Hi- I'm new to this forum. I'm working on a 1969 Vista Cruiser I purchased in April (after a long search). Looking for some advice on this rear end out of a 1969 Vista Cruiser (Type O 12 bolt, 3.08 gears). I took it out to bring to a shop for new bearings and pinion seal and noticed that I have different style brake drums on either side. The right side looks as I'd expect, but I've never a rear drum like the left hand side. Clearly they are a mismatched set, but is the right drum from a FRONT wheel, or was that another style of drum used for the REAR back in 1969? I've looked at some drums at the local parts stores (NAPA, O'Reilly's) and don't see an exact match for the right side one anywhere.

And the white residue visible is oven cleaner I used while degreasing this mess.

 

The rear drums on a Vista use the same 9.5" x 2.5" shoes as are on the front of every 64-72 A-body. I've personally had to use a front drum on the back of a Vista when I couldn't readily get the correct rear drum. It works fine. Don't lose a lot of sleep over this.

 

That's great to hear! One less thing to track down for now.
​​​​​​Any idea why they even made different front/rear drums then?

 

Front brakes do the majority of the work stopping the car. The front brake drums need to dissipate more heat than the rear drums, so they have more cooling fin surface area than the rear drums.

 

Also keep in mind that the design of the drums varied across the years and the divisions, and aftermarket replacements vary even further. What matters is the size and location of the friction surfaces inside the drum. There's no telling what has taken place over the last half a century. Functionally all 9.5 x 2.5 A/F/X-body drums will work.

 

Can you post some pictures of that Vista?

 

Here you go! This was from the Scottsdale Pavilions cruise-in a few months ago.

 

Cool VC. I saw this at a local store, couldn’t find the shirt though.

 

That shirt would be great! I'll play around and see if I can find a better version of that graphic or mock one up. It'd be easy to have it printed from a print on a demand place.