[T3] 65 Brakes

[Soren Jacobsen]

> On Oct 19, 2018, at 9:28 AM, Ray Gifford <ray at mendomail.com> wrote:
> 
> I have a 65 notch, and the front right side is leaking brake fluid.  I need to replace the brakes and wheel cylinders.  I call Bill and Steve’s and got a little run around but the final answers were, the brake shoes and cylinders are not available, they think the brake brake shoes can be modified to fit the front, if I want to put disc brakes on, i have to replace the front end with a newer front end, or I can call Old Speed? and see if they have something or can make me something.  There have to be other solutions?  If I can’t get shoes and do need to replace the front end, why not buy the adapter and put a type 1 front end on?

If you want to downgrade your car, by all means install a type 1 beam. I'll take your drum brake parts ;)

> Please, bathe me in your wisdom.

First thing I'd do is take apart the leaky cylinder(s). They're easy to get to and easy to take apart. If you're lucky, a quick hone and new rubber cup (available at NAPA) will get you back on the road. If you're unlucky and the wheel cylinder is corroded to the point that it won't seal, your options are to either have it machined to take a brass or stainless steel sleeve (see Apple Hydraulics or White Post, for example) or to buy an NOS cylinder. They're generally available on TheSamba and the price of NOS vs sleeping will be similar. Personally, I'd probably go the sleeping route, which gets you a bulletproof cylinder that will outlast the rest of the car. Rear shoes can be easily modified to fit the front.

If you want a bolt on wide 5 disc brake kit, CSP and Airkewld both make kits that will work with your drum brake spindles. They'll both take a bit of fiddling, though.

ISP also makes a wide 5 disc brake kit, but you'll need spindles from a later type 3. No need to swap the entire beam to a later one unless it ends up costing you less for a whole beam vs. set of spindles.

I'd try to fix what you've got first. 

Soren