Well the more I roll this over, the more I realize what I missed...

Upon disassembling the troubled drum, I did notice the axle nut was acting on a pair of stacked washers that had been carefully welded. I see now that this was an attempt to "tighten up" the drum on the axle at some point and this should have been my first clue to look further. I'm guessing to me the drum seemed firmly connected up in the air but actually had some play when in action on the road that had been ovaling the hub over time with only the square key transferring rotation.

Another clue was a munched outer seal that I now see was getting beat up by the tip of the hub reaching deeper inward than in should have. This explains why that side was pretty soaked with 90wt. (Gotta make sure I don't forget to top up the diff when everything's buttoned up. What's the favorite gear oil to use in the rear end?)

I have a replacement hub in the works thanks to a member here so I expect to be rolling & stopping in no time. Thanks again to this group and to my buddy, Jimmy, for his jumbo drum puller! I've put that beastie into action much more than expected.

Michal

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Another quick question: torque spec for the axle nut?

I couldn't find it in the manual but might have missed it in a chart somewhere. I know the bulk of the stiction between the axle and drum is along the tapered surface but those nuts are what make that stick possible.

Okay Guys, thanks for the great advice. I just pulled the drums and swapped them and the fit of the opposite drum IS much better. I verified the numbers cast in each drum and they're the same alright. The square pins and their slots look fine all around.

Then I took a mic to the outsides of the axle bores on each drum's hub and, sure enough, a noticeable difference. I'll look further in the morning when there's light but it seems to me I have a too-worn drum. Not sure how one would pull this off... maybe running a while with the hub loose or no pin installed. I'd expect you wouldn't be able to move the car but I guess it's possible?

Learned a lesson here to check thoroughly and not make assumptions. I had this bum drum turned and heli-coiled a stripped lug bolt hole; got a little over-confident there.

So... anyone have a recommendation on tracking down a rear brake drum? (Casting #32344-R)

Thanks, Michal

Hello Packard Info Crew,

Doing the brakes and seals all around on my 2272 and am stumped by the driver's side rear axle. The drum seems to slide in on the taper farther than it should and rubs against the brake backing plate once the axle nut is tightened. I swapped drums, same result. At first I thought I might want to remove the shim between the backing plate and the axle housing but now I'm looking at the threaded tip of the axles.

The 2nd pic shows how I'm not even able to snug the drum past the shoulder at the base of the threaded section. I added a few bushings to get around this, got a nice mate to the axle, but ran right into the backing plate. Anyone ever run into this problem? I'm tempted to try to track down another axle but thought I'd check in with the collective wisdom here before I make any more moves.

Thanks, Michal

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Hey John,

Congrats and I say Go For It! I'm a veteran optimist... with experience. Sounds like you're using a good dose of common sense and if you watch for trouble, will probably catch it before it becomes BIG trouble.

I had a very similar adventure when I won an eBay auction for a '49 Nash, flew out to Atlanta, GA, and drove it back to the SF Bay Area, CA over 8 days. Awesome trip!

The Seller had great advice: bring some tools and allow plenty of time. I did just that and every time I stopped for food, gas, sight-seeing, etc... I took a few extra minutes to go around the car to make sure all was well.

Have a great time; I'm envious!

Just a little update here: After digging around when I found a free minute or two, I ended up getting rear cylinders from Napa for $9 each and adapters for another $2.50 each. I'm moving the bore from 15/16" to a full 1" but don't expect that to be very noticeable. This weekend I should have the time to mount everything and see how well it all goes together. If it's as smooth as I expect, I'll be moving up to the fronts... right now those babies would run me over $150 a pair but I just might have the same kind of luck at the front as I seem to be having at the back. Either way, the Parts X-Ref will have all the details posted when I'm done.

Have a great weekend everybody,

Ha! That's great! I run a small dairy delivery business and had a young lady approach me about a job because she thought our old milk trucks were so cute. She worked for me for a good 3 years and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty under the hood when the opportunity arose. Always thought if I had a daughter, I'd raise her with a good dose of tomboy qualities.

Thanks for all the great part numbers John.

Quote:

I'm really appreciating this site & forum and want to toss my coins at a vendor that is recommended here. I've finally gotten around to removing my drums and having a look. I'll be needing the usual wheel cylinders & master; looks like the springs and shoes are serviceable.

Let me know if anyone has an opinion on a particular shop I should get my parts from.

On a side note, I'm sending my R9 OD Unit to Atwater Kent for a look-see. Will report back when they've had a chance to drum up a quote...

Cheers,

Yowza... what precious items these are. Well, I'm thinking I don't have a decent core so over $500 is what I'd be looking at. Being a weekend driver, I think I'll go the alternate route instead and try to wire up something homegrown... maybe I'll stumble on one used...

Any veteran EE's out there?

[quote]

http://www.fifthaveinternetgarage.com/parts/parts_counter_3.html

That's right, I ran across this site as well a while back and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've got an email into the big cheese there, Randy. I'll let you know what comes of it but I'm already encouraged simply by his site's design and content.

Hemming's did have several leads too; just waiting for replies to my queries.

If these become dead ends, Phils38cpe gave me an idea that might work using a variation on your modern starter switch: Off for OD, On for no OD, Start to blip the distributor. If that could be hidden somewhere convenient, I bet it would work out just fine. I've used this kind of switch that was actually a 3 position toggle with a spring loaded return from the Start position.

Keep it stock or cobble something together? Stay tuned...