grinding machine set up to contour the linings to the drum, for full contact. Waiting for the linings to seat in by driving is not recommended.  White Post Restorations does this as a routine when relining oe shoes.  Of course the need an accurate drum diameter to do it properly.

[J. Gomez]

I then visited a local garage that only works on vintage cars (from say the '70's right down to the '10's). I asked the long term owner for advice. He stated that it is possible to get the drums turned and then the new shoes ground to match the drum. However, he did not recommend it, find it necessary. His advice was to adjust the brakes as close to the measurements the shop manual gives as possible, then drive the car for about 50 miles or so, so that the new linings can break in and to wear off any high spots. Then adjust again. If necessary, repeat the adjustment after another 50 miles or so. Then it should all be good.
 

Agree with Dave's comments above..!

Julien,

Resurfacing the drums may not be necessary "IF" yours look to be in good shape that is no scratches or large groves or excessive lip on the edge, etc. Remember drums are very hard to find if you cut outside their maximum tolerance and will need to replace them, "and" if they are available to find new ones they do not have the slots cut for the adjustment as the OEMs. 

On the other hand shoes are "dime a dozen".   

Best luck..!

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

My drums were in rough shape because they had been sitting for years. The cylinders lost fluid and the bottom of the drums were corroded.
A local O'Reilly's still had drum turning equipment, believe it or not, and I brought all 4 there. I gave them the max specs of the drum from the manual but added a fudge factor in case they tried to go too deep. All 4 cleaned up fine and were well within spec.
So, it may be worth a few bucks to just have the drums cleaned up so that you are working with a known round drum.
On a humorous note, they tried to charge me the "truck" price ($5 more/drum than a car) because the guys there said no car had drums this big.
Have fun,
Jeff R

[Lexi]

Good one Jeff! At least you found a shop to turn your drums. Up here I found one that still had their drum lathe to turn the rears but they lacked the adaptor to do the front. So, the last time I travelled to the US I brought a pair of front drums with me and located a shop to turn them. In my case I travelled to another country and drove something like 19 hours to get that job done. Must be someone here but at the time I was stuck with no local options known. Last few years I have noticed the drop in various rebuild services for various parts on our cars. Clay/Lexi

[Julien Abrahams]

Final Upddate:

After considering the option of just putting the new shoes on, adjusting them as best as I could and then drive the car to wear off any high spots on the shoes and then re-adjusting, I made a call to a relatively local shop that specializes in brakes and everhting that contains friction material (like automatic transmission clutch plates and manual gearbox clutch discs). They were able to arc grind the shoes. So ibrought them over and after a couple of days, got them back fitting perfectly in the drum. Reinstalled the shoes and made the adjustments according to the shop manual. It took a solid hour, but they are now adjusted according to spec. Nice.
Because the front shoes have not been replaced (enough 'meat' left on them, only yhe wheel cylinders have been replaced) I decided to also do a major bnrake adjustment on the front. 
Just as preliminary maintenance I changed all wheel cylinders and all three brake hoses (as I had no idea how long they have been on the car).

[PHIL WHYTE CLC 14192]

I bet it stops well now?!

[Chopper1942]

For the best brake performance, you should burnish the brake linings.  This will basically break in the brake shoes.

You need to drive the car where there is little traffic.

1. Drive the car at 30 mph.
2. With moderate braking slow the car to under 5 mph
3. Accelerate to 30 mph and maintain speed for a little while to allow the brakes to cool.
4. Repeat 1-3 30 times.

This seats in the brake lining.

I am glad you could find someone to arc your brake shoes.  This makes a termendous difference in how well the brake will work. I worked in a Chevrolet, Cadillac, & Buick dealership in the 50's & 60's.  The brake shoes on the Calillac's & Buick's had riveted linings. We always riveted new brake lining onto the original brake shoes unless the brake shoes had been damaged by metal to metal contact with the brake drums. After riveting on the new linings we always arced the brake shoes. This was more expensive than just installing bonded brake shoes, but the bonded brake job did not have the stopping ability of the riveted and arced brake job.

If & when your brakes become grabby in humid or damp days, it is because of brake dust build up in the drums. Just pull off the drums and wash out the dust with brake kleen. Wear your PPE, dust mask and gloves, when you do this.