F100 Brakes for the Model A

D

dclayton

Junior Member
Has anyone installed the F1 or F100 backing plates on their A?
I was told that the truck drums won't work with Kelsey wire wheels.
If the rear plates won't work, will the front plates work with
39-48 Drums and A spindles using piston ring spacer etc.
or some other combination. Trying to avoid the MT route.

dclayton@nccn.net
 
i have f-1 on my '31 coupe. the bolt hples are off a little. i used a die grinder and opened them up to fit. when i installed the b/plates i used a flat washer on the inside tightend the 4 bolts and then mig welded the washer in place on the b/plates. i run newer wheels.:):):)
 
I just made the conversion of F1 front brakes to my A using a new set of Mel Gross drums. I wanted to retain the "look" of the A brakes but with the Bendix internals. The drums that came with the backing plates, etc., from the salvage yard would not work with the A wire wheels.

My new brakes seem to work well, still fiddling with them to make them meet my expectations. It was a real job and NOT one I would recommend to anybody else to do. IMHO, you would be far better off to go the MT route: everything fits, and ultimately, cheaper! (I know: hard to believe, but you cannot imagine the sum of the cost of all the "little stuff" that you will need to buy or have done to make it work yourself.)
 
Jim. It's MT Car Products. Very nice brake conver$ion kits for early fords. And I agree with Bill. You think you're saving when you are trying to do it yourself, but it comes pretty dang close to the same price. Would have been nice to just have all the pretty, clean, new brake stuff show up in a box and do in in a couple of hours.

http://www.mtcarproducts.com/productsgrid.html
 
I have F-100 front brakes on my modified 29 rdstr. I used V-8 spindles along with a dropped axle. Orig. A wheels won't fit the F-100 drums but I run disk wheels. The inner wheel bearing race must be ground to fit the spindle. I have 40 brakes in the rear. Someone mentioned they used Mel Gross drums. I have a set still in the box & now I'm curious if those will fit so I can use 16 spokes.
 
asapguy said:
..... Someone mentioned they used Mel Gross drums. I have a set still in the box & now I'm curious if those will fit so I can use 16 spokes.
Click to expand...

No, the Mel Gross drums will not fit without some special machining. The only thing that they are that is good is 11" diameter, same as the F1 brakes. (That was one of the nasty things I had to do to make it all work and why i would not recommend anyone do it.)
 
jan bogert said:
i have f-1 on my '31 coupe. the bolt hples are off a little. i used a die grinder and opened them up to fit. when i installed the b/plates i used a flat washer on the inside tightend the 4 bolts and then mig welded the washer in place on the b/plates. i run newer wheels.:):):)
Click to expand...

:eek::eek::eek:

Wow!

:eek::eek::eek:
 
You are going to have to run 40-48 solid wheels with F-1 or F-100 brakes. Wires of any size will not fit. it defiantly is a negative to go to bendix brakes. Maybe someone could design a hub that would support the wires?
 
Wait a second......I just checked out the MT Car Products web page and they have the adapter plates to run wire wheels on newer style drums. I've seen those adapters before but everywhere I found them they wanted $95-100 a set. It claims on the website that they support the center of the wire rims so it should make them compatible with new drums.
 
I suspect they are referring to the thin plates that go between the drum and the wheel and provide the contact point between the wheel and the drum inside the bolt circle. The A drum is shaped to provide this contact point, the later model drums are not and the adapter plate is required.

Here is a rough drawing that shows the general shape of a Model A drum. Note that the Model A wire wheels have a contact point near the hub provided by the raised center section of the drum. Later model drums lack this raised area and Model A wheel need the adapter plate.

The drums from the F1 are essentially flat all the way from the hub to the outer edge and do not allow for the offset between the Model A wire wheel mounting surface and where the inner spoke ring extends .
 

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dclayton said:
Has anyone installed the F1 or F100 backing plates on their A?
I was told that the truck drums won't work with Kelsey wire wheels.
If the rear plates won't work, will the front plates work with
39-48 Drums and A spindles using piston ring spacer etc.
or some other combination. Trying to avoid the MT route.

dclayton@nccn.net
Click to expand...

I have a set. I believe you can run 40 wheels with the F1 backing plates.
 
mrtexas said:
I have a set. I believe you can run 40 wheels with the F1 backing plates.
Click to expand...

Are the 40 wheel spoke wheels? I am unfamiliar with the shape of the 40 wheels The F1 drums that I have are flat from the center to the outside edge whereas the Model A drums are set back at the edge by a little over 1-1/4" to match the offset of the Model A rims.

Also: F1 brakes are 11" where the earlier Ford hydraulics were 12".
 
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