Whats with Buick drums

[marq]

I have to say although pretty i'm fed up with Buick drum brakes,almost every new hotrod that has debut here last year had buick drums or repro buick drums.Soon i'm reconing that they will be a hotrod myth and everyone will think all hotrods ever had was buick drums.To this end i have taken off the 40 drums and put early 50's f100 truck drums on,there is no way a set of buick drums are getting anywhere near my carno matter how pretty of efficient they are.Now some fashions i can take like satin paint,steel wheels ,lokar shifters but all running around on 4inch dropped axles and buick drums just aint doing it for me i think we need a bit more front end variety..........rant over.........Marq

[BELLM]

Back in "the day", before disc brakes, they were the hot setup. There are wayyyyy more 50 & 60s style hot rods around today than there ever was back in "the day" so you see more Buick drums, percentage of cars running them is probably about the same as in "the day". Just my humble opinion. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Paul]

aside from their almost overuse,

they do seem to have everything else going for them..

I was wondering though, are they lighter then the F100s?

of course they stop better then iron through better heat transfer,

and I think good old cast aluminum just plain looks better than iron

but how do they affect unsprung weight?

Paul

[DrJ]

Just wait till repopped Kinmonts are available...
Then it will be the brake to have and slightly used Buick set ups will be cheap!
Didn't the first Buick finned aluminum drums come on the '59s?
Hardly makes the deadline for a '50s style.
It's a 60's style for a rod I'd say.

Don't do anything just because it's what everyone else is doing, unless It's the only way to beat them at the drag strip.
Hot Rodding is about being first in a race.
Street Rodding is about showing off "all the right parts".
Jalopys are nice old cars fixed up to stay running a while longer and look like whatever the owner damn well pleases.

If it don't go, then chrome it.

[C9]

Ahhhh . . . things of mechanical beauty.

We all have different opinions, but if you don't lust after some of it you got no soul....

In my area I see cars running late 40's Ford passenger as well as F100 drums.
On the cars running drums anyway, most run discs.

If I was gonna eschew the Buick drums I think I'd try to find a set of the cast aluminum air scoops for the Ford backing plates.
Those are cool and set the wheel/tire/brake combo off quite well.
And if I couldn't find a set of scoops, I'd knock a set out of a solid chunk of aluminum.
Or as some call it, billet.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[marq]

www.karmakustoms.co.uk (http://www.karmakustoms.co.uk) do some nice ali scoops and some real nice other stuff too and quite cheap.......Marq

[Tman]

Uhhhhhh.........yeah...........what were we talking about? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I do like those scoops, no prices that I could see however?

[RocketDaemon]

[ QUOTE ]

Didn't the first Buick finned aluminum drums come on the '59s?
Hardly makes the deadline for a '50s style.
It's a 60's style for a rod I'd say.


[/ QUOTE ]

yeah sure looks good but if someone is trying to be period perfect and running´a flathead and wirewheels etc etc and then buick drums its the same to run a perfect 40ies styled custom and have caddy 57 hubcaps

[marq]

yeah Tman if you need a price list for anything i can get them ,i know frank that runs the place the quality of the stuff is very good............Marq

[Roadsters.com]

Mad Marq (ya feckin' arse) makes some good points here, as do the others.

I have two beefs with Buick (and other brake) drums. First, they're way too heavy to use with aluminum or magnesium (or "magnesium alloy") wheels, so on my roadster I'm using vintage Halibrand discs, and am undecided about what will go on the coupe.

http://www.roadsters.com/calipers-f.jpg

Secondly, few things look goofier on a car than to see huge, polished, finned drums showing almost all of their width when used with wheels that don't hide enough of them. It's like hanging a couple of big, gaudy bracelets on the front of the car.

Dave
http://www.roadsters.com/

[LIMEY]

I actually like 'em but not too keen on the stopping power, was running egg shaped 90 fin Buicks & 40 backing plates that suffered badly from fade when trying to stop in a hurry. I prefer the 45 fin i'm currently fitting along with Bob Wilsons finned backing plates that use full size Buick shoes.
Don't get me wrong i still love plain old drums & stock beams.........thats why i bought another car...i want i want i want! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[**DONOTDELETE**]

hey, if anyone wants a nice pair I listed them in classified a while ago and never got rid of them... shit with all this good publicity I know you want em now! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Rude Dude]

How much was the wilson backing plates?

[67Imp.Wagon]

http://www.wilsonweldingandmachine.com/

[LIMEY]

When i bought mine they were about $425 i think, includes all hardware...shoes cylinders springs adjusters the whole thing & they accept Buick drums with no machining.
& Bob is a real decent guy to deal with.

[Fraz]

Nothin wrong with finned buick drums. My 59 and my 60 Buicks run them just fine. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif