Projects '23 Ford Roadster build aka The Incredible Hulk

another minor update
been wanting to do the finned Buick drum thing on the fronts since forever.
collected a couple sets, one used set already set up with early Ford juice brakes and then found a virgin pair of drums..
then got impatient and ordered some new drums, hubs and loaded backing plates.
today I put the new hubs and drums on,
going to drive it like this for a few days and then install the rest when I have time.

 

Let us know how those work out. I have looked at them in catalogs but thought the price was too steep, however finding a set of virgin drums is like chasing unicorns.

 

only minor glitch so far was my 15" wheels required a 1/2" spacer plate for the drum to clear the slope on the back side, that pushed the scrub radius out a bit and required longer studs.
the braking action is the same as before, good enough but it'll be interesting to see how the slightly wider shoes, 2" vs the old Ford 1-3/4", and self energizing action vs the old non self energizing Lockheed style work out with the new backing plates.

 

Very cool, love this little hotrod

 

Are those the repop drums that use the '40 style hub on the inside of the drum?
Also what wheels are you running?

Just curious and thinking about parts for one of my projects with F-2 brakes and Buick drums on '40 hubs. Merc wheels clear Buick drums with outside flange hubs and I have been meaning to pick up one over at my kids house and see if it works with my stuff.

Here's a pic of a Merc wheel on my friend's RPU; looks like you can see the little bit of difference your spacer makes. Wouldn't think the extra added to your scrub shouldn't make that big a deal; not compared to the horrendous scrub some people end up with.

 

yes, these place the hub inside the drum.
it's all well made bolt together stuff.

not sure what my wheels came off of originally. they have the domed center, take the inner clip caps, are 15x5 and have Kelsey Hays stamps.. mid 50's car?



the complete used Buick brake setup I picked up do have the hub flange outside the drum.
the drums would need some machine work to get them to fit my backing plates and unfortunately all my local machine shop contacts are no more. time to find new sources..
I also have some Mercury wheels but they are 5-1/2" wide, and would either require new wider tires or end up with the wide rim/ narrow tire look your friend has. nothing wrong with that, it's just not the look I'm after.
when I got the bug to get started with this phase of the project I ordered the self energizing brake stuff first with the intent of using some of the parts I'd accumulated, but and perhaps against better judgement went ahead with all new.
if I knew I'd need the spacers for my wheels to fit I can't say I'd go this exact route again.

I see a few similarities and slight differences with your friend's setup.
the backing plate is deeper in the drum, what backing plates is he using?
the rim is wider than mine possibly attributing to the deeper offset (fin to rim relation)
and because of his narrow tire it appears the scrub to king pin relation is virtually the same as mine.
if I draw a line through the center of his king pin to road surface it looks to be just inside where his tread hits the pavement.

I'll try to take some pictures of my outside flange setup and Mercury wheel.. today

 

here's one of my outside flange hubs with late 50's Buick drum attached and a '50 Mercury wheel that takes the dog dish cap (like Ivo had on his T)
my plan was and still may happen to find some original Lincoln backing plates and go true old school.
but for now it's got finned drums and it's on the road.

 

His were original Lincoln brakes. I don't think they fit any deeper in the drum than is normal for Lockheed, Lincoln, or repop Lincoln brakes. Here's an odd picture I took of a Lockheed backing plate and a Buick drum from a past project.

It looks like the lip area on the modern drums you have were changed around a little in that area to better mesh with the backing plates.

Thanks for the pictures with the Merc wheels, I forgot they were wider than Ford wheels. Gives me more stuff to figure out.

 

started prepping the aftermarket self energizing backing plates, drilling and countersinking holes, fitting scoops..

 

and for no good reason other than they came up and the price was right, I bought another set of nice clean unmolested drums..

 

Who makes the backing plates/self energizing stuff?

 

these, the hubs and drums are all from Speedway..

there, I said it..
although I am still looking for Lincoln backing plates and outside flange Ford hubs to go with the Buick drums.

 

Interesting. I feel like Speedway gets it right more times than we give them credit for. From the pictures, they look great!

 

yes, these are quality pieces.

while we're at it, these are the spacers I'm using, one piece billet aluminum

the cheap universal spacers on the floor were off the shelf 1/4" guys I used to verify thickness needed

 

Did you have to install longer studs?

 

yes

 

brakes all buttoned up and adjusted,
drove around the block for a quick test and quite happy with them, looks and action.

 

Looks great

 

Paul, where did those spacers come from? I'll need spacers on the rear if I get the V8-60 tube axle to fit in the Whatever project.

 

I just googled 5x5.5 1/2" wheel spacer and took a stab in the dark, they were from an off road parts warehouse..
I'd have to check as I don't remember exactly who.

 

spacers came from RockTrix Offroad through Amazon

 

glorious.

 

Looks very Kool

 

now what you need is a matching pair on the rear

 

This build is so incredible. You are a truly talented fabricator. Thanks for sharing. One thing that may help if you still have any concerns about bottoming the pan someday. I weld 2 tabs or feet to the oil pickup so that if the worst happens it doesn't crush against the pickup and lose suction. I actually needed it once and it kept the mill oiled and I drove it home.

-rick

 

Do you have a specific part number for the self energizing backing plates or where to find them at Speedway motors? All help will be greatly appreciated by all who have seen them on your build thread. (Caveate; I am old and not too literate with computers.) Thanks, G

 

I hesitate to promote or endorse until I have some time on the road with them.
that said, they are easy enough to find on line.

 

more in the vein of fixing what ain't broke.
I've had this tach drive magneto, tach and cable set aside for some future project.
apparently that future project is my current project.
I pulled the stock Delco points distributor and quarter sweep tach and stuck the magneto and full sweep tach in it's place.
it all went pretty smooth, only issue I have so far is cosmetic, 'not crazy about the wire placement, it's functional but looks crowded and messy.
the cable was crashing with the hold down bolt. my solution was to replace the bolt with a countersunk screw.
the clamp is made of some seriously hard steel
so I annealed it, first got it cherry red with the rosebud, and let it cool slowly.
that got it soft enough to countersink.
did a test fit, then got the whole thing hot, like the color of straw and dunked it in a bucket of used motor oil.
test hardness with a file left almost no mark at all.
put it all together and ran the cable to the tach.
and swapped in some non resistor plugs.
tach has 20° advance so to start I set initial timing at 12°.
and drove it around.
a definite improvement over the points distributor.
but.. now the air-fuel gauge is kinda erratic..
before the swap it was behaving it's self and all was adjusted to give good numbers.
the swap did not involve changing fuel delivery or the gauge, sender or controller.
it may be the magneto and plugs causing interference?

anyway here's some pictures..

 

Nice tech piece! I have had a couple of the aftermarket chromed clamps fail on me (too soft). I went back to the original GM clamp and had no further problems with distributor rotation.
Thanks fro showing us your process.

 

Oh yeah, that magneto will play havoc with anything electronic on your car. Helping a friend years back, we tried a number of things to eliminate the interference affecting a communication system in a road race application to no effect. Ultimately had to go with an MSD system and modern wires.

I'd just loose the a/f ratio gauge, and read the plugs. But I'm a troglodyte!