I'm rebuilding the brakes on a 32 and was wonder if someone could answer a couple of questions? When I took this apart the short brake shoe was on the rear and the long shoe on the front. Is this right? All the other drum brakes I've done have the short shoe on the front. Also where do the bottom pivots have to be turned to? They are an eccentric and I'm not sure where they should be set.
Thanks for any help. John ???
If u read in the Motors Manuals-those blue repair tomes u see at swap meets, there seems to be a couple of schools of thought about the brakes shoes length and also about wheel cylinders. Usually the short shoe is on the front , but when I redid mine I used shoes of the same length and don't really notice any difference. I figured more brake shoe area was better. As far as the eccentric bolts on the bottom--they are kind of a pain. If u have the tool mentioned in the service manual or one like it-adjustment becomes easier, but not easy. A proceedure is outlined in the motors manual if you don't have the tool-- since i am a selftaught mechanic out of necessity, I didn't find that the proceedure worked very well. But if can borrow one of those tools u can get pretty good brake power.
I don't have a manual. Can some one send me the procedure for setting the eccentrics.
If you go to this site, it will talk you through the procedure. I built one of the tools mentioned, but didn't have a great deal of luck with it. Mostly it was trial and error and a lot of patience. Good luck, Rich
http://www.merc583.addr.com/mopar/framesets/techtipframeset.html
There is a procedure for adjusting the shoes without the tool at:
http://www.ply33.com/Repair/brakes
This is based on the 1933 Owners manual and a 1933-36 mechanics manual but sounds like it is the same as for your 1932.
Where are you located? I see from a number of Plymouth Owners Club regional newsletters that regions sometimes have the official adjusting tool available for loan. That type of help is one reason to belong to the national club (a requirement to belong to any region).
I used that procedure when I rebuilt my 29U's brakes. It worked for me. But it takes a very light touch to get it right.
My manual shows the short shoe in the rear. The brake shop man that re-lined my shoes was surprised, as he also stated (that for modern cars) he had always seen the short shoe on the front. I contacted Tom Hannaford (Antique Auto Cellar) who told me that many cars in the 30's had the short shoe in the rear, apparently in an attempt to even up the wear on a set of shoes. Tom said this was more for marketing - so the servicing dealer could justify replacing an entire set of shoes, instead of just the front shoes.
::)