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I looked at your picture closer and it looks like one shoe was glued on and the other was put on with rivets, I don't know if that makes a dfference. Also looking closer at the picture I saw another brake assay. on the floor, if that is from the other side then it would show that the springs you put on are backwards. But one thing is for sure, it sure does look pretty. Makes me think of the movie the Dirty Dozen there Donald S. says "They sure look pretty but can they fight?".
Hope you see the humor in that.
Also if the springs are in good condition, I would think it wouldn't hurt to reuse them. But that is only my personal opinion.
Wes

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Remember Archie Campbell on Hee Haw. He had that skit where he told a story that went from That's good... No that's bad. That's bad ...not that good.

That's how I feel on these brakes.

I got the replacement "cap" for the adjustment screw from KevinAZ this weekend. That's good, right.

No that's bad; it does not fit the brake shoe that I first tried it on.

Well that's bad, no that good it does fit the second brake shoe that I tried.

In fact, this new cap is the same size of at least 2 of my other caps. I have not tried it next to the one that is already assembled.

It appears that I have one set of brake shoes that none of my remaining adjustments screws fit. That may explain why mine had that stress fracture.

These are the original shoes that came with the car. I was just going to put them on for now as it will be a while before that actually have to stop anything.

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Stewart........when I purchased my 400 years ago......I discovered different shoes on the car. On one set as I recall, some one ground-down (adapted
....that's putting it nicely) part of the shoes and things were a mess inside the drums. Frankly, things were damn unsafe. As I learned from some of the fellows back in the day, I could acquire real original shoes from Minnesota Mike Dulinski. That's what I ended up doing. I've learned since that senior and junior brake shoes are different too as well. When I parted my '55 Patrician (partial donor for the 400) I removed all the brake shoes and other components. Keep me posted if you should need me to pull out those parts again.

(BTW.....summer heat here ate my group 27 battery. Why does an 85 month battery only last 49 months?)

Have not been in the shop for a week. At this point I believe I have 3 sets of brake shoes that are all the same size and one that slightly different as seen above.

I still need to confirm that by pulling that one set back off to check. If I am right I think I will just order new set and see how it compares to the others then go from there.

OK I was right. 1 of the brake shoes is larger then the other 3. The larger one is a Bendix shoe.

This should be easy, but I'm trying to figure this out without costing a furtune.

I think I should buy new shoes for one wheel and see how it compares to the two that I have. If the new one is as large as the Bendix I will just go to NAPA and get some larger adjustment screws.

The text below is from Kanter's site. I'm confused. Are they selling 4 for $78 or 2 for $78.
--------------------------------
Brake Shoes 1951-1956 Packard
300/400/Patrician/Caribbean Senior models

Rear set of 4
06015J

$78.00
per each
--------------------------------
Max's what $150 a set but not sure how many shoes are in set. Sorry of this is basic stuff but it's new to me.

Another brake questions. Yes I am still messing with the rear brakes. Not had a lot of time in the shop lately.

Anyway got a shipment of new rear brakes shoes from Kanter's this week. From what you folks have told me it looks like they shipped me 4 secondary shoes by mistake. They are all the same length. I am assuming nothing has changed with modern shoes so I need to call them tomorrow to make this right.

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I believe James from Kanter mentioned in another post on a spring thread that the old practice of different springs, different lining material or different length primary and secondary shoes have mostly gone by the wayside with the advent of the modern linings. The springs, linings and lengths are pretty much the same whether primary or secondary now.

Stewart, the emergency brake strut spring is on the wrong end.

Stewart,

In your case (application) there should have been 2 different linings length. Stu from our Packard will be in contact with you to get the issue corrected.

Thanks
James

Farming has finally slowed down and now the dog days of summer are here. I bought a second 30" fan for the shop off craigslist. Don't know how much that will help but I am going to try to get back in the shop this week.

Been stocking up on parts so I have enough to keep me busy for a little while. Kanter's corrected the brake shoe error for me and I am ordering some more parts tonight.

Will keep you posted.