Topic moved to "Hudson" forum category

Bill,

I dribble oil onto the brake cables of my '35 from time to time, and they have been working well for many years.

Per

Thanks for the reply. My brakes work OK, the car does not pull to either side but it seems to require more pedal pressure than I thought. I think it would be difficult for a light weight person to stop the car. I am hoping to change something that will make it easier to stop. I will try oiling the cables to see if helps.
Thanks again

could be modern lining material was used. Requires "softer" linings designed for mechanical brakes with steel drums.

Fred,
Thanks for that tip. I will check the linings to see if I can determine what the linings are. I would like to replace them if it would help. Again, I can stop the car but I think it would be much safer if did not have to 'stand' on the pedal.
Thanks again,
Bill

Best to use woven linings for mech. brakes; "Green Gripper" semi-metallic woven brake lining from McMaster-Carr. But my experience is for another make and several years ago. Molded linings were a no-no back then~

Richard,
Thanks for the tip. Read warning about Green Gripper that would eat up bake drums ? It did not state how fast it would eat up the drums ? It seems I should use a woven lining vs modern lining so would like to hear recommendations what folks in the club use and where to get it.
Thanks again,

Bill,

These brakes have the usual toothed wheel adjustment, like later drum brakes. However, it is important to get braking action out of the lining along the full length of the shoe, not just near the end where the toothed wheel is. To do this, it is necessary to adjust the anchoring bolt at the other end of the shoes, and then the toothed wheel. It is so long since I have done this that I don't remember the best procedure. My owner's manual gives a description mentioning using a 0.010 feeler gauge.

Perhaps someone else will have detailed information.

My linings are solid, not woven. Before I made this adjustment, my brakes worked well for the first few seconds while stopping the car, and then "faded" (needed a lot of force to continue stopping the car).

Per

Hi Bill
Soft brake linings have a light tan color and hard linings have medium gray color. I bought my Hornet in Las Vegas and drove it over 300 miles home to find out the master cylinder was bone dry. The brake line had rust holes. That is when I learned about Hudsons secondary mechanical brake system. All those 300 miles of desert highways and through Los Angles freeway stop and go traffic to Burbank, I had no problem stopping with only rear mechanical brakes with soft lining. If the car had hard lining with only rear mechanical brakes working it's unlikely I would have made it home safely. With soft lining and proper brake adjustment your car should stop like it should. However , if you grew up driving only cars with power brakes this car will always feel like you have to press the brake pedal hard. I learned to drive in 35 Chevy and 47 Crosley both with mechanical brakes. Then on to hydraulic brakes, which were wonderful then power brakes, even better for the next 50 years then a new learning curve back to the good old days of the forties & fifties handling and nonpower hydraulic brakes when I got my Hornet and learned to press brake pedal harder again. Good luck. Lee