'62 Rear Brakes Back Together!

[Joe Strickland <jwstrick426@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I just wanted to let the group know that I successfully got the rear brakes 
back together today.  Having the shoe lining thickness reduced to 0.170" as the 
service manual recommends made all the difference.  Just a few suggestions to 
others who may work on the rear brakes of their '62 and older Imperials with 
"Center Plane" or Total Contact" brakes:

1.  Use a mallet or a ball peen hammer to tap the shoes lightly inward after 
positioning the drum over the shoes.  This will help center shoes to the drum.  
Make sure as you push the drum back on that the shoes remain in position on the 
push rods of the wheel cylinder.

2.  After the drum is fully on, but before tightening the castle nut on the 
axle, check for free rotation of the drum.  A small amount of drag is OK so 
long as you can still turn it by hand.  You may want to operate the adjusting 
cams to engage and then disengage the shoes and recheck rotation of the drums.

I am satisfied with the way this turned out.  Now I can move on to replacing 
the brake system hard lines and flex lines.

Thanks once more to all who offered suggestions and help.

Joe

Joseph W. Strickland
1021 Vaughan Lane
Tioga, TX 76271-2937

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