64 Brakes

[Jeff Donaldson]

Hi,

It's time to do a brake job on my Fleetwood. When I imported my car from the US to Canada I had to have my car safety inspected before I could license it in the Privince of BC. After the inspection the mechanic told me that the brakes had never been done. My car is about to hit 59,000 miles. I think I will only need cylinders, shoes, and hoses. There are many parts providers so my question is........Who offers the best quality parts and/or should I be searching certain brands? Please let me know.

Thanks

Jeff

[Dennis P. DiBari]

Hi Jeff,

     I did a complete brake restoration of my 1964 Series 62, two years ago.  Things I replaced were the cylinders, shoes, hoses, some brake hardware, and the brake drums (were warped).   I had both my master cylinder rebuilt and my power brake booster rebuilt.  My pedal was very hard when first pressed, so that is why I did the power booster as well.  After installing the booster, I bench bled the master cylinder and then proceeded to bleed the entire system.  The vacuum hose going from the check valve of the power booster to the back of the carburetor must be an 11/32 Certified Vacuum Hose - not a 3/8 gas line hose, which most use.  I ordered my hose on E Bay and it MUST be the real thing or they collapse (critical).  Lastly, there is a Specific Diagram in the Shop Manual which shows a picture of how the brake shoes are attached to the backing plate.  Most mechanics leave parts off or out completely.  There is a triangular plate under the retaining springs that must be properly attached (see diagram).  Ask Jason Edge what he has in stock for parts.  I did order some of my brake parts from Caddy Daddy as well and was satisfied.   Sorry this is so lengthy, but wanted to cover everything.

Dennis DiBari, NY, USA  

[Jeff Donaldson]

Thank you for all of the information Dennis. I have studied the section on brakes in my manual. I will come back to your reply post when I have the parts and I'm ready to replace everything.

Cheers

Jeff

[Dennis P. DiBari]

Hi Jeff,

     Glad to help anytime.  If I can offer more advice, don't hesitate to write.  If you want to email me separately, my email is [e-mail].  Take care and talk soon!

Dennis DiBari

[Logan Robb]

I used Raybestos for the brake shoes. Ordered the hardware kits from RockAuto as well. 

Jason has posted and laid out a lot of helpful diagrams for reassembling the brakes that were very helpful when I did my 64 Fleetwood. I did drums (from Jason that I had turned), shoes (Raybestos), cylinders, hardware, adjusters (cad plated from Jason), wheel bearings, soft brake lines, wheel seals. I only did the fronts, just haven't gotten to the backs yet. 

When I get the backs done, Ill do what Dennis did and refurb the master cylinder and such.

For what your looking for, parts are pretty obtainable. At least they were 6 mos ago. 

Use a high quality bearing grease and I used some high quality brake grease on all the other surfaces. 

Good luck, let me know if I can be of any more assistance.