60' Roadster Brakes

[Mark Brahms]

Hey guys question...My Roadster just out of a 4 year restoration is running and looking great....only concern I have is braking. I believe my drums were re-ligned and new shoes but at this point it simply slows down to a stop... my old 61' I recall stopped and even would lock up when applied hard. do these simply to seat over time? if so how long does that typically take? is it an issue of adjustment? what tricks should we be considering? lastly, which I don't want to do someone had mentioned there was a disc conversion kit that appeared to be drum brakes....is there such a thing? Sorry for the long post, any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Mark

[Martin Benade]

First thing is to make sure none of the wheel cylinders are stuck, and that the fronts are not installed backwards, which is an easy mistake to do. That would make them very weak.

[Doug McDonnell]

Mark they should lock up as you are used to . Something is wrong. If they were relined by Martin at "The Machine Shop " and you remain stumped give him a call for advice.

[David Jones]

Not only can the wheel cylinders be installed wrong, the shoes can also be backward and bad brakes would be exacerbated with all being backwards. Not an unusual fault if one had a mechanic unused to these type of brakes and anyone under the age of 30 could be forgiven for never having worked on drum brakes with twin leading shoes.

[George Hussey]

all good points and as well the shoes should be arched to match the drums so you get a full contact surface

[Mark Brahms]

Thanks to everyone who replied...greatly appreciated!
Mark

[Al Zim]

The front wheel cylinders should be installed so when the wheel cylinders activate they should do so in the direction that the wheel turns when the car is moving forward. In the rear the wheel cylinders can be installed only one way. Regarding the brake shoes being installed backward in theory this should not make a difference since the shoes are symmetrical. I have never done that so I do not know what to tell you. MOST IMPORTANT IS ADJUSTING THE BRAKES. Tighten the adjuster rotating it counter clockwise till the shoe is locked against the drum. Then back the adjuster off 6 or 7 notches (clicks) do this on all 8 adjusters. Your brake pedal will be lower an allow you to easily do heel toe braking and driving. Proper adjustments will get you 100,000 miles of brake life. al zim 2019/03/18

[John Brooks]

And the front rotation is against the adjuster not the wheel cylinder piston. Look at the photos in the book. The last time I saw this was on a fresh restoration with new everything. The brakes worked but were terrible, the restorer had them backwards.

[Harlan Halsey]

+1 on the backward cylinders theory. A friend of mine made that mistake when in a rush to prepare a race car in the 70s. They had to change it over at the track.
BTW I think part of the reason 356 rear brakes have the single double ended cylinder is so that you have leading shoes in reverse.

[George Hussey]

we have seen many many many front wheel cylinders installed backwards! These days as old as the cars are, one never knows how many times the drums have been turned, so without having new inserts installed, one must pay attention to the arc of the shoes, especially to correct brake pull