I'm transfering my 1937 Plymouth B/C to a 1955 period style racer including 331 Hemi (yes, 555-heads) and updated brakes. Question... anyone having a suggestion for suitable front drumbrakes, approximately 10 - 11" fitting on original tube axle spindels? I use original 16" wheels. Best would be if I could also find a main brakecylinder, two circuit preferably.
All I know of is a disc conversion. The original brakes were pretty good, not sure you will gain much by changing.
Dodge pickup trucks up to 1971 had beam axles and 11" drum brakes. I don't know if the brakes will fit your spindles. Pretty sure the truck spindles won't fit your axle but the axle might fit your springs. Pickup truck king pin kits fit 1941 - 1971. I don't know if your axle can be modified to fit, it may require reaming for a larger king pin or using thicker bearings in the spindle.
I have a local guys 37 Ply coupe here in my shop, getting an early Olds engine, etc. One thing he hoped to re-use was the original pedals. I was very surprised to see that the pedal cluster mounting base, has 2 sets of boltholes. I had to move his outwards, to clear the TOB fork. The new location is about 1-3/4" from the old location. I plan on mounting his dual master cylinder in front of the brake pedal. It should fit, and should be easy to make a master cylinder mount, welded to the chassis. I also just installed his stock dashboard, and I found 2 sets of holes to mount the steering column bracket. So, I moved it outwards, just like the pedals. I don't know why the pedals and column bracket are adjustable.
One solution to the brake cylinder problem is to leave the old cylinder and brake pedal in place, and mount a new cylinder behind the old one. Then make a long push rod to go right through the old cylinder, to the new one. This allows you to keep the original pedal and mounting. You can use the master cylinder of your choice and make a bracket to mount it to the frame.
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