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58oldsfan · 07-20-2008, 06:34 PM

If I were you, I would find the emergency brake part you need. Your '59 is an awful big car to bring to a stop if you have a failure. I have a '58 with basically the same system. It is a single master cylinder, and if you lose a line or have any other failure, you lose all braking except the emergency brake! If your emergency brake cables are still there, they can be freed up usually with any penetrating oil. Have you checked the other rear brake? If all it's parts are there, you could copy the flat steel bar to replace the missing one. It should also have a small spring on one end of it. The part is called "parking brake strut operating lever" according to my '58 parts book, and the spring is "parking brake strut spring" #s 553738 and 502327. I just bought a full kit from Kanter.com, and it doesn't have these parts. I think you can get a new emergency brake cable from them, but not the strut lever & spring. I'm almost sure these parts were the same up to 1964. I'm going through the whole system on mine and converting to DOT 5 silicone fluid, so I won't have any water/rust problems. The parts you need probably won't be too hard to find with a little looking. I had some problems with the shoes coming loose on the rear of mine. I'm replacing all the springs and retainers, they do get weaker over time. If you brake hard, and the shoes grab a little, things can let go. Good luck!!

07-20-2008, 06:34 PM	#8 (permalink)
58oldsfan Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1	You need the emergency brake!! If I were you, I would find the emergency brake part you need. Your '59 is an awful big car to bring to a stop if you have a failure. I have a '58 with basically the same system. It is a single master cylinder, and if you lose a line or have any other failure, you lose all braking except the emergency brake! If your emergency brake cables are still there, they can be freed up usually with any penetrating oil. Have you checked the other rear brake? If all it's parts are there, you could copy the flat steel bar to replace the missing one. It should also have a small spring on one end of it. The part is called "parking brake strut operating lever" according to my '58 parts book, and the spring is "parking brake strut spring" #s 553738 and 502327. I just bought a full kit from Kanter.com, and it doesn't have these parts. I think you can get a new emergency brake cable from them, but not the strut lever & spring. I'm almost sure these parts were the same up to 1964. I'm going through the whole system on mine and converting to DOT 5 silicone fluid, so I won't have any water/rust problems. The parts you need probably won't be too hard to find with a little looking. I had some problems with the shoes coming loose on the rear of mine. I'm replacing all the springs and retainers, they do get weaker over time. If you brake hard, and the shoes grab a little, things can let go. Good luck!!