Brake Job

[Roadster Rich]

I just finished installing Flat Head Ted's floaters. The brakes on my30 Roadster had not been totally redone since a restoration back in 1968! I had followed the "stop on a dime" tutorial two years ago, as stopping was a "planned well ahead of time" event on my car. Unfortunately all I really did was to take out all slack from the pedal to the actuator on the wheel. What a surprise to find that the rollers were put on with pin backwards (cotter pin to the rear), The track was worn with a big "dip" in the track,the upper shafts on each shoe were all scored and did not move freely in the tunnel to the adjuster wedge, and although I had taken slack out of the system up to the wheel, I had to add three pills in one front and two in the other to take slack out of the push rod to the actuator wedge. The job all finished and I can lock up the wheels. I just wonder if I had really done all that correction with the original system, what a difference it would have made. I guess this is a testimonial to Ted's product, but just wondering if they are needed when you do the job right!

 

[TMB]

I recently did a similar overhaul on my brakes. Running through way too many red lights. I followed all the usual and recommended mechanical adjusting/replacing according to Les Andrews book. Got mixed advice about flat heads so went with the simple $20-25 "Floating" front wedge studs from Snyder's. My brakes are absolutely improved and will now lock at 20-25 mph. No more crossing my fingers at intersections.

 

[Tom Endy]

I have installed a number of Flathead's brake modification, on my own car, as well as others. I find them to be an improvement over a well maintained standard system.

One thing I have learned is that on the rear wheels in order get the full floating affect you have to install what ted calls his "pins". These are the parts that ride on the roller track. Instead of a round head rolling, it is an off-set square that slides on the roller track. Each side of the square is off-set by 1\16"., and each wheel pair are a mirror image. It is a trial and error procedure to determine which of the four sides to use, and can be somewhat of an awkward exercise. You do need a centering tool to determine the side you want. The one Bratton sells works well. You also need to have fairly flat roller tracks.

Tom Endy