Which spring holds the front shoe on the front brakes? The one with the metal cup or the one that's got a tighter coil at the bottom? I'm not the ones who removed them, so I don't know, and while I took photos, everything is too rusty to tell.

Also, the shoes were rusted to the drum on one side. I used a paint stripping pad to remove most of the rust, but there are a couple of stubborn chunks. Any thoughts on how to remove it without having the drums turned?

 

The metal cup is the pivot for the self adjuster arm, which is on the BACK shoe. Without it, the self adjuster arm will not pivot properly. The constant diameter spring goes in this cup.

The spring with the reduced diameter coil goes on the FRONT shoe. I strongly suggest you look at a photo of the correctly assembled brakes. You don't want to get this wrong.

 

That looks like the back brake. My front brakes just had a screw and nothing else.

 

That is a front brake, see the spindle in the center. I guess your saying you missing the adjusters.

 

I mean that has the same layout as the back brakes in my car. The front are completely different.

 

If thats yours, your missing all of the self adjuster parts. Also those shoes are adjusted extremely out, I wonder if your drums need replaced.

 

Let's try this again. That photo is what your front brakes SHOULD look like. Those are A-body front drum brakes and they are exactly the same from 1964 to 1972. If yours don't look like this, parts are missing and you need to correct that.

Your brakes, your life, but I'd want to be sure I knew what the heck I was doing here.

 

For the future reference of anyone who finds this with a similar problem, I used a regular brake parts kit supplied by a parts house for the front, but had to cut and bend the hook to fit. I used this diagram.

 

And here are the finished results.

 

I'm afraid I still don't understand your problem. In 45 years of working on these cars, I've never had to alter a brake spring from a kit.

 

The rod for the adjusting lever is wrong. It does not connect like that to the anchor point were the white spring is located. The white spring does not connect to the anchor point on the right side like that. This something you DO NOT want to get wrong. People could get hurt or die! Plus if something horrible happened, the authorities would do a mechanical inspection on the vehicle. If they see something like this DIY brake job done wrong, you may be in for some BIG trouble. Please be VERY , VERY careful for everyone's sake

Mike

 

Sorry, I meant I modified the hook on the rod, not the spring.

The white spring is where the original spring was. There is no pin to anchor the hook on the rod to. I assembled it according to that diagram I posted, which is from a 1964 Oldsmobile factory assembly manual. Perhaps someone replaced parts in the front end with those of an older car. Someone else owned the car for 35 years before me, and I have no idea what they did to it.

 

If you compare Joe's picture to your diagram they are not the same. Perhaps the shoes are wrong or you have the drum brake diagram from a B body car. Not sure which. I would listen to Joe, he is very knowledgeable. Good luck with your car.
Regards
Mike

 

Actually, I've seen the front drum brakes on Cutlass cars done both ways - with the spring and self adjuster link both hooked over the single center post and with the "spreader" plate that the OP has. I'm guessing that the "hook" that you modified is the link that operates the self adjuster arm (the blue hook in this photo). Is that correct?



The length of the rigid link that operates the self adjuster arm is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Why did you have to modify the one you have? Did you replace it? If so, the replacement is for a different application and should not have been cut and bent. The problem is that small changes in the length of this link will affect how the self adjusters work and how tight the brakes get as you drive. You may find that the brakes don't self adjust (causing excessive pedal travel or low brake force) or that they over adjust and overheat or even lock up. You MUST get the correct parts.

 

It didn't have the hook when I bought the car. The photo I posted at the top is exactly how I found the brake. The hook that came in the brake kit was the kind in your photo that loops around the pin and has a place for the white spring to attach. I tried finding a kit with the correct hardware, but came up short. I cut the end of the hook off and bent it so the adjuster was parallel with the screw. Been driving it since July and haven't had any problems (these are old photos).

 

Since the car has been driven since July with no issues. I see nothing that the op did as wrong and there have been others that have adjusted the rod to make the self adjusters work correctly in other threads.

 

Not surprising. I think the long hook is the Chevy configuration, which is always what you'll find in replacement parts. If you have the hook at the right length, you're fine. Nice work.

 

My only advice is to only do one side at a time so you can look at the other side for reference.

 

Always good advice, but that's tough if parts are missing when you pull off the brake drums, as the OP noted.