Brake shoes

The brake shoes were about fifty years old and the stopping power was limited to say the least. I tried 'arcing' the shoes to the drum using sandpaper stuck to the drum and then refitting the brake plate and spinning the wheel against the brake. Chalk marks across on the shoes show when you have fully contact as they will all be rubbed away. I also sanded a good taper on the end inch of the leading shoe to prevent that part contacting too soon and taking pressure off the rest of the shoe. Well...it was 50% better but still no real power after the initial bite. Wheel out and shoes looked glazed so I think the friction material is just too old to do its job.

So I have fitted a set of the later fully floating shoes (LF Harris). These have a flat surface at the pivot end rather than the fixed semi-circular locating profile and were fitted from 1961 apparently giving 25% improvement over fixed shoes. Not tried them out yet as I am waiting for new fully floating rear shoes to arrive.