Mustang Front Drum Brake Rebuild

When we rebuilt our front suspension for our Project '66 in the July 2000 issue of Mustang Monthly, we called upon the great people at Metro Mustang to provide V-8-spec front spindles and drum brakes for our project. At the time, we simply bolted the spindles on to keep the project rolling-figuratively as well as literally. The drum brake assemblies that came with our spindles needed a total overhaul, which is understandable, since only God knows how long these spindles have been sitting around. We wanted straight spindles with good backing plates (which is what we received). Everything else is replaceable.

These 10-inch V-8 drum brakes are very simple in their operation and repair/maintenance procedures. This article can be used for either manual or power applications, and even for the miniscule 9-inch drum brakes found on the six-cylinder cars. The brake parts required are your standard Wagner or other retail line of brake parts. But the benefits of ordering from a Mustang parts vendor is that the company will have what you need for your vintage Mustang and can help you with Mustang-specific questions-try that at the local Pep Boys.

We chose to rebuild our front power drum brakes with quality items from National Parts Depot. NPD's catalog lists all brake rebuild items by year and system type for an easy decision as to what you need. On our Project '66, we chose the "better safe than sorry" route and replaced everything, including the bearings, bearing races, dust caps, brake hardware, shoes, wheel cylinders, brake hoses, and drums. The rebuilding process took the better part of a day, so be prepared to get dirty, because brake dust and brake fluid make quite a mess.

1 With the car securely situated on jackstands and both front wheels removed, we began on the right side by pulling the dust cap free of the hub with large slip-joint pliers. If you are reusing your dust cap, be careful not to dent or crush it during removal.	2 After removing the cotter pin, the nut lock, and the adjusting nut, the large flat washer and outer bearing should easily pop out with a quick shake of the drum assembly.	3 Slide the drum off the spindle to expose the inner workings of the drum brakes. You will need two special tools to make the drum brake repair easier. The first tool is used to remove or install the primary and secondary shoe retracting springs. Place the tool over the pivot pin and rotate the tool to allow the tip of the tool to disengage the spring from the pivot pin. Repeat for the other spring, and discard both springs.
4 The second tool you will need to make your life easier is a shoe hold-down spring removal and installation tool. Using the tool, release the shoe hold-down springs and discard them. As you remove the springs and the retaining pins, the remainder of the selfadjusting hardware should come off with the shoes. Discard everything since the new hardware kits include all the items we've just removed-fresh and ready to install.	5 There is no way that we would even think of reusing these wheel cylinders when we don't know their age. Wheel cylinders can be rebuilt, but for the time and cost involved, it's easier to replace them.	6 Lastly, we are down to our bare backing plate. Remove the four retaining nuts and carefully push out the special T bolts to free the backing plate from the spindle. The backing plate may be stuck, due to years of grime, so give it a few love taps with your open hand to free it.
7 Although new V-8 hubs are available, these hubs appeared to be in good condition. We simply decided to press them free of their original drums. If you don't have access to a press to complete this part of the job, you can take your old drums (complete) and your new bare drums to a local machine shop and have the folks there do the presswork for you.	8 Our backing plate-one of the few items we reused-was bead-blasted, then refinished in the correct black paint. Although we sprayed the paint on, dipping the backing plate is the correct method. Don't forget to separate the metal plate that surrounds the grease seal of the hub. We had to make our own replacement gaskets after bead-blasting.	9 The bare V-8 hubs received new bearing races for the inner and outer bearings. When you buy the bearings, they come with the races as well. A bearing race installer is a quick way to seat the races properly, but you can easily use a large socket of the same size as your driving tool in a pinch.
10 The inner bearing is greased thoroughly with a bearing packer and installed. The grease seal is then tapped into place with a seal installer (the race installer disc turned around on the tool handle). Again, a large socket, or even a block of wood, will help in the installation of the grease seal. Notice here that the hub has been pressed into the new drum assembly.	11 Our new drums are given several coats of Eastwood Detail Gray for that naturalsteel look that will last a lot longer than the first puddle we hit. Though the drum installation states to use new wheel studs, we reused the original studs-the choice is yours.	12 Now that the backing plate has had time to dry, it is returned to the spindle with the original hardware (also painted with Eastwood Detail Gray). Things are starting to look up.