Alright, some of you old geezers:razz: tell me where to buy Buick finned brake drums for the front. There may even be some young guys that are into the old style stuff. It doesn't matter who knows, just as long as they tell me. By the way, I'm an old geezer so I can say that. :lol:
Buick Finned Brake Drums
- Thread starter rnvilla
- Start date
donsrods
Member
I see them on Ebay all the time. You want the 45 fin ones that ended in I think 64(?) IMO they look so much better. They are getting very pricey. Last pair I almost bought were at $ 400, but they were nice. To make them work you either need the Ford hubs that mount on the outside of the stock drum, or a hub from Wilson Welding. I have original hubs on the set on my T and my Son is using Wilson Welding hubs. Regardless of what direction you go on backing plates, there is some machining needed, but it is pretty straightforward.
You MIGHT luck out and find a set in some old junkyard, but you have to look for broken fins and a liner that can still be turned. I have seen lots of them that are less than perfect, and those still bring big money.
Don
Here are the ones I have on my 23 T.
These are the ones I have on my 27, which is undergoing a freshening up after being on the road for many years.
And here are the ones my Kid is running on his 30 RPU. He is using Wilson Welding backing plates and hubs on his.
You MIGHT luck out and find a set in some old junkyard, but you have to look for broken fins and a liner that can still be turned. I have seen lots of them that are less than perfect, and those still bring big money.
Don
Here are the ones I have on my 23 T.
These are the ones I have on my 27, which is undergoing a freshening up after being on the road for many years.
And here are the ones my Kid is running on his 30 RPU. He is using Wilson Welding backing plates and hubs on his.
GAB
Member
Think that you are looking for:
Wilson Welding & Machine
Flower Mound, Texas
972-539-2305
Wilson Welding Home
Wilson Welding & Machine
Flower Mound, Texas
972-539-2305
Wilson Welding Home
$400 Wow! I may have to wimp out on this one. I've seen the disc brakes with the fins that make them appear to be finned drums. It's just not the same. I pride myself in being different, not a slave to style and fashion. I guess I'll have to build my car like a 50's/60's like it would have been built by me if I was of age back then. Oh well, I have a leisure suit in the dryer. Gotta go hang it up. Tim.
BTW I don't know why my font changed. I really should learn more about this @##$$%^! computer.
BTW I don't know why my font changed. I really should learn more about this @##$$%^! computer.
fluidfloyd
Active Member
Ted Brown said:
Ted,
I think I'll have to disagree with drilling the drums for several reasons.
#1 Drum brakes work best based on total surface area. By drilling rain or cooling holes you reduce the friction area and stopping friction.
#2 Drums are usually cast iron and are subject to stress cracks caused by stress risers. Drilling holes through the radial surface of the drum causes you to have a series of possible places for cracks to start. As the drum temperature increases due to friction, the drum diameter increases and can cause termal cracking. The sudden application of road water wants to chill the drum and now you have reverse stresses as the drum tries to contract.
#3 Drilled holes allow foreign objects to get between the drum and brake shoe. This can cause damage to both.
For these basic reasons I would strongly advise against drilling brake drums. These cars are light weight and should need minimal braking systems. Either drums or disk brakes will get the job done. It is really just a matter of personal choice. I hope this is of some help to all.
George
RPM said:
My 2008 Silverado came with drum brakes on the rear axle. Shocked the heck outta me , since the 2006 GMC 2500 I traded in had discs on the rear. I've been seeing a few newer cars and trucks that have drums on the rear. I wonder if it's a cost saving move.
donsrods
Member
There is no denying that discs are state of the art brakewise, but I like to build cars that come from my memories, and to me discs look out of place on a 50's style rod. I also agree with Ted that they can be made to stop very well. On my 27 I have 40 Ford brakes with Buick drums on the front and 68 Mercury brakes on the 9 inch rear. One day my then wife was following me in her new car with ABS and all that fancy stuff. I abruptly came to a stop because a light turned red, and she almost redesigned my turtledeck. That car would stop on a dime, and so does my 23 with the same setup. I have never added any power boost to any rod I have built, and wouldn't want it.
Back in the 70's I was one of handful of people who still liked the old style hot rods, everyone was going the streetrod route with a/c, power windows, etc, etc. I could pick up stuff like 40 Ford brakes for a song back then, and even found a mint set sitting by some guys garbage cans one time. He evidently switched over to discs and put the old brakes out for the garbage man. It was like Xmas for me. :lol: Then there was this renewed interest in "traditional" hot rods, and everybody had to have flatheads or other less common engines, wide whites, and of course, Buick brake drums...........so the cost started to climb. I just wish everyone would go back to wanting only hi tech components so I could once again buy the things I love a little cheaper.
Don
PS..........Hey Ted. What magazines were your ads in? I was telling my Son that you were on a forum with me and he was interested in seeing some of the stuff you were doing back then. I kinda looked real fast through some old magazines, but didn't find any.
That car would stop on a dime, and so does my 23 with the same setup. I have never added any power boost to any rod I have built, and wouldn't want it.Back in the 70's I was one of handful of people who still liked the old style hot rods, everyone was going the streetrod route with a/c, power windows, etc, etc. I could pick up stuff like 40 Ford brakes for a song back then, and even found a mint set sitting by some guys garbage cans one time. He evidently switched over to discs and put the old brakes out for the garbage man.
