Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I am trying a ceramic coating on the outside of my brake drums. It is a gloss black heat dispersant coating. We have used this same coating on the head of a racing motorcycle and found that it is quite effective at cooling the engine. It is so effective that we now do not use it on air cooled barrels as it tends cause the cast iron barrel to not grow enough and can cause the pistons to "nip up" at the recommended clearances. Brad at Performance Coatings in Auburn WA. says that many people have done this on brake drums and report good results.

Since I have not driven my Packard since 1967 I will not really know how much difference it makes but if the cooling rate of hot exhaust pipes is any indication it will help a lot when going down hills in modern traffic.


YMMV,
Rick M
'39 Super 8

Very interesting and worthy of learning more about it and ultimately some first-hand experience before and after.

I'm curious as to why you are concerned about brake cooling. Are you using the car on the race track? I drive my car a lot, including through the quite steep roads through Pennsylvania, and have never had a problem with brake fade due to overheating.

I drive my car a lot, including through the quite steep roads through Pennsylvania, and have never had a problem with brake fade due to overheating.

Well, then you have something rather unpleasant to look forward to experiencing in the future. Brake fade with drum brakes in repetitive hard braking situations is common enough and was so even when these vehicles were new, I suspect that most all who tour extensively in hilly country have experienced it to some degree at one time or another. On Henry Joy V in NJ on a long, steep grade we had a fair number of white knuckles and smoking brake linings both prewar and postwar, despite ample warnings to disengage overdrive before the hill and use a lower gear when descending. Ditto for the PAC National at Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes. If you took driving lessons before automatic transmissions became common you were probably taught "if you need a lower gear to ascend a hill, you need a lower gear to descend it". Still good advice today, perhaps even more so.

I live in the West where what are called mountains in the East are foothills.

The City I live in is quite hilly, comparable to San Francisco where I grew up and last drove my Packard. Our Freeways typically often move at 70 or more.

Since drum brakes can and do fade and driving conditions are not what they were even in the 50's or 60's what with drivers used to modern anti-lock disk brakes will cut in front of you and slow down immediately I want every bit of advantage I can get.

I do not race my cars, and I do remember driving them in the 60's in California so I drive accordingly.

YMMV,
Rick