I have always wanted to build a hot rod that used the Buick finned drums on the front. Why? Just because they look so neat. I have two sets of the drums that I have saved over the years. Unfortunately the 45 fin drums turned out to be too far oversize for safe use, so I had to use the later version. But in my opinion they are still cool. Other than the original old Buick drums all the parts are from Speedway. The first step was cutting a clearance on the spindles to allow the Speedway brake backing plate to clear at the top. Then I cut an aluminum spacer ring to tightly fit the ridge on the hub. Then I mounted the hub in my lathe and carefully turned it down to fit the center hole of the Buick drum. My lathe is not big enough to turn the clearance for the Ford hub to set flush, so I used my mill with a turntable to do that job. Then I used a transfer punch to accurately locate the holes for the wheel studs and drilled them out. The assembly went together like it was a marriage made in heaven. I had the hub and drum assembly turned at the local automotive shop that has a brake lathe and it ran true and cleaned up nice. I did not have to clearance the edge of the drum as some have reported. Everything fit. I would like to have put the descriptions of the steps with the pictures, as I have seen others do. But I don't know how to do that. Can anyone help me with that? If so I will use it in future posts. Thanks, Lanny
Thanks to the "heads up" from Andy I went back to the shop and took some measurements. Although it is not quite as bad as Andy predicted, it looks like I only have about 75% of my brake shoes are in contact with the drum. I am not sure what an easy fix would be. The drum depth is set by the outside of the hub against the inside of the drum. I guess I could take a little more material from the inside of the aluminum drum where the hub flange sets. But I wouldn't want to make it dangerously thin. It would need about 1/2" to make full contact. My machinist friend that I talked to before I did this project told me that some builders put the hub on the outside of the drum. It would seem to me that this would place the drum way too far in as well as make it really hard to mate it up and run true. I guess I will see how well it stops when get it on the road. Thanks for any input,Lanny
My guess is you're running the hubs on the inside of the drums, correct? To get the best drum/shoe fit, it's recommended to run 46-48 hubs on the outside of the drums.
The only combo I like was using the 46-48 hubs. I have done maybe 30 sets. Your best bet at this point is to shim the backing plate out 1/2" or so. I need to do this with some deep Lincolns I have.
Yes, of course, the innie outie ford hub conundrum. Will you space out the backing plate, or rework with the later hubs?? Mart.
Larry, it's interesting, that is the same way we converted to the Buick drums on our coupe with a 40 ford front end. Must be a machinist mentality, my friend that help me came up with the same method. We have been running it now for about a year. The shoes have been working fine, we did chamfer? the edge down, but is wasn't that as much as what you are showing in the photo. Cheers RustyNCA
Hi Guys, It looks like you all know what you're talking about, so I'd like to ask for some help, please! I have a set of 90 fin Buick drums, like Bubbushead's and I purchased a set of (new) Lincoln Backing plates (12x2).....but they don't fit! They are too small! Which Backing plate should I use with the 90 fin drums? Thanks and Regards Gino
Is it just me, or does anyone else think that there is a problem with the logic of jumping into things like brakes without absorbing the reason for having them in the first place? Most of the "Finned Buick Brake" reads always mention that in the end, because of the mismatching of parts, and the limitations of making them work, because of one thing or the other, what the builder ends up with looks like a million bucks and is technically no more sophisticated than the original brakes. And, as anyone who reads a lot about the technical aspects of Hot Rods knows, greater stress and more stopping comes from the front brakes. Ratios vary, of course. So with all this in miniod, maybe it would be good to bring all this together in a single place for those on the HAMB to read, including braking theory and history, including all the 'Traditional' Hot Rod methods for changing and improving Old Ford Brakes, including material specific to retrofitting all mechanical systems to hydraulic, as well as Other Mods, including the ins and outs of the Lockheed, Bendix, and later F series brakes to achieve greater stopping power. And, no I haven't been smoking something. With all the geniuses who post here, and ride herd on those who do, a little team work in sharing secrets of this arcane and sometimes baffling process could be only a few mouse clicks away. ANY TAKERS???
It's really not that hard a swap. I did a pair, ford hubs, spindles, backing plates and brakes, buick drums. There's really no need to buy anything from speedway or make any spacers. I used the 45 fin drums, which is what the swap was about back then. My buddy Tom at franks auto parts and I did it all at the store with a brake lathe! I brought him the bare 45 fin drums with the buick hubs already removed. He turned down the back of the 46-48 hubs to fit the hole in the buick drum. I transfer punched the new bolt pattern and drilled them. He put the new studs in and swedged them together. Put the hub drum back on the brake lathe, turned the drum and clearanced the drum right around the steel liner about 1/8". Done. I believe we tend to over think some of this stuff. Gotta remember that a lot of this stuff was being done in gas stations/auto parts/garages. Fortunately for me Tom is an old hot rodder and knew how to do the swap. Not everyone has a lathe and Bridgeport in their garage even today. You have to figure it was even less common in the 50's.
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