It was like Xmas for me. :lol: Then there was this renewed interest in "traditional" hot rods, and everybody had to have flatheads or other less common engines, wide whites, and of course, Buick brake drums...........so the cost started to climb. I just wish everyone would go back to wanting only hi tech components so I could once again buy the things I love a little cheaper.Don
PS..........Hey Ted. What magazines were your ads in? I was telling my Son that you were on a forum with me and he was interested in seeing some of the stuff you were doing back then. I kinda looked real fast through some old magazines, but didn't find any.
fluidfloyd
Active Member
Rick said:
Rick,
I think you are right on that. I bought my wife a new 2008 Dodge Advenger in late 2007. The sheet showed rear disk brakes as an option and I notice every car on the lot had rear disk. The owner of the dealership told me that was the only way he ordered them Here in the mountains it just makes for better brakes.
George
Ted Brown
Member
Drums will out stop any disks made in extreem cases, most have the wrong type of shoes for extreem braking like steep hilly areas and high speeds, but then things don't work as great when cold... I see no one ever contacted Power brake Bob about just how really good they are, disks are way cheaper to mfg, and they make a ton selling pads & rotors, just look at any set of front wheels around, they are real dirty with brake dust , but not with the drums, I will not say any more about this as too many people seem to be stuck on the NEW is always better.. Also with disk, you have to have a power booster on any new car, they take a min. of 12 to 1 leverage where drums take 8 to 1, and the pads are much smaller as the size of all the disks are the same as a real small drum brake, like on a Mustang, you measure from the center of the spindle to the center of the pad to see what size a drum brake it compares to.. now maybe with the fact that they are now making real large wheels, maybe they will make a lot bigger rotors now also, so they will catch up to the size of a good drum brake, but they still need to be power, and do not tell me that they do not fade, I know better... most drum brakes are not vented as well as they should be... Correct shoes make all the difference in the world. Stop and think about how much money all the dealers make on disk brake pads and turning rotors, then selling you new rotors as now they are too thin to use again, what it that?? A real big rip... PS, Why do all the race cars all have drilled rotors and they do have drums drilled, you just don't see them... that makes them cool better as well. makes the cooling surface larger... Tired of typing, got to go to sleep.. Have a great Day tomorrow...
just some random thoughts on drilled rotors on race cars. they run in a controlled situation, no gravel to speak of. cooling is of major concern on these cars, that why the ducting and fans forcing air over the brakes. as for pad wear...400 or 500 miles to a set of pads would not be cost effective for me.
on these cars we build, drum brakes are all they need to be. power assistance is nice but not nessary with drums or even with discs if set up properly.
how a question...is anyone running a VW set up on their car? i bought a used hub, rotors and calipers off e-bay. can you tell me what year to look for when i replace the pads and rebuild the calipers?
Ron
on these cars we build, drum brakes are all they need to be. power assistance is nice but not nessary with drums or even with discs if set up properly.
how a question...is anyone running a VW set up on their car? i bought a used hub, rotors and calipers off e-bay. can you tell me what year to look for when i replace the pads and rebuild the calipers?
Ron
OK, I'm not trying to cause any trouble here, but this whole "drum brakes vs disc brakes" thing keeps coming up. I'm not on anybody's side either.
So I think of it from two viewpoints:
When was the last time you saw a 52' long, 80,000 pound fully loaded 18 wheeler rolling down the road with disc brakes?
I also know if I showed up to a F1, NASCAR, Cart, (you get the idea) event with a car to compete with running only drum brakes, I would NEVER get past tech.
There's the two extremes. Both need gobs and gobs of stopping power.
Seems to me the type of braking system is engineered for the type of use.
Just thinking out loud.
David
So I think of it from two viewpoints:
When was the last time you saw a 52' long, 80,000 pound fully loaded 18 wheeler rolling down the road with disc brakes?
I also know if I showed up to a F1, NASCAR, Cart, (you get the idea) event with a car to compete with running only drum brakes, I would NEVER get past tech.
There's the two extremes. Both need gobs and gobs of stopping power.
Seems to me the type of braking system is engineered for the type of use.
Just thinking out loud.
David
If you are still looking for the finned drums try Memory Lane auto parts in Plant City Fl. The guy is a bit of a jerk but I picked up a set of those for a guy one the Volksrod forum to use on his car. They were like $80 or something along those lines.
all-world1
Member
The Buick finned drums look great, but if'n you can't find a good pair or they're just too expensive, Youngster got me onto 50's F-100 drums and I was able to score a set of '56 backing plates locally... new drums were easily available. For a nostaligic rod, I like the drums over discs.
The reason is, like most everything else is COST. Drum brakes are fine and worked (and still do) well for many years, but have more parts and take longer on the assembly line to produce then disc thus more time to assemble, more parts to design and stock equals more money. Many of the "advances" to the automobile that proved to be better were the result of cost cutting first. Changing from a 6 volt system to 12 volt saved tons of copper because of the smaller wire guage that was possible. The alternator instead of a generator again which I feel is better was purely a cost issue. Add to that the internal regulator and many other things which have been added through the years that we take for granted now. Tried to get a decent car without power windows lately? The power ones are cheaper to manufacture and install then the manual ones. Now some of the efforts to me don't work out as well, like plastic instead of steel for interior trim pieces and aluminum (or nothing) instead of S.S. for exterior trim.
Randall
Randall
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