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Got the front brakes back together. The hoses I bought from Napa turned out to be incorrect. While they are the correct length, the fitting size is incorrect. They are too large. So back to Napa tomorrow. This time I will bring in the old hose so they can match it up. I think this is a difference between the '53 and '54 years.

Anyway here are the before and after pics. Only thing I wonder about is the lower spring. It's a different style then the one that was on the car. Any problems with the new one? I had to attach to the hole further in.

Also whoever rebuilt the brakes previously had put the adjuster in backwards, so the star-wheel did not line up with the adjuster hole.

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I wonder if it would be better to just trim the long arm on that lower green spring, and bend a hook in it to match the other side, so it can mount in the same hole as the old spring?

For my 2 bits, don't think it will make a difference unless the higher angle on that side decreases the tension on adjuster to point it moved too easily. Will bow to the wisdom of others however.

I'm a bit leary that it will function properly as shown. The spring above the self-adjuster is typically "bowed" just a bit over the notchwheel, so I believe that ideally the spring should be a bit shorter and mounted to the lower hole. When I ran into this on a Bendix mechanical brake job, I just took the old spring to the local brake shop which matched it very closely to a current part.

I also see that both the primary and secondary shoe return springs seem to be identical which normally isn't so. Usually in order to get the "servo" action, the primary shoe requires a weaker spring so that it contacts the drum first and then applies greater force to the secondary shoe. This is why the primary lining is either shorter or of a different composition than the secondary shoe, though we often have to do without that these days.

Well I checked all the catalogs, and everything shows that the return springs are the same 54-56.

Also I found the brake hose is not Napa UP 4497, but instead is UP 11146 for the 54-56 cars. The UP 4497 is for the 53 and previous car, and the 54 Commerical Chassis. Same length, different fitting size.

Junior and Senior had different brakes and springs for 55-56. However, unlike the Senior (and many other) cars, The Juniors used same return springs for the primary (leading) and secondary (trailing) shoes and front and rear axles - 8 pieces of the same P/N did a Clipper the whole way around. I didn't check, but suspect bet your 54 follows the same pattern.

What may be needed is a view of a Junior car with brake springs correctly installed. It's hard to say what kind of work was done to your car between the time that the Packard dealer network evaporated and you found it.

Yes, I just checked the 48-54 parts book and agree. But did you notice that most if not all the other models 54 and back use different spring numbers for primary and secondary, and front and rear. Makes me wonder why the change.

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I too wonder about the gaskets. They don't exist on any application I can remember. I see the gaskets in the exploded parts drawing you provided but in my opinion they are not really necessary. The seal on the inside of the break drum does the sealing.


Also who ever it was that mentioned the return springs I think is right. The spring on the primary shoe is always smaller/weaker than the spring on the secondary. Judging by your before picture the old springs look incorrect also. I'll bet that who ever did the last break job put the two primary springs on one side and the two secondary springs on the other.

On the subject of the seals, they were there when I took them apart. But it really bad shape.

As Brian and the Owen confirmed from the parts book, the return springs are the same. The '54 Clippers share more in common with the '55 Clippers then they do with the '53s or the Seniors' in regards to the their braking components.

I have not been able to locate a part number for that lower adjuster spring. The hardware kit I bought was off of ebay. I believe the company is in MN, and they are the ones with all the listings for the brake components, and lightbulb sets and stuff like that.

I am going to try to just modify that lower spring and then see how it fits compared to the old one. I still have the old springs, but they are pretty rusted.

I too wonder about the gaskets. They don't exist on any application I can remember. I see the gaskets in the exploded parts drawing you provided but in my opinion they are not really necessary. The seal on the inside of the break drum does the sealing

The gaskets exist in all drum brake applications I've worked on, to the best of my memory. I guess you could argue that they're not absolutely essentially, but they are certainly important. Grease, subjected long enough to temperatures and pressures, will have some fraction liquify to a heavy oil. The seal in the drum is a grease seal, not an oil seal, so any liquified grease that escapes is captured by the lip on the retaining plate and directed away from the shoes by a small hole on the backing plate; thus it harmlessly runs out on the inboard (non-shoe) side of the backing plate. Without the gasket the liquified grease could escape on the shoe-side of the backing plate and make contact with the shoes, as Kevin has pointed out.