This past weekend I began the brake overhaul process on my 65'. I got wheels off and put the car on jack stands and examined my situation. I pulled one drum off very easily, but managed to bend Shannon's nice homemade puller while attempting to get the other drum off. I bought a $20 hub puller from Autozone that did the job like a charm with a bit of work on my part. I don't see the need to invest in a $100 puller at this point if it can tackle what it just did.... I luckily managed to not mushroom my axle, having only read about putting the castle nut back on after the I had pulled both drums.

The previous owner managed to have the wheel cylinder fall into the drum and get stuck at an angle (the brake line was disconnected fine, go figure :) The drum and the components were all rusty on this side (probably from a combination of brake fluid and moisture getting in through the hole that was left when the wheel cylinder fell out). The linings also separated from the shoes, but I have a set of freshly turned drums and shoes from a parts car, so I am in luck. I photographed the good side so I can have a visual of how it all fits back together.

For Valentine's day, I got the not terribly romantic, yet very practical gift in the form of a new single circuit master cylinder (I thought that was pretty cool at least!) I also ordered two new wheel cylinders, stainless lines, and the hardware kit for the drums from IPD (thank you Shayne for helping me out with that!). I am going to tackle it with Shannon's help this weekend.

I figure I should clean up and paint the drums and the backing plates while I'm at it, but don't know what a suitable paint would be. I've read / heard that high gloss engine paint should work, but if there is a better solution I am all ears. I'm thinking I may need a primer, but maybe not?

Also, the brake shoe adjuster on the side with all the rust looks like its in pretty bad shape. Is there much hope of reviving this with just PB Blaster and some high temp grease? I'd really like to take this car for its thrilling maiden voyage to the end of my block this weekend....

I'm still trying to read up about all this in the shop manuals... but there is no substitute for experience.

As usual..... any advice, wisdom , or horror stories are appreciated.

Tyler