What size drum and shoes for 66 coupe V8???

[19stang66]

Drum brake questions for 66 Coupe V8

Well I finally got around to checking my brakes. I see that spiders must of liked to live in the drums. I got to looking at the Mustangs Plus website at their brake stuff. Their website good/bad to buy from? Any place cheaper?
1. How do I know what size drums I have? just measure the diameter?

I am totally new to brakes, so all the help you can give me is more than wonderful. I'll try to post pics of the front drums in like 15 min.

Edit: Here's the link- http://www.mustangsplus.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=MPFMP&Category_Code=brk

 

[19stang66]

I tried to upload some pictures but I guess they are too big.

 

[19stang66]

Finished taking the fronts apart. The passanger side looks like it has never been touched while the drivers side looked pretty damn clean. But now i'm stumped. On the passanger side the piston in the wheel cylinder has 6 spokes on both sides and they don't slide back and forth. But on the drivers side the piston is cone shaped without the spokes and it moves back and forth. Can someone tell me what the difference is and why they both aren't the same?? Then after noticing how crappy the pass. side cylinder was I decided to take it off. When I took the brake line off, no brake fluid came out except for a little poop brown liquid. I'm not a brake expert but isn't there supposed to be brake fluid in the brake lines???

I forgot to tell you that all I want to do to the brakes right now is make sure they work properly for daily driving and replace anything that is old and worn out. I'm not looking to upgrade to disks yet since I have no money.

 

[dennis112]

You really need to either upload pictures here, or link them to another site so we can understand what is going on. This is especially important since your car might be a mutant.

You are correct in that you should have nice clear fluid coming out of the brake hose. It sounds like there was moisture in the lines and it turned to rust.

Look in the master cylinder and see if you have rust there too. You are going to have to get all the gunk removed before you will get your brakes safe again. I am also pretty sure that the wheel cylinder is trashed too. It sounds like lots of brake bleeding will be in order before you bolt on new parts.

Don't bother trying to rebuild wheel cylinders. It's really not worth it, especially with the rust. New ones are not that expensive and will last for years.

Again upload some pictures somewhere or check out a shop manual for your year car in order to get some better help.

Measuring your drums (diameter and inside width) should help you get the correct parts. You should also measure the width of the old brake shoes.

More than likely all you will need is standard parts for a 66'. The actual size really depends on if the brakes are from a V8 or a I6 car. Do your wheels bolt on with 5 lug (V8) nuts or 4 (I6)?

 

[Max Power]

Sounds advice from Dennis. All I can add is that unless the part is very unique, you can get all your brake parts from a local parts store, probably at a considerable savings. None of the stuff is rare or exotic, for the most part, don't pay restoration house prices.

 

[19stang66]

Pictures!

Alrighty, I posted the pictures on my cardomain site. Brake Pictures

Well I'm pretty sure I have 10" drums all around. So what am I going to do about the brake fluid problem??? Any advice?

Edit: I have 5 lugs all around. It was originally a 289 and the PO put in a 302.

 

[dennis112]

Alrighty, I posted the pictures on my cardomain site. Brake Pictures

Well I'm pretty sure I have 10" drums all around. So what am I going to do about the brake fluid problem??? Any advice?

Edit: I have 5 lugs all around. It was originally a 289 and the PO put in a 302.

With a V8, you have 10" brakes. Now measure the width of the brake shoe and you should have enough info. I believe the will be 1 3/4" wide. The next larger is 2" and I doubt if you have that.

The mismatched wheel cylinder pistons are because someone replaced one of them with a different manufacturers in the past. No biggy. You can purchase all-new cylinders for about $12 a piece at Advance Auto, although you may need to order them in.

As far as the gunk goes, that takes running lots of clean brake fluid through the lines. You would do this with the normal bleeding methods, BUT I would do it before I put the new ones on and let them get the crap passed through them. Once you start to see clear fluid, you can replace the parts and then rebleed the brakes.

 

[19stang66]

Ok thanks! I'm going to check the local Napa and Checkers stores and see if they have the kit to replace everything. Dallas Mustang has a kit for all 4 drums for $189 but hopefully I can find cheaper. Thanks again for your help.