Sorry, I wrote text but somehow erased it. I’m installing this set on a traditional highboy roadster with a blown flathead. I hd herd of but never seen kinmont a before this project. I’m very excited to be the installer. Not my car but very excited none the less.
These aren't mine either, too expensive for me. The car they are going on had a full set in 1954, the owner was lucky to find a NOS set. An old buddy of mine had some on the front of his track roadster in 1950, couldn't make them work, traded them for a set of stock Ford units.
Here's my little bro's thread about Kinmonts: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/pics-kinmont-brakes.318921/
The finned backing plate acts as a fixed braking surface and the piece with all the brackets etc acts sort of like a pressure plate. Between them is a ring, about 13”, with friction material on both sides. When the brakes are applied the pressure plate squeezes the ring and it hopefully stops. Like marty said, it’s hard to explain but ingenious when you actually see them.
Nobody makes repop Kinmonts. Some people make new disk brakes with a cover styled like a Kinmont, but they are nothing like the real thing under the skin.
my understanding is that they work like the clutch in your car. they have a pressure plate, flywheel and a clutch plate. Apply the brakes and the cylinder will compress everything together, akin to releasing the clutch in your car
The Walden reproductions are made to look identical to the real deal Kinmonts on the outside, but on the inside is a totally different story. They are a disc brake setup with a custom machined rotor equipped with Wilwood calipers. Fronts are made to be used with the round 1937 to 1941 spindles only. The quality of these brakes look to be absolutely top notch and are priced at $2250 per pair.
Here's a pic of Kinmonts on a track roadster. This is the car and guy that got me interested in roadster racing. 1947 His had a soft pedal but felt like a power brake pedal. Still plenty of brakes when they were red hot at the end of a main event.
I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but why go to so much work to just make a fancy cover for normal disc brakes ? Or am I missing something?
Well, I would say equal. I road raced with Lockheed brakes for several years and never ran out of brakes. I did use Velvet Touch lining though.
Way out of reach for the average hot rodder then . And WAY out of reach for the average hot rodder now ...If they worked so well they probably would have sold more. kinda like those cool Italian blowers.
You need to run a Full Set of 4. They work comparably to a Set of 1940 Ford Brakes, but aren’t Self-Energizing. You need to run a Dual Master Cylinder (ex. Corvette Aluminum 1 1/8” Bore ) & a Power Brake Booster. That’s how I’m Engineering my 1933 Ford HIBOY Roadster W/ Auburn Dash, Auburn Gauges, Hal-201a Quick Change Rear End, KInmont Brakes, 1933 Lincoln Grill Shell. P.S. Engineering Alumicraft Sebring S/S Kidney Bean Fronts 16” X 5.0”’Wide Firestone Ribs , Kidney Bean Rear 16” X 6.0” Firestone Diamond Dirt Track Tires. Best Regards Respectfully Dereald Millsap Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A guy that’s on the HAMB bought a NOS set at the Kane County, Illinois Fairgrounds swap , must have been about 45 years ago. The guys I ran with then always had the same outdoor corner for our swap stuff, as did the guys that the buyer was with. I went inside the exhibits building and there were some car parts but mostly it seemed like antiques, junk, and arts and crafts. I clearly remember one space with an old lady selling quilts and homemade jam and stuff. Her son was with her, he was older, not ancient, but not a kid either. From what I heard later that day he wasn’t selling jam but he did have the Kinmonts in a cardboard box and the HAMB member mystery man bought them for $125 if I remember correctly. Maybe he will come forward and fill in the details better than I did. I didn't win the prize that day but I did learn a lesson- Look hard at every swap space, you never know what will pop up.
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