Brake pads for 1932 Model 54 Club Sedan

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Does any member  know when I can purchase  replacement brake pads (front and rear) for my auto?  Ron Kurland

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Have you checked with John Cislak? His contact info is in the Roster or the Emporium.

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Several years back Bill Lyons chased down a supplier of brake linings with a lot of good info on what type of lining is a reasonable match for friction characteristics and softness. You should be able to find the thread on this site with a key word search. It is important do get an appropriate lining material as the standatd modern linings are too hard and can be dangerous, they alternate between grabbing and fading. I had mine relined by a local ship (Reno Brake) who had an appropriate material in stock, they do a fair number of vintage car brake relining including Pierce. They are all the way across the country from you though, so maybe not helpful.

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Another thought, if the ’32 had 15″ diameter drums instead of the 16″ on my ’35 you may be able to still get asbestos linings from Kanter.

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Jim, my ’29 has the three shoe, 15 inch brakes. These brake drums are steel and too thin to machine well. There is no source of new drums to fit a Pierce, so the shoes need to be made to fit the existing steel drums. Fitting new shoes to existing drums means wearing of the linings enough to fit in the existing drum grooves. Conforming the linings to the drum greatly increases the actual contact area between drum and shoes linings, making stops better. To conform molded linings, set the brake drag to match the wheel on both sides of the car. Do this for both the front and rear. Drive the car on a very quiet street while riding the brakes pretty hard (good to have a hand throttle). Many rounds of adjusting and driving are needed, but as the linings wear in, the car will stop much straighter and shorter. However, after conforming, that set of shoes will fit only the one drum.  Woven linings have been preferred as they wear more quickly to match to the ridges of the drum. Molded linings take longer to wear in, but work well once conformed. Herb

 

 

 

 

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