I’m attempting my second-ever ground-up restoration, this one’s on a ’72 ’Cuda 340. One thing I’d really like to do right is the rear drum (11˝) brakes. I’ve seen guys display their rear brakes at shows with the wheel and drum off, and, frankly, I think a lot of what’s shown is wrong. For instance, was the backing plate painted? I’ve never seen any evidence of that at junkyards. I guess what I’d really like from you is some kind of reference material. I’ve seen your factory assembly drawings, but they only show how the stuff was assembled, not color markings, etc.
No problem. Through the magic of time- warp photography, I’m able to show you, in living color, a complete NOS 11˝ rear drum brake assembly, ripped off right from the assembly lines in the 1970s! Who loves ya, baby?
Here’s an assembly-line complete OEM 11 x 2.5˝ rear brake setup. A few hints point to it being from the mid-late ‘70s era. Note that very few components have any corrosion protection at all. The following are all bare steel: The support plate, shoes, parking brake strut and lever, wheel cylinder, adjuster lever, and the fittings on both ends of the adjuster cable as well as the cable guide. The shoe retention “diamond” is silver cad plated, and the hold-down nails are yellow cad. The cable itself is galvanized steel rope. The lower end of the cable (that encompasses the spring) is lightly sprayed with yellow enamel. The pushrods are silver cad, they appear yellow from the cosmolene (waxy) coating that was lightly applied to some areas. Depending on the job our printer does, the spring colors may or may not be accurately depicted. So, just as a backup, here’s the colors—Return: dark red; Hold-down: white; Park strut anti-rattle: black; Adjuster: very dark green; Adjuster cable: dark green; Adjuster lever return: aqua.
