Re: [Amc-list] American Brakes, was Rear Wheel Lockup...

[Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx>]

mikebailey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>>From Matt Haas:
> 
> Also, I've come to find out that my 67 American has a large
> number of brake parts that are a pain to get since they were only used a
> couple of years (or that was the last year for it). I had a heck of a
> time getting brake parts for it after I got the car.
> 
> Matt
> -------
> 
> ----> Matt, could you elaborate a little on this?  We're fixing to do
> brakes on my son's 67 290 Hardtop.  Right now it's got manual drums(kinda
> strange to me on a V8 CA smog car with A/C), but we were actually going to
> just go get a Concord power disc setup.
> 
> However, David is concerned with originality if he ever wants to sell the
> car, as this car has never been messed with, and he also wants to store a
> complete drum setup so any potential concerns by buyers are addressed...
> 
> David just scored a 67 American TM on e-Bay for a lucky 20 bucks, and it
> turned out to be in nice shape.
> mike

If you have Wagner drums, shoes and wheel cylinders can be had from 
about anywhere. It's easy to tell which ones you have when you pull a 
drum. If it uses a cable for the self-adjuster, you have Bendix brakes. 
If it uses rods, they are Wagner.

My TSM and parts book says all 1967 American's use Bendix drums. My car 
for sure has Wagner drums* and the only hint about them is that a 
picture of the Wagner style self adjuster is shown in the TSM. Your 
brakes should be 10 inch Bendix drums. Parts are easy to find since 
Bendix drum brakes were used on a lot of popular cars (like Mustangs).

If you have Wagner dual servo drums (Wagner non-servo drums were used on 
cars with disk brakes for a couple of years but those are different 
animals), you will have a hard time finding the hold down hardware, 
return springs, and self-adjusting parts. I have documented where I 
found these parts (except for the self-adjusting parts) on my web site 
at http://www.mattsoldcars.com/1967american/brakeordeal.shtml. I've 
since found some of the self-adjusting parts (the lever that goes onto 
the shoe and return spring) at Kennedy American. The other thing you'll 
find with Wagner drums is that parts are about double the cost of Bendix 
parts. Interestingly enough, you can get the Wagner hold down hardware 
from Volvo dealerships but the buzz in Volvo circles is that Volvo 
changed the design and it's not as good as the original design which was 
reproduced by a company in Sweden that caters to Volvo's (they also 
carry the pivot blocks on the return spring anchors if you were to need 
them, I didn't find anyone in the US that had them).

I have found two things about the Wagner drums that I like better than 
Bendix. First, they are much easier to service since you don't have to 
mess with coil spring hold downs or that hideous spring and hook design 
the 9" Bendix drums use. Second, they seem to pull much less and apply 
more smoothly than Bendix brakes. I will admit that the pulling issue 
may be caused by worn suspension and steering parts in my 68 but it is 
noticeable.

*The car is 40 years old and I guess it's possible that someone could 
have put brakes from an older model on it but that seems like an awful 
lot of work (especially on the rear) since the backing plates are 
different. Also, I'm not the first person to get burned by the brakes. I 
have receipts showing the same problem with parts from two owners ago.

Matt

-- 
mhaas@xxxxxxx
Cincinnati, OH
http://www.mattsoldcars.com
1967 Rambler American wagon
1968 Rambler American sedan
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