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Hi;
The disk brakes on these cars are designed and
function quite differently from the Budd brakes on later cars. The full name of
the braking system used on these cars is called The Ausco-Lambert total contact
disk brake, they do not have callipers and rotors they have a system more in
common with a clutch from a manual transmission with frictional material
bonded to a plate which is pushed against the inside surface of the iron
housing to stop the car. One interesting aspect of these is unlike the
modern disk brakes they are self actuating and do not need a
booster.
All too often there is a temptation with some people
to chuck out and replace something slightly unorthodox that they don't
understand rather then investigating more and trying to make it work. I for one
would dig into it to try to get it operational just to find out how it performs,
that's what makes it interesting. Anyone can go out and drive and modern car,
any day, with all of the latest performance and characteristics; not everyone
can go out and drive a surviving piece of 50+ year old technology, especially a
Crown Imperial Limo, so why try to make it like everything else? The
argument of "better to have it on the road" is getting a little old with me;
when you have a car of such limited production I think that it would be better
kept in a museum or restored properly then to hack it up to fit expediency or
some whim.
From what I understand about the brakes on
those cars the only parts that cannot be found are the cast iron housings and
the pressure plates, everything else can be broken down into it's constituent
parts and replaced. The wheel cylinders, according to Kerry Pinkerton, are the
same as those used for the ordinary drum brakes, the springs, bearings, nuts,
and bolts can all be substituted with proprietary items. The pressure plates,
although unobtainable new, can have the friction material replaced
by any shop that rebuilds brake shoes and
clutches.
If I had a car so equipped, and could not make the
system serviceable, then I would convert it over to the drum brake system used
on other Chryslers of that year as the spindles are the
same. When you have a car this old the majority of its parts will have to
be either rebuilt or ordered from mail order outfits like EGGE, most cannot be
found on the shelf at your local NAPA, that's just par for the course. What I
don't understand is why he swapped the engine over from a 331 to a 392, if he
wanted more power then the substitution of a 354 would be more logical as it
almost a bolt in and uses a block of the same deck height. Again I hope that he
kept the original parts around and documented everything that he did so it can
be converted back if need be.
Best Regards
Arran Foster
1954 Imperial Newport
Needing a left side tailight bezel and other trim parts. I
could use a pair off of a lesser Chrysler but that would not be
right.
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