'63 356B T-6 Rebuild

[Phil Planck]

John
Years ago I honed out my original 55 coupe wheel cylinders and bought 3/4" bendix cups. Those held up for 30 years. The honing was laborious as the cast iron ATE is pretty tough. On Foam Car I bought aftermarket cylinders from Stoddard as the originals were much more pitted than the 55 coupe. Can't report on how they hold up yet. I used synthetic fluid (DOT 4, 5?)in the 55, as at that time had too many old vehicles that needed seasonal or so bleeding. I am going to use conventional fluid in Foam Car, as well as the 912. On my XK 120 with cast aluminum wheel cylinders I sent them out to White Post for brass inserts and those held up well also. That was back when they would do just the inserts. I think now they only offer complete rebuild, including inserts.

[John Pierce]

Thanks Phil for the information. My car is missing many of the cylinders and the remaining ones are very pitted. I'm probably going to have to buy new ones. Some of these cost $44, some $53, some $153, and others are over $200 and $300. Just don't know what people are doing now?

[bbspdstr]

I thought it was Phil who learned a few years ago that the Chinese units work well if the original outer slotted parts from the old units (and interface with the ends of the shoes) are used.

I am unaware of more than one Asian or other supplier of repro cylinders, but I have been using up my Ate originals that are savable by honing or other straightforward things like bleeders that can be pipe-threaded into the inlet where the broken original bleeder lived and since those are in themselves self-contained bleeders, another Ate is saved.

Someone else may know if price-shopping is the only difference in repro cylinders, but I'd still use original OEM if I can find them.

"Brakes.....if they can't stop, they shouldn't go."

Also, different brake shoe frames have different thicknesses of the spine/ends and that can make a big difference. I have always heard "don't use the Canadian-made versions." As far as I know, the more stout the metal frame is, the better. Maybe ask whoever is relining your drums.

Have a great holiday weekend,

Bruce

[Phil Planck]

Great memory Bruce

Here are the apparently Chinese cylinders. On the adjustment side I used parts of the old ATE cylinders that had wider slots. On the other end I had to open them up. Complained to Stoddard to no avail. I had a miss mash of shoes so got some from EASY so they all matched. Hopefully not Canadian, eh.





I have saved all the ATEs from PreA and Foam Car. I did use the Chinese on the PreA after running the rebuilt ATEs for about 30 years. Figured on the trip to Santa Fe and with more power with the S90 engine it was time to rebuild or replace.

[John Pierce]

All parts restored. No more rust, metal sanded smooth, and pits filled in prior to paint. I bought new groove pins instead of using the originals. Solid axle boots from Stoddard.



I put Wurth flange sealer on the groove pin and mating surfaces to prevent any seepage.



Pressing the bearing housing on. Bottom is supported with a large cylinder so the bell isn't crushed.



Lining up the pieces so the grooves matched was a lot easier than I thought it would be.



New groove pin pressed in instead of going Neanderthal on it with a hammer!



Ready for installation.

Thanks for following.

[AMP]

Nice job!

[bbspdstr]

Ashley,

You are quite right!

John is as good as any professional in what he does. He can be maybe more methodical as a 'hobbyist' than a pro can be, but I am impressed by the "wanting to do it right" attitude.

Even if I had no other hats to wear (business hats, head of research hat, herder of kittens hat, etc.), I do not know if I would/could have that much focus.

John, I'll assume you'll read this so I'll say it again...."good on ya."

Bruce

[John Pierce]

What are people's thoughts about reusing the bellhousing carrier and tranny mounts? The rubber still looks good after all these years. The reproductions are quite expensive: $231 for the carrier mounts and $238 for the transmission mounts.













Thanks.

[Phil Planck]

John

My front mounts were obviously shot. Oil soaked, separating, ugly, etc. The rears were better but I replaced one. My 3 replacements were old NOS, as I had read that some of the repros don't fit as well. Yours look good to me. But, my experience is a sample size of one.

Phil

[356JAGER]

John,
The old mounts look good to me, dry, not cracked, saggy or rotted from oil soak.
Bond with metal appears nice and tight. Occasionally spraying your rubber bushings, mounts and other rubber components with a good silicone spray ( I prefer Ace Hardware's in house iteration, seems to hold up longer ) is a good
way to protect and preserve them.
Cheers,
Joel

[John Pierce]

Congratulations Justin on the new website!! I'll be updating my build in the next few days.....weeks. Happy Holiday!!

[JTR70]

Thanks again John! Looking forward to them!
Merry Christmas!
Justin

[bbspdstr]

...and a Happy New Site to you, Justin.
Er, I mean Happy New Year..................
I found my way into your site and now I'll find my way around. Do I want darker or lighter. New options. Spellcheck! Wow!

[John Pierce]

Hi Guys,

I've finished the metal work on my 1963 S90 SR coupe after 5.5 years and have begun work on the front suspension. One of the first items is to clean out the old grease from the torsion tubes and from the torsion bars. Both front torsion bars have surface rust at the ends. One bar has a leaf that has come undone at the area of arc welding. The other bar has a leaf that is cracked several centimeters from the end.

I could just leave the one that is undone at the end as the trailing arm will hold it in place, but what are people's recommendations for the other cracked leaf? Weld it together? My worry is that with the surface rust if one leaf is cracked the others may also be at risk of failure. Should I try to find a replacement set? New vs OEM and where?

Thanks for any advice.

John

[Trevor]

Congratulations on finishing the metal work!

[John Pierce]

Thanks Trevor. Here are some pictures of the completed car.