a friend took this photo at a roadster event ( I mean Victoria Deuce Days) a while ago and i'd like more info in the hopes of including them on my build. I have the wide fives already and non vented front drums but would love to own a front and rear set of these
Those drums look like modified early Ford. By modified, I mean that they added wheel studs to the spokes and left the stock ones in the center. Some '32's had these types of drums. Maybe up until '34 as well. The brakes in the pict are hydraulic, so not sure what, if anything, would need to be done to the drum to work with the juice set since they come off mechanical brake set-ups.
I wonder if that might just be an adaptor to run a wide five wheel on a regular hub. Maybe a circle track piece?
Rocky Mountain brakes? I have seen them at swap meets but usually the 5 on 5.5 versions & on 35 & earlier axles, wide 5's not so common.
i thought rocky mountain too but couldn't find a similar one on the net i also thought 2 piece rears but also couldn't find something similar by circle track 5 on 5.5 with wide five wheels are you thinking something like this?
such a small world was able to track down the actual car based on the wheel picture alone. belonged to Brad Anderson of Flat Nasty Customs in Maple Ridge BC
One of my favorite cars/builds on here. He just said they were wide 5's that he modified. "Keep guessing fellas. lol its a bit of a long winded story and honestly i don't remember every thing I did but I can say it is all pre 42 ford parts no adaptors or anything. I can't give away all my secrets here boys. lol" https://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=32719 https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1934-ford-5-window-coupe.1115250/ https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1934-ford-sedan-gender-reassignment-surgery.857397/
The thing I find hilarious is that no one at the lakes BITD ran wide fives or artillery wheels* - and let's face it, that's the look this car is aping . I do not understand the wide five fad. *I am fully aware someone will dredge out one obscure picture, but one swallow does not make a spring.
The car has 18” rears, and the tall lakes/Indy tires need 18” wheels. Just cool to have some rare drums too. Can’t fault a guy for using rare parts.
I agree that wide fives/artillery wheels were scarce on the lakes....but they were there. Not always a full set but they were on a couple notable cars. So I guess I'll be the one to post an obscure picture and separate a few specs of fly shit from the pepper. Don Waite's 27 T. The Belly Tanker. From Pat Ganahl's "Dry Lake Hot Rods".
The tank is running high clearance wheels for the Indy tire diameter, a practical choice. The others? Of course there will be exceptions.
Getting back to the original wheel in question (why the hell was that other unrelated stuff posted? ) I'm wondering if those aren't actual 34 drums converted to juice brakes with wide 5 adapters on them. With more than a little bit of extra touch done on them. These being 34 (allegedly) drums.
I actually have a rare 36 vented wide five hub. The 36 front drum and backing plate set about 7/8" inboard of the 38-39 wide five and all hubs up 48.
I'd be interested to see other attempts at ventilating drum brakes over the years. I know that it was a bit of a thing in the '30s, especially in Britain. Rings of round holes — smaller but more numerous than those in the above drums — are sometimes seen in the faces of large-diameter drums, where they can ventilate through Rudge-type wire-spoke wheels, most commonly on Rileys though I've seen them on a few MGs and at least one Alvis. It looks like it wasn't ever done by the factory, except in the case of a few works racing teams. The fact that they are so rare leads me to question how effective they really were. Any other examples of drum brake trickery?
I think if I was cooling air I would need a way IN, in addition to large holes toward the drum Outside diameter providing a way out. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachments/chassis-shot-2-dsr-jpg.3030964/
You could easily attach the aluminum air scoop and open it up on the backing plate side and just let it vent out the front.
There has been threads on those same type drums on the HAMB before. I remember reading them, but danged if I know where or when. Dave
Depending on when your BITD starts and ends, they didn't run coupes at the lakes either, until the first Russetta meet in 1948. A lot of builds today are inspired by what was done BITD, but it doesn't have to be bound to it. I'm more curious how these vented drum brakes work once the internals are soaked with water...
My buddy has these on his car. They are manufactured as a 5 on 5.5 hub with a wide 5 open drum bolted to it. Makes for a very light weight setup. He got his at a swap meet dude thought they were rocky mountain brakes which they aren't.
I'm curious as to the weight of these. Stock '42-'48 drums (hub on outside) have a stamped steel center welded to the cast iron ring. I was surprised how light they are compared to Boling Brothers solid drum.
thx adam401 and 34Phil. probably need to give up trying to find this rarity. still so many questions like why does this exist and what was it used on? and how do i find a set?
@PhiltheThrill I would guess that it might have something to do with reducing parts inventory. If one drum could be used on wide 5 cars as well as the 5×5 1/2.
Fellow club member and friend Mike's roadster The rear of the car has the 2 piece construction drums as mentioned earlier.
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