Re: '56 Patrician Brakes

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2012/10/19 9:58:54

My 2 cents worth, and I'll admit I haven't been following this thread carefully.

Don't adjust brakes by click-count, adjust by feel. A good starting point is just a hint of drag of the shoes, you hear it more than feel it, as you rotate the wheel forward.

Don't increase idle speed on an Ultramatic car to 800 rpm, keep it in the factory spec range, more or less 450-500. Increasing it to 800 rpm for a bit of charging and more cooling for the few minutes you're at idle is, IMO, folly. Unless you're going to idle for hours at a time with a large electric drain like a police car at an accident scene, you don't need a positive charging rate for the few minutes you're at idle. And unless you're in a really stressful situation, a few minutes at idle isn't going to have much affect on engine temperature - and if it does, put in neutral and feed a little gas until it's time to resume driving. The V8 models have very competent cooling systems; unless you're in extreme situations like Kevin in AZ sometimes finds himself, you should be able to tolerate most any condition. And if you really need more cooling, a higher volume fan is the easiest first thing to do, assuming a cooling system in good condition.