1965 Corvette 4 Wheel Discs - Replacement Parking Brake Shoe Thickness

[Mike T.]

I'm taking apart the rear suspension of my 65 396 Roadster and discovered the rear parking cable was completely frozen. Most of the parking brake hardware had surface corrosion from a lot of years in the Portland area but the shoe linings themselves appear to be mostly reusable. Found most of the replacement parking brake shoes out there, Powerstop, Raybestos, etc, are bonded, not rivetted, which shouldn't make a difference but I have read some reviews where some folks (mostly product reviews) have had difficulty in getting the rear rotors to fit over the new shoes. The Service Manual listed the shoe lining material to be .175 thick. Anyone have any first hand experience with aftermarket parking brake shoes that were too thick, not allowing the rotor to fit down over them?
Thanks,
Mike T

[Terry M.]

Re: 1965 Corvette 4 Wheel Discs - Replacement Parking Brake Shoe Thickness

Mike,

I don't know about different thicknesses. However, "back in the old days" I know that you could have new brake shoes "re-arched" to match the drums. As the drums are turned, they take on a larger inside diameter. When the new shoes are re-arched, material is removed so that the new brake shoe surface matches the newly cut drum surface. I have not actually seen the process but maybe they can cut down your new shoes to reduce the thickness. Would think this service is still available as there are still plenty of new vehicles with drum brakes. Hope this helps.

Terry

[Mark M.]

Re: 1965 Corvette 4 Wheel Discs - Replacement Parking Brake Shoe Thickness

Mike back in the 1980's I bought a lot brake parts from SSBC one of the pioneering stainless corvette brake companies. A set of parking brake shoes I got for a 65 were made with the shoes to big to install the rotor. I live close to their shop and we compared a shoe out of a barrel from one of their suppliers of shoes to an original to find the supplier had changed the arc. George Jonas was gracious and appreciated finding this somewhat early. Not sure why some sources get this part wrong but lately I have been getting many chassis parts from Bair's corvette supply in Pa. Great source for quality parts and nice folks to deal with. Got a set here from them recently and it fits the original rotor on this current 65 project perfectly.

[Mark M.]

Re: 1965 Corvette 4 Wheel Discs - Replacement Parking Brake Shoe Thickness

Forget to mention Bair's are riveted.

[Mike T.]

Re: 1965 Corvette 4 Wheel Discs - Replacement Parking Brake Shoe Thickness

Terry, I do recall seeing old drum brake shoes re-arced to make them better fit the drums but that was a very long time ago. I think the idea of having to sand/surface brake shoes went away by around the 70's with the now-understood problem with putting asbestos material into the air.
Trying to find an old machine like that would probably be very difficult. The old parking brake shoes I have are still functional, just not must to look at with the surface corrosion on the steel backing. Most folks would just install them onto their Corvettes right out of the box. The only people that might wind up checking the material thickness would be those who are finding it impossible to push the rotor back over them. In the end, a good scrubbing and a wash and I can reuse them. The first pic shows what 'greeted' me when I pulled the rotors off. I found the rear crossover brake cable to be completely frozen in the sheath that runs from frame to trailing arm. I only got a very few miles on it so not sure the parking brakes were possible dragging all the time but suspect they were slightly engaged. The next two pics show what the shoe looks like after wirebrushing and washing.
Thanks,
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[Terry M.]

Re: 1965 Corvette 4 Wheel Discs - Replacement Parking Brake Shoe Thickness

Mike, it looks like you have a way to go before hitting the rivets. Your clean up looks good to me. I would re-use the shoes. I wouldn't think they use asbestos in brakes any more...would still think someone re-arches brake shoes.

[Mike T.]

Re: 1965 Corvette 4 Wheel Discs - Replacement Parking Brake Shoe Thickness

Hey Guys - Thanks for the lead on Bairs, good chance their shoes would fit without having to worry about shaving any thickness off. I've only got the one drivers side trailing arm off so far and even though that pair of parking brake shoes are in serious need of cleaning, I did mic the pad thickness and they are only down maybe .010 or so thou from the factory listed thickness of .175 so if the passenger side shoes look no worse for wear, I think I'll reuse them.
Appreciate the input, thanks.

[Tom D.]

Re: 1965 Corvette 4 Wheel Discs - Replacement Parking Brake Shoe Thickness

Mike: Before you do the other side, Could you please post of picture of the parking brake lever as it sticks out of the back of the disk?
Thanks

[Mike T.]

Re: 1965 Corvette 4 Wheel Discs - Replacement Parking Brake Shoe Thickness

Tom - I do have pics of both sides, looking down at the actuating lever, if that's what you're looking for. This 65 396 Roadster sat for years at a time and the best guess is that the cable corroded to it's sheath while parked so the levers were both being pulled forward. With no slack in the cable I was unable to push the lever forward, releasing that swaged lead ball at the end so...I got out the diagonal cutters.
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[Tom D.]

Re: 1965 Corvette 4 Wheel Discs - Replacement Parking Brake Shoe Thickness

Exactly what I wanted to see. THANKS!