Brake Drum Supplier?

[mge825y]

Has anyone found a source for front brake drums for a '63 LCC other than Mark II Enterprises?

[Lee]

Lincoln Land, $245, special order.
https://lincolnlandinc.com/product-cate ... /drums-dr/
Is there something wrong with the Mark II drums, or is it just Mark II?

[Dan Szwarc]

If they are available at all, one should be grateful.

[mge825y]

Lincoln Land, $245, special order.
https://lincolnlandinc.com/product-cate ... /drums-dr/
Is there something wrong with the Mark II drums, or is it just Mark II?

I bought a set of cast iron drums last summer from Mark II for the front. I've had them checked by two shops and they are terribly out-of-round. I'm pretty sure that Mark II is the source for the drums that LL sells.

So, I am just wondering if there is another source out there from a different manufacturer.

[frasern]

For the record, '63, and all convertibles, use aluminum front drums, balanced with the hub. Repops are not.
Mark; If you can't turn the old ones, and want steel, I have 2 sets of '62 sedan hubs/drums you can have for shipping cost. But that will be substantial, shippers are greedy.

[frasern]

Missed that latest, but your Lincoln is heavy! the drums may be warping due to the weight, combined with the ambient temps you drive in. Buick came out with those aluminum drums in the late 50s, they really made a big difference, if you read any period reviews.

[mge825y]

Missed that latest, but your Lincoln is heavy! the drums may be warping due to the weight, combined with the ambient temps you drive in. Buick came out with those aluminum drums in the late 50s, they really made a big difference, if you read any period reviews.

Thanks Fraser - The shop is still diddling with the cast iron ones and did mention that they even though they are new, that they show signs of warping.

I have the original aluminum ones and have considered having them re-lined at J G Brake Drum Relining & Refurbishing at 212 N Green St, McHenry, IL 60050.

[Lee]

Mark, I like that idea. I’ve never had it done, but do make sure that the new liners are cast iron, and not steel. There’s a big difference in the stopping friction. I know, because I ran my Model A many years on the original pressed steel drums, and then somebody started reproducing them in cast iron, and the difference was night and day.

Your shop “may” be having trouble getting the new drum lugs swaged correctly onto the old hubs. It takes a big honkin’ press and a lot of patience. And it may have to be redone. Ask me how I know…

[TonyC]

Dittos on that. I still remember the big gaffe I made with the lug studs when I replaced the brake rotors on Frankenstein last year; and mine are disc. Luckily the auto center had a big-enough press to do the job right when I got replacement studs.

---Tony

[Dan Szwarc]

I bought a set of cast iron drums last summer from Mark II for the front. I've had them checked by two shops and they are terribly out-of-round. I'm pretty sure that Mark II is the source for the drums that LL sells.

So, I am just wondering if there is another source out there from a different manufacturer.

Multiple sources for low volume cars such as our Lincolns are as rare as our Lincolns. More than likely, the repos are chinese-made with low quality.
Do your best to make your vendor replace them. Be polite and reasonable.

Only returns will make these chinese companies improve their quality. What they save on building crap will be lost in returns. They don't care about "losing customers" because every day a car gets scrapped there is one less customer. There will never be more customers than there is today.

[Suicidekid63]

Your shop “may” be having trouble getting the new drum lugs swaged correctly onto the old hubs. It takes a big honkin’ press and a lot of patience. And it may have to be redone. Ask me how I know…

I did mine in the garage by "hand". I had to get longer studs when I used deep dish wheels on my 1963 sedan. The stock studs were too short.
I just used a punch and BFH to knock out the old studs and then seated new studs into holes and threaded a nut onto them and used an impact wrench to pull the studs onto the hubs. Then, just remove the nut after the studs press in. Easy peasy.

BTW- if anyone is interested...
stock lugs are 1"x .625 knurl
new ones I used are Dorman 1/2-20x 2.25 .619 knurl
worked perfect since 2013

[Lee]

Steven, thanks for that…I must have been thinking of my Model A. Ford stopped swaging lug studs in 1948, and went to knurls or splines that can [more] easily be pressed or drawn into the hub, so it really isn’t a terribly difficult job after all. I’m sure there’s some mechanic out there that could botch it, though.