To all who responded - Thanks.
No, I did not mean to imply that I was going to re-use what was there,
just that I am curious to see what shape they are in. All the wheel
cylinders had been replaced back in '99 on this car. The master cylinder
was sent out to a repair facility which advertised in Hemmings and was
re-sleeved with stainless steel at that time. I don't think new master
cylinders are avialable, but I will check. I intend to replace wheel
cylinders if I can find new ones. If not it might be time to send them
off to be re-sleeved too. In any case all the internal parts would have
to be replaced to get good sealing under load. I plan to check with my
local NAPA store or AutoZone or O'Reiley's to see what I can find as new
replacements. If I don't find parts available locally, then it will
probably be Andy Bernbaum or others listed on the club website. NAPA
charged $61.37 plus tax for a set of flex hoses.
I was successful in removing the left rear drum this morning. The
hub/drum puller worked its magic. The drum came off relatively easily.
There was much less struggle that when Jim Payne and I worked on his 61 Le
Baron using a J. C. Whitney hub/drum puller. Not only was there less
struggle, the pressure applying bolt stayed centered on the axle shaft
like it should have. Once I had enough pressure applied I used light taps
of a 3 lb. sledge hammer all the way around the stamped steel portion of
the drum assembly and also near the lug studs and it popped loose. The
large castle nut and washer kept it from flying off. Then some additional
pressure from the bolt on the puller got the drum off after the castle nut
and washer had been removed.
It might be a good idea to take wheel cylinders along when I try to get
parts ordered. Sometimes parts catalogs of vendors show pictures as well
as listing in a table. Here are the Chrysler part numbers that I believe
are correct for the '62 Imperial:
Rear Wheel Cylinders 1857 051, both left and right
Front Wheel Cylinders 1857 055, Front upper left
1857 053, Front lower left
1857 054, Front upper right
1857 052, Front lower right
The left rear wheel cylinder bore shows considerable rust along the bottom
edge toward the extreme travel position of one of the pistons. It looks
bad enough that honing would probably not correct the pitting. I expect
the other wheel cylinders will be in similar condition.
An interesting discovery I made when I got the left rear drum off was that
the rear leading shoe wheel cylinder boot was cooked to the point of being
cracked and brittle. The rear following shoe wheel cylinder boot was not
quite so damaged. The the leading shoe showed almost no wear, but the
following shoe showed considerable wear and some evidence of overheating.
I believe that when Preston Chrysler worked on the car years ago that the
mechanic who serviced it did not know how to properly adjust the rear
following shoes and had them too tight. That is probably why the brakes
smoked badly when I drove it home. At the time I did not have a service
manual for the car and did not bother to check the adjustment of each
wheel myself. I wish I had now. I may have bee enjoying the car for the
last eight years instead of letting it sit and deteriorate.
All rear brake adjusters seem to have adequate resistance to turning. I
don't think the tension on them is bad. I do think it would be best to
have new brake shoe return springs on the car, especially the rear brakes.
After getting the rear brake drums so hot it may have caused the springs
to loose some of their tension.
One of my biggest fears at this point is that both rear drums may have
been warped by the drive home after the dealer worked on it. By the time
I got the car home smoke was pouring out from both rear wheels. The front
brakes continued to enable me to stop OK. I did get some replacement rear
drums from Bob Hoffmeister years ago.
I have a friend who said he would help me make new brake line tubes,
unless one of our vendors listed on the club website has reproductions
available. Has anyone checked for brake lines on the '62 models?
I haven't looked yet, but is there a proportioning valve for front to rear
brake pressure balance? I am guessing that it would have been made of
brass and not too likely to go bad. Ditto for the rear axle "T". I don't
want to crawl around under the car anymore than I have to at this point.
Joseph W. Strickland
1021 Vaughan Lane
Tioga, TX 76271-2937
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