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

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)?

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 said:

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.

Click to expand...

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.