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

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

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

 

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

Hoosier, you rock!  Great idea!

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

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"

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

The car shouldnt be driven on the street until the brakes are fixed.

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

Thanks guys for the encouragement.  I put in the t-stat that the guy at NAPA gave me for a 56 Customline, I believe it was a 180 opening temp.  I didn't ask for anything special about widemouth or anything.  I'll have to open her up again and see what is going on.  My temp gauge goes all the way to the end of the white line/arc (not all the way to the H) and then maintains that temp.

Dan, yes thanks for pointing out the often overlooked simplests solution...I will eagerly go back to check this weekend, but I put in 3-5 gallons and haven't run the car that much and the gauge seems to be working, but like you said...maybe the gauge isn't really working. (keep fingers crossed...I know how to fix it if she's out of gas!)

I am also eager to see if she starts up now that she's cooled all the way down.  I would much prefer a heat issue over something clogged in my carb passages.  But I'm doubtful as she was all warmed up and had been sitting at that temp for qutie a few minutes before I started driving (I wanted to be sure it held the temp before I went out in the street), you'd think a heat problem would've shown up idling in the garage.

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Nate - congrats on your first trip around the block. Nothing like a vintage car, and a Y block powered one at that! You will get there. I drove my 55 Fairlane with a 272 EVERY DAY in the early 90's when I was 16. Even in the snow! (yep, everybody is groaning right here). They are fine, powerful cars once tuned and in working order. Remember, this car has been sitting quite a while...just needs some TLC.

First things first -- SAFETY. Make sure those brakes are working right. If you can't get to every wheel, then by all means make sure that your front wheels have good working brakes. But, don't forget that the original master cylinder only had one line going out to all wheels...so if you have a leak at the rear, essentially you are affecting the operation at all wheels. Make sure there are no leaks, and adjust those shoes properly.

On the fuel issue (good point on using the starting fluid to see what you would get for combustion), is there any chance that you may have run out of fuel? Don't know how much you put in initially, but odds are after you put in that new tank you didn't fill it up with 17 gallons, right? How much have you been at idle, tuning the car, turning over the engine and pumping fuel, etc? I don't mean to sound stupid,,,, but this very thing happened to me one time. I thought it was a fuel pump, etc., but on a whim I went underneath the car and tapped the tank with a hammer...EMPTY! Arggghhhhh! My fuel gauge was way off...

just a thought before you go checking everything else out.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com