Nine Inch Ford Brake Drum Q

[enjenjo]

has anybody turned the outside of a drum smooth on a brake lathe?

Yes I have, Ford drumas as a matter of fact. This was on a race car to clear the inside of the wheels. 15 by 15 wheels with 8" backspacing.

I would not reccommend it. The drums distorted a lot under load. They never cracked though.

[wayne petty]

one more thing... i have thought about this since i saw cast iron spray welding....   on drums that are not available anymore...  could the inner surface be turned and then cast iron spray welded? then remachined back to std diameter...

again this is just a thought....i was actually thinking about spray welding them back to standard to use as a pattern to have more made....

decades ago at orange county international raceway... i stopped at a wheel mfgs display and ask the rep if they could cast aluminum wheels with directional fins ....    he said NO... its impossable... the next year they came out with directional fins....

maybe i should keep my ideas to my self....

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I had some spray welding on an axle years ago..... it was 'great stuff" I was told.

My spray welding came apart in minutes.

Not sure IF it is the same thing as wayne mentions.

[wayne petty]

i cannot beleive any body would to it to an axle... i have seen a crank shop here in los angeles years ago weld cranks on their storm vulcan submerged arc crank welder...  then grind them down to stock dimentions...

i ask if they had any problems ... they said they had been doing it for some guy in arizona for years... without any trouble...

sure makes a picture in my head that any addition  of spray welded material... may not last as a bearing contact surface...

wayne

[pyro409]

I'm hearing that there is a 2" wide brake shoe for the Ford nine inch 11" drums.
The thinking there was that the 2" wide drums may work fine with the 1 3/4" brake shoes.
And . . . since the pickup at the junkyard probably had an I-6 there may be something to the rumor about 2" wide shoes.

I'd like to use the 1 3/4" brake shoes cuz I already have a set of new ones on hand, but I also want the smaller rear brake . . . but not too small....

I have done this work including the conversion to self adjustingbrakes on my 57 9" rear in my mustang. I have detailed photos and part numbers on my web site for the 11 x 2 brakes.

I guess I cannot post a link, so here is the text off of my page.

1957 Ford Wagon Axle brake upgrade

The worst part about using a 57 wagon axle in a later vehicle are the manual adjusters. To correct this, use the following pieces.




From the original axle, or as replacement parts, use the

original housing

backing plates

Drums – these are hard to find. Try here KANTER

From a 1967 ford bronco front 11" drum parts, all available at auto parts stores

brake pads

star wheel

adjuster kit

hardware kit

This will get you more square inches of braking surface area than any drum brake mustang ever made. It is possible to build something around a 1962 t-bird and get 11 x 2.5 brakes, but I have not looked into it as my manual brakes have excelent stopping power with minimal pedal pressure, and I have not yet seen brake fade.

Stock mustang brake sizes

1965-1973 10 1.75 standard 55^2"

1965-1973 10 2 performance 63^2"

1974-1993 9 1.75 all 49^2"

1957 wagon 11 2 all 69^2"