ventilated drum brakes

[sleepar]

C.H. topping & company out of long beach California for years have performed a service where they drill holes in the friction surface of drums to reduce heat and clear water out of the brakes and perform as good if not better than most factory discs.... I had totally forgotten about this until I began my 10"" to 11" conversion and after searching several forums found this thread about it on for C body's only... I'm going to see what they charge for it but if I remember it was pricy at the time for me ('91) but I was in college then... any ways some others on here may be interested

 

[TekHousE]

Their website if anyone wants it.

http://www.chtopping.com/CustomRod4/index.html

 

[Deleted member 214]

Great concept.

 

[Lazerwolf]

Very interesting. Let us know if it works out.

 

[68GTX440]

I was born and raised in Long Beach and even lived a few blocks from there at one time and have never heard of this place. I even asked dad he never heard of them either, and his second shop was blocks away. Wow.

Looks like it would be well worth looking into.

 

[Photon440]

A great idea. And before that, some racers were drilling their brake shoes to help vent the gasses too.

 

[TekHousE]

I showed this to one of my mechanic mates who is a top machinist, we are going to give this a go..Will do it over winter though. So will report back some time in the future.

 

[SlinktRR]

C.H. topping & company out of long beach California for years have performed a service where they drill holes in the friction surface of drums to reduce heat and clear water out of the brakes and perform as good if not better than most factory discs.... I had totally forgotten about this until I began my 10"" to 11" conversion and after searching several forums found this thread about it on for C body's only... I'm going to see what they charge for it but if I remember it was pricy at the time for me ('91) but I was in college then... any ways some others on here may be interested

I'm partial to my 11 inch "death brakes", I just avoid driving in the rain and keep away from standing water. I am going to send a set of drums to them and see how they perform. Thanks for the info!

 

[sleepar]

I was born and raised in Long Beach and even lived a few blocks from there at one time and have never heard of this place. I even asked dad he never heard of them either, and his second shop was blocks away. Wow.

Looks like it would be well worth looking into.

Thanks for this... I grew up in Maine and heard about it.... where have you been?

 

[Jim Bob The Dancing Bear]

I am cutting and pasting from 67Mopar (Mike) build thread over on ProTouring Mopar.
Here is the link. Page 4 if it doesn't come up automatically.

http://www.protouringmopar.com/show...-Mods-Restoration/page4&highlight=drill+drums

Quote:
The drums are from AutoZone, a standard replacement item...

I used a drill press to drill the drums.
I can't say if you can still buy them ready made, but I know at one time you could... Several race performance shops carried them, but they are/were VERY expensive. Cheaper to buy drums and have them drilled than it was to buy them ready made. You don't need a full machine shop to do this. If you have a large bench top or stand alone drill press you can do it yourself. It's not quite as easy as they make it sound in the link below, but it's not difficult to do either... you just need a couple of very exacting measurements to start, make a jig, and your off. It takes maybe an hour or so to do and your done.

http://www.chtopping.com/CustomRod4/...examples1.html

http://www.chtopping.com/CustomRod4/

 

[sleepar]

That's great once the jig is made you're in business.... I would use new drums and wrapping some springs around the out side will help with dissipating heat like on the factory smooth drums... I would also reline the shoes with 'green grabber' the material they use on big truck drums.... with 'Earls' flexible brake lines and a 15/16 master cylinder bore.... should want to put you through the windshield... I started out with a disc brake conversion gone wrong by a PO and have come up with this as the best brakes... disc or drum....

 

[TekHousE]

I am cutting and pasting from 67Mopar (Mike) build thread over on ProTouring Mopar.
Here is the link. Page 4 if it doesn't come up automatically.

http://www.protouringmopar.com/show...-Mods-Restoration/page4&highlight=drill+drums

Quote:
The drums are from AutoZone, a standard replacement item...

I used a drill press to drill the drums.
I can't say if you can still buy them ready made, but I know at one time you could... Several race performance shops carried them, but they are/were VERY expensive. Cheaper to buy drums and have them drilled than it was to buy them ready made. You don't need a full machine shop to do this. If you have a large bench top or stand alone drill press you can do it yourself. It's not quite as easy as they make it sound in the link below, but it's not difficult to do either... you just need a couple of very exacting measurements to start, make a jig, and your off. It takes maybe an hour or so to do and your done.

http://www.chtopping.com/CustomRod4/...examples1.html

http://www.chtopping.com/CustomRod4/

View attachment 193142View attachment 193141

How did you make sure the drums were still balanced? Did you do that afterwards? And if so, HOW?

 

[sleepar]

There is a way to balance the entire wheel assembly... in the old days you would spin up the wheels and tires on the car with an electric motor with a steel drum and chalk Mark on the tire the ballancer had a strobe light with a magnet on the chassis... similar to a timing light and you would put weights on and keep spinning it up till the strobe verified it was balanced.... a bubble ballancer would be another way with the rim and drum bolted together.... I wouldn't think that the holes evenly placed around the drum would pull it out of ballance any... some would have the tires shaved down evenly to make the perfectly round also... but mostly on 200+ mph salt flat racing would you ever notice a vibration.... you could add calcium to the tires and they will ballance out on there own above 60mph like in big truck tires or in any combination of the above to get to a perfect ballance.... if I were a perfectionist I would have to go through 100's of drums and 1000's of tires to find 4 that -0- out perfectly with little to no weight or holes drilled..... the nut shell on balance

 

[Cranky]

Damn...the cat is out of the bag!! Yes, it helps.

 

[sleepar]

Damn...the cat is out of the bag!! Yes, it helps.

There are other ways to stop a car.... some emergency brakes were on the drive shaft that's another drum that can be used.... some dodge trucks 500 had a hydro-vac system there's power hydraulic brakes.... and I don't see why you couldn't use air like on the big trucks do.... some trains spray a powder to help grab and on and on.... I would be curious if anyone with experience on aircrafts.... and the thought of a wire at the end of the track like used on a carrier as a safety just popped in my head.... somewhere in there is an idea or thought that will save lives time and resources.....

 

[67 Mopar]

I will be using Ceramic brake shoes with the ventilated drums.

 

[sleepar]

the green grabber lining is soft and grips hard... the hard lining lasts longer but doesnt grip as well... the better traction rating the tire has also will help but they dont last as long also... and the softer the tire is just not so underinflated they roll off the bead... there is a perfect ballance to grip the road....

 

[nm9stheham]

I would be curious if anyone with experience on aircrafts....

Small all-metal aircraft like pipers and Cessnas went to discs decades ago.....the stopping power is not all that great...pads are teeny-tiny. The only I think is neat is the brake fluid used became non-hygroscopic a long time back; the systems can sit for a long time and not have any water issues. Big aircraft....? Can't help you there....

Pretty cool on the vented drums.....not a whole lot of metal being removed. I was imagining 1/2" holes like polka dots all around!

 

[sleepar]

ive been thinking about the oil bath band brakes on comercial fishing boats when they dredge.... or on an old time steam shouvel... the oil cools the brakes... the semi truchs that race spray water on them to cool them and they must generate a lot of heat....

why not have a mini jake brake set up like the big trucks have? on an automatic you could apply both bands at the same time with a trick valve body....

 

[66chargerpat]

I've been toying with going with a disc brake set up. I still have 11" up front and 10" in back. I can still lock them up if I have to. Thanks for the heads ups on drilling the drums! Firmfeel has some Carbon Metallic shoes that I may try next. I used Carbon Metallic pads in the pass,two words,,,BAD ***!!! No fade, the harder you push them, the harder they grab! Very easy on drums and disc, almost no wear on metal.