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I had a similar problem with my 1937 120, but it would pull in either direction unpredictably. A complete rebuild of the front brakes (including hoses) sadly made no difference. It turned out to be worn kingpins. You might want to have the front end checked out thoroughly to determine the cause accurately.

Thanks Don - I'll make sure that the front end is checked out as well as everything else. I'm reasonably confident that the Restorers I'm using are competent but to be truthful the two previous Companies that worked on her were neither competent or honest, I think in reality I've paid three times for nearly everything I've had done on her. Well that's old cars for you !!!!

Best regards Michael

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You're most welcome, Michael. Your story rings true with many of us on this side of the pond also. Best of luck with your car and your current restorers.

Thanks for your info. on the pulling brakes Owen_Dyneto all passed to my restorers who tomorrow (21/05/2015) are coming to the car to try to put things right as they should be.

I mentioned my starter - this is now converted to 12v and fitted and working - just got to get this blasted brake business sorted - will let you know.

Best regards Michael

Another possibility of a consistent pull to one side is the inaccurate installation of the "primary" brake shoe and the "secondary" brake shoe. One shoe liner is shorter than the other even though the brake shoe component looks almost identical and therefore can be installed incorrectly. The primary shoe has less liner than the secondary.

The shoe mounted forward of the axle is supposed to be the primary shoe and the secondary shoe us the one mounted aft of the axle.

Sometimes I have seen where one wheel axle has two primary shoes on one wheel and the other side wheel has the two secondary shoes on it and therefore the pull -OR- the primary was installed behind the axle.

Pages 10 - 14 of the Service Manual is what you need to provide the restorers.

Bill

Primary shoe is the front one and it has the shorter lining.

(o{}o)

>Primary shoe is the front one and it has the shorter lining.

Good catch...my bad. I edited my post so as to not screw up anyone...thanks

Interesting that the Service Manual does not discuss the length of the shoe material...only discusses the primary and secondary bit.

Also...a Gee Wiz question...why not just make both shoes with the same length (amount) of liner? If the forward shoe has more liner then it would apply even more pressure on the aft shoe and make the brakes work better...right??? Yes the aft shoe in this case would wear faster than the front liner but still during the service life the car would still stop faster...

Service Manual does not discuss the length of the shoe material...only discusses the primary and secondary bit.

Generally -- but not always -- the specification pages of various models which were sometimes found in service manuals would have that kind of information. More current or changed info from original specs was usually published in a Service Counselor issued right around new model introduction time.

Here are brake shoe specs for the 22nd series.

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Howard...Wow!!!

You are certainly the man to ask on how to fix a car for the man who owns one!!!

Thursday 21st May saw the car jacked up - both front wheels off the ground then both wheels removed and both brake drums removed. Everything checked out okay we could not see anything wrong - drums and
wheels were put back and very minor adjustments made with the spoon tool. We then took her out on the road but testing showed no improvement and the pull to the right we agreed was dangerous. We returned to the garage and stripped everything down again but noticed that our severe braking had revealed wear on the top of the Primary (leading) shoe lining about 1.5" down across the width of the shoe - looking under the Secondary (trailing) shoe the bottom edge of that one was similarly worn - the wear was such that you could tell that only those two areas had in fact been touching the drum - obviously inadequate and making the braking and steering unsafe. So as it stands I can't use the car. Page 16-17 of the Service Manual (Section VI) CHASSIS mentions correct positioning of the anchor pin Cam being essential and if unsatisfactory results are encountered I.E correction of the fault is not obtained by minor brake adjustments then the anchor pin position should be changed - as anyone ever done this and if so how difficult is it to carry out ?

Best regards Michael