For Those With Rear Brake Cylinders

[Carpenterman]

My right rear brake cylinder on the finny has been leaking for a while so I finally decided to address the problem. I couldn't find the correct rebuild kit anywhere and a new cylinder was overpriced.

I remember reading somewhere (may have been the Ponton group) that there was a kit for the '60s Dodge truck with the same 3/4 inch bore. NAPA had it--so far so good. I think it was around $6.

Once off the car and dissembled, I saw that while the seals and pistons fit the bore, the spring and the pistons were longer than the original assembly. Also, the original pistons had a round concavity where the push rods nest yet the new ones were flat.

I got out the Dremel and ground concavities into the end of the new pistons. I then assembled the cylinder and installed it back on the wheel. However, I could not get the shoes to depress far enough to get the drum back on. After fiddling with the adjustment eccentric and doing everything I could think of to depress the pistons in the cylinder, I came to the conclusion that the whole assembly was just too long.

So I loosened the shoes, removed the push rods and went to the grinder. After a couple of trial fits, I learned that taking about a quarter inch off each push rod allowed me to fit the drum. I did my best to grind the ends round to mate with the concavity I made in the pistons.

Buttoned it up, adjusted the shoes, bled the line and took it out for a test drive. The braking was fine, although it's hard to really feel the braking action on the rears with these cars. At least there was no diving or pulling.

So anyway, I thought this information might be useful for anyone contemplating rebuilding their rear drum brakes.