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Buick Finned Drum Covers

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Arrowood Rod & Kustom, Feb 17, 2010.

  1. Give Turners auto wrecking a call in Fresno. I don't know the prices but they have a few......

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  2. Dale Fairfax
    Joined: Jan 10, 2006
    Posts: 2,585

    Dale Fairfax
    Member Emeritus

    The manufacturing process used in the originals was not all that common (nor for the faint of heart). They were not sand cast- they were permanent mold and required the iron melting and aluminum melting to be very close together since the aluminum was injected into the mold while a VERY hot cast iron insert was already in there. The iron and aluminum are bonded metallurgically.




     
  3. fab32
    Joined: May 14, 2002
    Posts: 13,985

    fab32
    Member Emeritus

    I don't know where you got your information but from personal experience your wrong. When I attended General Motors Institute in Flint, Michigan we used to go down to the Buick plant and watch them make finned drums. The process is called Centrifugal Casting. The finned aluminum shell is placed in a revolving fixture tilted at about 30 degrees. It is spinning while the molten cast iron is poured into the shell. The force of the spinning makes the cast iron flow to the outside forming a liner in the finned portion of the drum. The completed drum is spun until the iron is solidified then is ejected out of the fixture to be cooled. After that it's off to the machining dept. for final machining. The molten cast iron was ladeled out of a melting pot and manually poured into the spinning outer shell.
    The temperature inside that department was over a hundred degrees in the middle of the winter and those guys would wear protective clothing to keep from getting burned and ladle that hot iron for 10-12 hours a day. I doubt that OSHA would allow those working conditions today.

    Frank
     
  4. denis4x4
    Joined: Apr 23, 2005
    Posts: 4,198

    denis4x4
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Colorado

    As a matter of personal taste, I thought the Buick drums made the front end look heavy. These are polished aluminum Hollywood accessory backing plate covers.
     

    Attached Files:

  5. Kan Kustom
    Joined: Jul 20, 2009
    Posts: 2,739

    Kan Kustom
    Member

    Thanks Kewi.
     
  6. Streetwerkz
    Joined: Oct 1, 2008
    Posts: 718

    Streetwerkz
    Member

    If you like them, and it's what your budget is... why ask others?
    If you want them for your build get em, if not save up for the real thing.

    BTW, fake tits taste just like the real ones, and are just as fun to play with.
    doesn't apply to everything in life, just my $.02
     
  7. Don't toss out drums that are out of spec; they will slip right over F-100 drums, there's a thread in the Tech Archives.
     
  8. Kato Kings
    Joined: Aug 22, 2006
    Posts: 707

    Kato Kings
    Member
    from Minnesota

    Yeah they look stupid when you run ford wire wheels.
     
  9. looks like I will go with the real thing thanks guys!

    how about the finned backing plate covers I guess you'd call them not sure on the name but like what Voodoo Larry has on his coupe..where do you get those

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  10. Soviet
    Joined: Sep 4, 2005
    Posts: 729

    Soviet
    Member

    Wilson Welding I believe.
    If you thought that the drums were expensive, you might want to wait until your money tree blooms though.
     
  11. Yeah Wilson Welding has them. Go with original! I got mine for 150 on the bay (45 fin). Excellent condition. I just had to be patient. It took about 6 monthes of losing auctions. I paid 100 for the 46-48 Ford drums. I haven't mated them yet.
     
  12. so basically I would buy the 45 fins, buy the 40-48 ford hubs and then buy your finned backing plate and I would be good to go on front brakes or am I missing anything?
     
  13. That's all you need, plus a little machine work to mount the hubs in the drums and drill them to the bolt pattern you want. I'd use 46-48 car hubs if possible.
     
  14. GuyW
    Joined: Feb 23, 2007
    Posts: 649

    GuyW
    Member

    What's the melting temp of aluminum?

    1300 F off the top of my head...

    What's the melting temp of cast iron??

    2300 F off the top of my head...

    You watched 100% CAST IRON drums being cast....



     
  15. well I'm halfway there I bought '46-'48 hubs now got to keep saving up so I can buy the 45 fins and the wilson welding backing plates
     
  16. nooch
    Joined: Aug 8, 2004
    Posts: 132

    nooch
    Member

    I've got a similar set as these and am having trouble fitting them - how did you mount them? They are just an aluminium ring that goes around the edge of the 37-48 drum but there are no fittings and the wheel is too far back to push them against the drum in any way so when the wheel turns they'll just rattle around. I have a spare drum that seems a little wider that they seem to friction fit on with a little mallet action, but i wouldn't trust it once the wheel is really spinning - any ideas?
     
  17. patsurf
    Joined: Jan 18, 2018
    Posts: 1,025

    patsurf

    thanks for making that clear!!
     

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