I have been hearing a lot about these latley but don't understand what they are. I understand them to be old school disk brakes, but why are they so special. Does anyone have a picture, google didn't turn up anything. Thanks TZ
Honest might shed some light on this but Bob Wilson is suppossed to be setting up to reproduce these. Looking at his other products, it should be a winner!
I was talking to Honest about this last night, problem is I can't picture what they look like. I guess I need to stop by Bob's shop and see if he will let me peek around. TZ
I found a thread on the old ford barn about Kinmont info: Bill, You need to get a copy of "The Rodders Journal", No.7 for a very comprehensive article on Kinmonts. Also see Rod & Custom Nov.'73. As a side note let me tell a story about the big one that "got away." About 30 years ago I went to a swap meet sponsored by the MTRC. BIG swap, and back then it was really good. Anyway,inside a building at the fair grounds was a husband & wife selling home made jelly, quilts and nick-nacks. Junk- at least to me. Well what I didn't see were the NOS Kinmonts in a cardboard box. Never installed, complete, and with all paper work. A fellow by the name of Dennis B-----(name withheld to protect the innocent)from Elgin,IL saw 'em and paid the $200 asking price. Iv'e often wondered what happened to them. Did I learn anything that September day? You betcha!
I just found on Google that Kinmont brakes were to be standard on all production Tucker automobiles. Now, all you gotta do is go to the junkyard, find a Tucker, and you are set!
here is what they look like,sorry for the poor picture. i've talked to two guys that had them on their cars and both said they didn't work very well and were hard to adjust. hope Wilson correects the problem
Jive-B I read that thread too, Thanks for the pic. Is it actually a disc brake inside the housing, or is it a modified drum? Does it use a wheel cylinder or a caliper? TZ
To put it very simply, it looks and works more like a standard transmission clutch than the disc brakes you are used to.
Tyler, the fact that Kinmonts are disc brakes is a misnomer. They are actually closer to a drum brake at 90 degrees to what we normally understand as a drum brake. The easiest way to describe the Kinmont action is to think of it as a clutch presure plate and a clutch disc. The pressure plate (and flywheel) are fixed to the backing plate and the clutch disc is attached to the hub. The wheel cylinder instead of pointing forward and backward like a standard cylinder, points out parallel to the spindle. The cylinder activates a fork that puts pressure on the clutch disc. According to TRJ, the brakes are unique to the corner of the car they are on. Left Front, Right Front, Left Rear, and Right Rear are each unique. As of today I don't know if Bob is making a Kinmont facimilie that uses regular drum brake parts, or a real Kinmont replica that can mix and match with real Kinmont parts. I suspect he's making them like real Kinmonts though.
[ QUOTE ] Just like the originals...down to the little numbers cast in the back. [/ QUOTE ] Anything short of "as original" wouldn't be worth spending the time on.... I want sum.
Bob is even casting the wheel cylinders...and as I understand it..they will appear on the outside just as original...but,...he is using internals (spring and plunger etc..} that can be had at any good parts store. So..a guy can rebuild the cylinders with availiable parts. Thats a good thing in my opinion
About 10 years ago there was a completely restored set at Hershey...$2500.00 The blue Deuce coupe on the Beach Boys Album has a chromed set on it.
The molds were taken to the foundry today. The original brake cylinders have a one inch bore...Bobs will have one an one eighth inch bore. He is also using a softer brake pad lining than the original. Both for improved stop power. He also said they are very easy to adjust. Bob recommends checking out Rodders Journal #7 and the Jan 1949 Hot Rod Magazine for great photos and information on the Kinmonts. The Beach Boys car {the brakes anyway} played a major part in the developmet of Bobs finned aluminum backing plates...ala the "Kinmont good looks" tag in his ads. Three years of planning, discussing and cussing later....the real deal is in the works. Can you tell im stoked? B?]>
I saw ONE at Hershey this year. Asking price was $1000. Supposedly previously owned by Robert Kennedy. Ed
There was a guy at the Roadster show last month that had replicas, around 2 grand for unpolished and they look great with disc's underneath. once I find his card I will put it up.
Just my point ! it took that long for somebody to post pictures for this poor guy ! (Thank goodness somebody else brought it up today before I responded to it ! )
They were used on Chrysler and DeSoto big cars, taxi's and airport limo's. They are pictured in old Motors Manuals.
The ones on Chrysler and Desoto were different than Kinmonts. The Kinmonts as explaned earlier work like a clutch. The backing plate would be like the flywheel but it is fixed to the spindle. The disk has teeth that engage the outer hub drum. and the pressure plate is actuated by the wheel cylinder via the horse shoe pivot. Chrysler had a wheel cylinder that rotates the inner pads, as they are rotated they ramp up on ball bearings in tapered slots causing the pads (which are full circle) to expand sideways and contact the flat face of the 2 piece hub. These brakes are the only self energizing disks that I know of. Their downfall was the number of balls was too few causing high wear on the balls and slots. They were self energizing and worked too well to the point of being touchy and grabby.
Johnsons Hot rod shop is remaking them..... I am not that familiar with the originals and do not know how close they are to them but if you like Kinmonts, here ya go: johnsonshotrodshop.com (256) 492-5989 Good luck- there was a thread about there repo's too
Nah, the Johnson's version is kinda like So-Cal's Buick drum kit. It's a cover for a disc brake inside. I saw them at the GNRS and although they are kinda semi-cool for a fake, I could tell they were fakes from about 60' away.
The Jalopy Journal
