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The missing links have arrived.

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Well the forces of evil conspired against me today.

I was trying to get the brakes all back together so I could move the car today to free the trash cans without having to bring the 54 out of winter storage.

But alas, it was not meant to be. I started to assemble the left rear, and everything was going back together pretty well until I got to the hold downs. There were very loose, like no tension on the hold down springs. So when I compared the hold down pins to the original ones, the ones supplied in the Kanter kit were much longer. The original pins are #4's all the way around. The ones supplied are #6 and #10. The #6 kinda work, buy are still not under very much tension. I would have reuse the originals, but the heads are pretty worn and dished and felt like they were half pulling through the backing plates. So not sure if I just supplied the incorrect hardware kit or what. Can anyone confirm the purple springs are correct?

Anyway I ran to Napa (again, at this point they know me by name) and they only had two of the #4 pins in stock. So I got those and ordered six more which will be in tomorrow morning.

Back at home I got the left rear back togther and the drum torqued back in place. Had to break out the large torque wrench.

Since I missing the parking brake stut spring, and all the ones that Napa had were oval type springs more modern flat struts, I reused one of the old holddown springs. It fit perfectly over the round style strut used.

I reassembled the fronts only to verify anything else was still ok and used the #6 pins, but I'll swap them with the #4 pins once they come in tomorrow.

So with the car unable to move, I needed to move the 54 to get the trash cans free. So off came the car cover and that's when I noticed the car was sitting a bit cockeyed. The front right tire was flat. Odd, I've never had issues with holding air. So aired on the tire and then noticed a blister in the whitewall right at the tire bead. So not sure if the tire got damaged when the tire shop removed the tires to swap out the valve stems. Yeah.... probably going to need a new (expensive) tire.

It's beer o'clock now.

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At least you had the cans out in time and before they could give your wife a reason to make you sleep with the cars tonight.

Brakes look great! Very few will ever see the inside, but there is satisfaction in having everything clean and restored.

I don't remember off the top of my head where I bought the pads for the rear, but I do remember the pins were far too long also. My originals were in better shape, so I was able to just reuse them.

-Kevin

Kevin, at least I know everything has been serviced and sorted. The left-rear wheel cylinder looked like it had been salvaged from the Titanic. That is probably why the wheel was locked up when the car was towed from the "farm" to Nashville before going on the transporter to me.

I may keep the old shoes as spares as they actually have a lot of meat on them. They just need good degreasing.

Also, I ran out this morning at 8am to grab the correct hold-down pins from Napa as they were they bright and early as promised. So I should be able to slam the rest of the brakes together this evening. Then I can get the car moved to get to the right-rear corner. I need more space on that side to get the axle out to replace the inner seal.

Once they are all done, then I'll go through and make all the adjustments at the same time.

Front brakes back togther and then wheels back on and back on the skates.

With that it was time for a change in direction.

Now I have access to right rear to take care of that brake and replace the hardline on that side.

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I've been communicating back and forth with Charod at Kanter to help sort out the issues I've had with the kit I got from them. So they are making efforts to figure out what happened so they can be addressed in the future. So thank you Charod for that.

Also, they advised not to use Dot 5 with their supplied kits due to "rubber swelling" issues. So something to note going forward.

Here I go opening myself up to the critics, but the use of Dot 3 is what I always use. I know the Dot 5 is seen as valuable to those who are concerned with life long anti corrosion as the silicone is not able to absorb water. That said, I simply change out the fluid every 3 years. People love their cars and have no problem with changing their oil but seem to bock at renewing coolant and brake fluid. I simply attach a vacuum line to the bleeder screw and stick the other end in a old cleaned soup can, they always seem to sit nicely on a frame rail or spring, and work the brake pedal and fill the master as I go starting as you would do with a bleed and work from the longest line to the shortest. No mess as the old is captured in the soup can and you can do it by yourself. It only costs a few dollars for the fluid and it keeps your system clean and the bleeder screws in top condition. As Charod indicates too, it is what these systems are designed for.
Bob J.

This is kind of a rant but some issues with your kit does bring back memories.

I do hope they resolve the issues as the brake kits are mostly very good and in the case of my 47 everything included fit. I would not hesitate to recommend someone buying a kit but with caveats. I do say mostly good because there must be an issue of semantics as to what the word complete means and thus the caveat.

Your Kanter kit having a couple of wrong items is one thing and I am sure that will be corrected. The other thing is the kit is also apparently sold under the assumption that some parts will be reused. I, and I believe most others assume that when a kit says complete that should include everything needed to properly replace every item between the backing plate and drum and everything on the master between the pedal linkage and brass distribution block and points where any hose or tubing or fluid connection attaches make them all leak free. Commonly found mounting bolts might be an exception to that but their not being included should be noted.

To my mind anyone who orders a complete kit is wanting to start with all new parts because they have something totally trashed or might be resurrecting a parts car where some components might have been sold and they have nothing to work with. If a substitution is needed for something obsolete and another stock item will no longer bolt on then any adapters should also be included.

Your kit had more issues, particularly with the links and springs, but both our kits were missing the copper washers and links. You did get new links, I reused mine after modifying them for the wider shoes but again, a stock item did not fit and mine should have had something that did fit included. At the time it was not a big issue but if I had been starting without any links it would be a different story. Washers I chased thinking it would be a quick find rather than wait a week or so but that is another story.

Aside from the aggravation and delay caused by the other items, you had a good experience finding your washers. On mine I had to go to several Napa stores before finding one washer at a time at stores that had the proper sizes in stock. If I were in an area where the number of stores was limited it would have caused more pain. Granted, Kanter says contact them if washers are needed and they will mail them free of charge but that should not be necessary.

The kits are expensive and the missing parts are relatively inexpensive but even if it costs a few bucks more to have everything included I think most would rather pay than want to chase parts or suddenly rearrange a planned work day.

One of the things I did have to modify was the park brake strut, as the slot in the strut was too narrow for the thickness of the new shoe webbing. So I used a cut off wheel to grind the slot wider. So that wasn't really any issue, just another install footnote.

The Kanter kit does include the copper washer at the master cylinder, just not the ones for those hoses.