I wanted to put bigger brakes on the front of my '36 Willys so decided to change the small 9 inch stock brakes to 11x2 ford units. I found that rear backing plates from a small bearing 9 inch ford are almost a bolt on. A little rattail work on the 4 mounting holes and they bolted on. The center register on the spindle was about 1/16 smaller than the backing plate hole, but by carefully filing the 4 holes I got a good fit. I had some aluminum disc brake hubs already so modified them for Ford F-1 drums. Stock 37-41 Willys hubs will work also with the 4.5 bolt pattern. Had to turn the backside of the aluminum hubs for clearance.
I will be doing another conversion with Willys hubs soon. Will probably use the 9 inch Ford rear drums for these....
nice work what's the chance you could make a centering ring for the backing plate/spindle? it would have to be VERY thin....but would give peace of mind
I'm looking for some 3" thinwall tubing to take up the gap. Needs to be .040 wall. Thinking about using JB weld to keep it in place...
I'm not familiar with the components involved, but why wouldn't you machine the backing plate to a slightly larger ID, making the required ring a bit more substantial?
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