My wife says the (non-power) drum brakes on my T-bird are dangerous......and don't work right......and don't stop the car....and so on. But they are fine - and well adjusted too. They are just the same old Ford drum brakes I remember from years gone by. 

They are never going to work like the giant front and rear discs on her Charger.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Nate:

Since you don't really want to take the thermostat out to see if it's backward, just take off the top hose and reach in and feel the thermostat.  You should feel the relatively uncomplicated front of the valve itself, not the spring and associated parts to keep it in place. 

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Hoosier, you rock!  Great idea!

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

On the brakes, sounds like either one brake is working well & the others aren't, or the that one brake cylinder is gummed up or pitted & not releasing. In any case you need to pull the drums & ascertain that the brakes are in usuable condition.. You likely need new wheel cylinders at a minimum..

Paul

Paul and 46Y, thanks for the brake ideas, I realize the brakes are serious and won't drive anymore the way the brakes are.  Someone's commened about "properly adjusting" the brakes and I had a "duh" moment...

I did kind of inspect the brakes, I took the drums off the rear, and I bled the entire system and it seemed to go well.   However, in order to get the drums off I had to really back the shoes off using the start adjuster thingy, I backed front shoes off quite a bit before learning they are incorporated into the hub.

I never did anything after backing-off all of those shoes, I thought it was good that they wheel spun freely with no resistance...I assumed that after stepping on the brake the shoes would go back "into position"...but thinking about it, that is probably not true.  So I need to google "adjusting drum brakes" to see what is involved in setting them back up, I assume I could turn the adjusting start nut until there is slight resistance to turning the wheel by hand or something like that?  But right now I bet the shoes are backed way off the drums, and the one wheel that is grabbing I just happened not to back the shoes off as much.

Someone once told me that when you back up and step on the brakes your brake shoes "self-adjust" is there any truth to that?

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Nate, newer cars have self adjusting brake but not one as "vintage" as yours. You will need to adjust them with the "star thingy" so they are all the same.



Not trying to be harsh, and I'm sure you are a nice guy, but right now I'm kind of glad you live in Wisconsin. Your scaring me.



Be safe...

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

Nate,you definitely need to adjust your brakes.As to how to do it,you'll get a dozen different opinions on the right way.Here's mine.Obviously,raise the wheel off the ground,tighten the star wheel adjuster until you can't turn the wheel and then back off the star wheel 12 notches.That will be right provided all the shoes and drums are in good shape.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO

Master C...I was just headin' to SoCal this weekend!

Just kiddin', you're safe.  Yes I probably deserve a bit of your fear, but to try and earn back some safety points, I did stop the car multiple times in the driveway before heading out to ensure I could stop, and then when I did drive around the block I went very slowly.   With one exception (where I might have gone 25) I stayed below 15 mph, and in first gear, and started slowing down way before I needed to.  I didn't realize the brakes were that bad until the one time I went up to 25 and had to stop a bit more quickly and the one wheel locked up.

The error in my logic happened as follows: When I was messing with the brakes with the drums off I depressed the brake pedal without the drum and saw how much travel the wheel cylinder provided the shoes, I could see that the wheel cylinder could easily still push the shoes out into contact with the drums (and beyond), so I assumed it would be fine since the shoes would still contact the drum.

What I didn't realize is that it isn't simply contact with the drum that matters, but "complete" contact.  I didn't occour to me that by adjusting the adjuster screw I had changed how the shoes would contact the drum, yes the top of the shoe may still reach the drum, but a great deal of the shoe surface area would not since I had changed the lower hinge point.

Yes, might have been a little stupid, but I like to think I was carefully stupid  Still may want to stay out of Madison, WI until I have this car straightened out!

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Give it a shot of this.

Butch "In a world filled with stress it is better to give than to receive"

If you dont have it, what about a fuel filter with clear glas you can look true ? My 55 have stand still for about 20 years, i had to have the carb opened twice after i rebuilded the engine. The second time, the carb was full off dirt (Gasolin animals). The best way i have heard to be done with this is to buy a new gas tank, ore try to clean it. Probably not a bad idea to buy a new one since the old may be rusty. Anyway back to the carb, when it was all cleaned upp the car was running much more clean. But it wont get to long time before the carb is full off dirt again.