Brake Shoes

[Gasman63]

In your opinion where is the best place to by Brake Shoes. Im not wanting anything special just standard 9" Shoes for an EM (1963). Anything wrong with buying from LAPS?

[vairmech]

You probably will have to have them order the shoes but you should be able to get them local. What I have found with the new shoes is you may have to shorten the primary shoe a little and then that either a drill bit or a round file and open up the park brake hole and the self adjuster cup hole.

All you need is 189 brake shoes, make sure they don't order pads! There is a disc brake pad out there with the same number.

[Gasman63]

Thanks Ken. Making a hole a little bigger is no problem. Cut the material for the front shoe??? How much shorter should it be from the rear shoe?
When I was a young man in the late 70s and early 80s I worked in a brake shop so I understand what your saying. Most front shoes had shorter material. But cutting? how much? Maybe a Hacksaw?

Guessing and going by memory and with a lot of pot smoking back then I'm guessing about 2 inches shorter???

[dixon5553]

Brake Parts and Materials in Ft Wayne, In I had them reline my shoes and the car stops well with nice pedal feel. One of te few shops that specialize in Vintage brakes - remember our cars are 55+ years old and todays materials are far different from what was used in 1963.

[Frank DuVal]

Maybe an inch. Ken did a great writeup on the process back on the old CCF forum. It might be searchable there.

[Gasman63]

Thanks Frank. I will take a look.

[kmart356]

Here you go...

How to make Early Brakes Work by vairmech » Fri Jan 12, 2018

[vairmech]

I took a quick look over on the other forum but I couldn't find it but then I didn't sign in either.

Here are the pictures I posted of the mods to make a primary shoe.

I just used a hacksaw being careful not to hit to hard on the base material. I then ust used my sharp putty knife to tap off the bonded material.


I take off a fair amount but this equates to what the original shoes had back in the day.



Here are the two different size cuts I do.




When I have the cuts all done I do bevel the edges like the rest of the shoes have. I just use my grinder stone. I can't get the same results with the belt sander. Here you can see where the hacksaw hit the steel backer.


Here you see the secondary shoe full length. While the primary shoe may be a little shorter originally it is not enough for me.


This was done on my 64 after I got it, it's been 20,000 miles now.
Hope this helps.

[66vairguy]

The local club had a "garage session" to help a fellow with his EM brakes. Another gentleman wanted to learn and said his car was out of commission after he bought brake shoes from a local parts store and he could NOT get his brake drums on! BTW this is a problem a few have posted about on the forums in the last few years.

Due to time limitations only the front wheels were done.

The car being worked on had good linings with lots of material and the wear pattern was good (shoe arc matched drum arc). The "stopping" problem was determined to be one collapsed rubber brake hose, and one frozen wheel cylinder, not rusted, just frozen by dried out brake fluid! The brake fluid was foul in smell and appearance. The person in charge of repairs (with decades of experience) looked at the new brake shoes and said "the linings are too thick" so the brake shoes on the car were re-used.

After some discussion the other fellow with the same issue of "linings too thick" was advised to get his brake shoes arc'd to fit his drums, or return the new shoes and take his old shoes to a shop in town that normally does big rig truck brakes, but does old car brakes as a side line and uses a "softer" lining and turns the drums, then arcs the new linings to fit the drums. A few folks reported the shop did a good job, brakes worked well after installation, no "wearing in" the brakes required.

[Gasman63]

This is great information. I could not have asked for better info. I will be sure to print these pictures out and get busy with my brakes. Thank you all.

A long time ago i did brakes all day long. Resurfacing rotors and drums. But i still have the eye for it as when i popped off the drums I noticed right away of wrong springs being used, lining that were coming loose, big gouges in backing plates where the shoes sit. Wheel cyls had been replaced at one time and have no leaks. Just brake work had been done by someone without much experience. At least someone had upgraded the master to a dual.

Thanks again. BTW, I wasnt able to find this info on the other site either. But that could be my fault as Im not the best at searching.

[Frank DuVal]

You can file/grind the shoe pads on the backing plate as shown in shop manual. Or weld up the grooves and file/grind flat.

I have not had a drum turned in 40 years. Lining is cheap and can be made to fit drum. 1964 rear drums were unavailable for years and expensive used. No need to remove unobtainable metal in my book. For late’s I have stacks of drums I bought years ago. I just sand them (80 grit) and run them. After a few stops the light rust is taken care of. Just like the rotors on my daily drivers that sit for a month!

I hate DOT 3 for cars that sit. It even took out the ABS pump on my 90s GM cars. White crap. Who has time to flush a fleet every two years? I love DOT 5. Brakes work fine for years. No internal rusting of parts/ lines. Even the rubber parts last longer, not having that buildup of white crap. You do have to start with a clean overhauled system to get these good results. Racers and mile high people have different ideas, but they work on brakes more often.

[jimbrandberg]

I think cheaper shoes are better for us because we want a soft compound and more expensive shoes are often hard for longer wearing.
Jim Brandberg
Isanti, MN
CorvairRepair.com

[vairmech]

I think cheaper shoes are better for us because we want a soft compound and more expensive shoes are often hard for longer wearing.
Jim Brandberg
Isanti, MN
CorvairRepair.com

The current batch of brake shoes seem to me to be a carbon metailc base. I think they stop very well and seem to last a long time without undo wear on the drums. So far on my current daily driver that I posted the pics from has 20,000 miles since I did that, so yes, I drive the car!

[Gasman63]

Little update..
I ordered the 189 shoes from O'Reilly's and got them In two days.

I found they came with primary and secondary shoes so no need to cut up the metallic braking material.

But when I installed the shoes with my never turn/never resurfaced drums i couldnt get the drums on. It felt as if the material was just too thick. I made sure the shoes were seated well and star wheel was completely turned in.

So i tried the other set of shoes on the same side. Then swapped sides. Still the drum will start to go on but would not.

These were some China shoes from a company Ive never heard of before. Took them back to the store and ordered another set from Auto Zone. I name brand i have heard of. But its a week before i will get them.

Glad im not in a hurry with the engine in pieces.
Im also trying to figure out the electrical on the power top but i will start another thread for that.

[vairmech]

OK, all you had to do was use a round file where the top pin rests on the shoe. The new shoes you get will be the same thing.

[Gasman63]

Ok. That makes sense.
I did have to drill out The hole for the lever a bit but not enough that the APS noticed.
Thanks for that tidbit. I know it will work next time as it wasnt off by much.