Tech: Converting '32-'34 backing plates to Bendix style!

I have somewhat of a brake fetish…anything out of the ordinary or hard to find really turns me on. I have wanted to try my hand at creating a complete backing plate from scratch for a while now but before I go that far I wanted to try something a little easier. Since I am also a big fan of ‘32-’34 spindles (the upper steering arm is pure sex) I wanted something that would bolt onto them. I thought ‘32-’34 brakes would be the best place to start…they are also the most conveniently shaped of the mechanical backing plates.

Here’s what I started with…cleaned and de-bracketed ’32 plates, and a pair of 12”x2” Bendix backing plates. I do not know what they are…they look a lot like Lincoln or F2 but neither the center diameter or bolt pattern fit ‘32-’36 or ‘37-’48 spindles. Edit: Thanks to Cranium69, they have been identified as '53-'56 F250 rear brakes. At any rate, they cost me less than half of what a set of Lincoln reproductions go for (and a lot less than real ones) so I was ok with cutting them up.


The brake internals were going to work better if I flipped the ’32 backing plate 180 degrees from stock so that is what I did. I cut the pivot and wheel cylinder area out of the Bendix plate and welded that into the ’32.








All edges were beveled before welding and all welding was done with a MIG. I am very confident in the amount of penetration.

Next I cut out the lower piece to make room for the adjuster. I filled it with a piece cut from some rectangular tubing slightly unbent.






Then I went back to the top and finished it up, boxing in the underside. I did have to grind the top of the spindle level with the kingpin boss to fit inside the plate after this. The holes for the pins that hold the shoes to the backing plates were also drilled and countersunk.


After making sure the internals all fit well on the plates, I added the stand-offs for the shoes and cut the slot for access to the adjuster.




If I had done this with something that used a narrower shoe, I could just put ‘32-’34 drums/hubs on and be done. But since these are 2” wide shoes and as far as I know no early brake drums exist that are that wide, more work was needed.

Edit:
Rich B pm'd me that "number 30" shoes are the same except they are 1-3/4"
instead of 2". Good info. Another option I considered was taking these shoes and having them machined narrower. That is what Bob Wilson does to the shoes he uses in his Lincoln backing plates. I decided to keep the 2" shoes for that extra braking power, but using narrower ones would save half of the work mentioned below.

 

Starting with later hubs, they bottom out on the spindle long before the bearing is seated. This is why you usually have to run the adapter pieces on the early spindles to fit the later brakes. However…I needed to move the hub inboard instead of out (or the backing plate out…more on that later).

The easiest solution was to cut off the lip that held the rear seal in place. And using the stock ‘32-’34 grease cap on the spindles, this worked great and took the place of the seal.

Before...






And after...




The other problem…once the hub was seated on the inner bearing, the outer bearing bottomed out on the spindle. One way to fix this is to machine the spindle to let the bearing ride farther inboard and extend the threads. Another solution (and the one I went with) was to space out the bearing race. I knocked out the race, fitted a roughly 1/8” thick spacer, then pressed the race back in. Once reassembled everything is nice and tight and the hub fits great. The hole for the cotter pin will need to be redrilled before it’s all said and done.








The grease cap doesn’t thread in as deep anymore but it is enough to keep itself on and keep grease in. It does not bottom out on the end of the spindle, but if it did then cutting the end of the spindle off would be no problem. It is possible this would create issues with fitting some hubcaps. Since I plan on running the deeper Mercury caps, I won’t have an issue.


However!!! All this work only got me halfway to where I needed to be. The drum and the brakes still needed to come another 1/4" together, as you can tell above.

I made a spacer from some ¼” steel plate. A friend cut the center hole to the exact same diameter as the center of the backing plate so that everything would stay centered on the spindle. This could be done at home with the right size hole saw followed by some time with the die grinder. But I'm sure most of us know a machine shop that could cut the holes for you if you can't do it yourself at home. Holes were drilled for mounting and the edges were trimmed to keep it somewhat hidden by the spindle. The spacer was welded to the backing plate.




This spacer could have been made a lot thicker if you wanted to use something to space the hub/bearing away from the spindle instead of modifying it. I just thought this looked a little cleaner.








All together, perfect fit. It’s kind of an answer to a question that nobody asked, but I doubt I’ll find the same brakes on another car and I really enjoyed making it work. These will be going on my T roadster, a project I’m not supposed to be working on until I finish the current one. Oops!

 

I really like the looks of the early backing plates. Very nice work!!

 

Eric.... is that car in your living rooom????? Nice brakes btw!

 

Yeah those backing plates look so good!!!!! Very cool tech especially for those who love details like this!!!

 

Nice tech I like it!

 

Brilliant.

 

No! It's in the den....

 

Nice Job Eric! And I must agree 100% on the steering arm. I made a "yummy" sound when I saw the picture!

 

The brakes you cut up were 53-56 f250 rears.

 

More good info, thank you! Are you sure about them being for the rear? I would have expected another hole for the e-brake but am not familiar with those trucks setup.

 

Those are for sure rears. The fronts have one way cylinders and bolt up directly to a 40 style spindle.

 

Great job! Bendix Brakes on a budget that fit 32 spindles. What can be more cool?

 

that is awesome! makes me start looking pretty hard at those backing plates on my 32 heavy axle!

 

Great Tech!

 

Nice tech. Just one question. Is there enough room for the spindle bearing? It looks like a tight fit between the top of the spindle and the bottom of the wheel cylinder. I'm not trying to be a buzz kill just asking a question.

 

Fordman...plenty of room. I never looked at that specifically, but there isn't any interference anywhere. I will check that out when I get home to see just how much room there is.

 

GREAT idea and how-to! Now I know what to do with those 32 backing plates and spindles I've got stashed. Thanks for sharing.

 

Fordman....sorry, I misunderstood your question before. No, I can't fit a stock '32 bearing/kingpin as Henry intended. With this setup, I will have to use a needle bearing between the spindle and axle. I know some people don't have confidence in them, but I have seen and heard of many in use for years without issue.

Thanks for all the comments guys, glad you like the brakes!

 

Amazing! Thanks for sharing.

 

Another roadster in the house........

 

don't forget the dragster frame and Triumph.

 

Since this is the tech, how about some part numbers for those needle bearings.

Courtesy of NealinCA

Needle Bearings: NTA-1423 - two needed (one each kingpin)
Thrust Washers: TRA-1423 - four needed (two each kingpin)

 

And I scrapped my stock 32 brakes, dang

 

Self gratifying bump.

 

The roadster in the living room got my vote on this. Real cool tech by the way.

 

Thanks!! It shouldn't be there much longer...time to upgrade to a bigger garage.

 

Anyone try to do this with 1936 backing plates???

 

Just found this tech. Awesome idea!


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So did I, thanks sharing this with us.