Re: Brake Adjusting on my 37 120, who knew!
Posted by Bob J On 2023/6/8 12:14:10
So those clips that goes into that hole to adjust the shoe spacing were down to one. Over the years I am sure that the various technicians working on the car as well as a few shade tree types like me lost the other three. Due to my OCD(!) I decided to try and replicate the clip to cover the other three drum's access hole too. I laid a strip of masking tape over my surviving one and carefully cut around the edges to create a pattern. For the bird's beak tab I just cut out a square around the original's tab. Carefully stripping this back off the clip I laid it on some bristol board and cut that out to get my pattern.
Looking through my scrap box I found I did not have any 0.020" stock like the original, but I did have a sheet of .031" brass. Laying my pattern on the brass and using a sharp awl I scratched out the perimeter as well as three sides of the bird's beak tab. After carefully trimming them out and filing the edges to match any differences in the size from the pattern I flipped the part over and marked the bird's beak opening on the other side too. Using a cut-off wheel in my Dremel I scored the three lines of the bird's beak about half way through from both sides. Using a small punch and laying the part over the slightly open jaws of the vice it is simple to punch out the tab to a slight outward bend. Needle nose pliers and some finger pressure will impart the needed curves.
I found that as I had only been able to use the outside surface of my existing clip and the material was 30% thicker, I needed to trim the outside tab lengths down about an 1/8th of an inch after I was done bending to get the ends to match. A simple snip with the shears did it.
You do not have to be too close as once you have it on the drum you can fine tune everything with a light tapping of a body or ball peen hammer. I doubt that anything untoward would occur without these in place, but I love the details!
When installing I found that I was glad I included that tricky tab as it acts as a snap that holds the clip in place.
Have fun,
Bob J.
Attach file:
Drum Adjuster Clips 1.JPG (162.68 KB)
Drum Adjuster Clips 2.JPG (159.78 KB)
Drum Adjuster Clip in place.JPG (261.51 KB)
Looking through my scrap box I found I did not have any 0.020" stock like the original, but I did have a sheet of .031" brass. Laying my pattern on the brass and using a sharp awl I scratched out the perimeter as well as three sides of the bird's beak tab. After carefully trimming them out and filing the edges to match any differences in the size from the pattern I flipped the part over and marked the bird's beak opening on the other side too. Using a cut-off wheel in my Dremel I scored the three lines of the bird's beak about half way through from both sides. Using a small punch and laying the part over the slightly open jaws of the vice it is simple to punch out the tab to a slight outward bend. Needle nose pliers and some finger pressure will impart the needed curves.
I found that as I had only been able to use the outside surface of my existing clip and the material was 30% thicker, I needed to trim the outside tab lengths down about an 1/8th of an inch after I was done bending to get the ends to match. A simple snip with the shears did it.
You do not have to be too close as once you have it on the drum you can fine tune everything with a light tapping of a body or ball peen hammer. I doubt that anything untoward would occur without these in place, but I love the details!
When installing I found that I was glad I included that tricky tab as it acts as a snap that holds the clip in place.
Have fun,
Bob J.
Attach file:
Drum Adjuster Clips 1.JPG (162.68 KB)
Drum Adjuster Clips 2.JPG (159.78 KB)
Drum Adjuster Clip in place.JPG (261.51 KB)
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