1938 Studebaker President I need brake advice

Fatamus

Member
A friend took his brakes off is 1938 Studebaker President and now they will not go back on..
Is there a trick to getting them back on?
The adjusters are all the way in
 
Are you referring to the brake shoes, or just the drums, or both? If the adjusters are all the way in, there should be no problem if the correct parts are used. If new shoes are used, sometimes they will be a tight fit in the drums, and I have read of ways to overcome that, but memory escapes me at present. When tackling a chore such as this, first thing to do is make yourself a diagram as to where everything goes. Instructions for a vehicle this old are not as plentiful as they once were. If you are unable to overcome the problem, and I doubt if there any old mechanics near you, you may have to contact a Studebaker owners club. Wish I could help more, but perhaps someone with more experience will see this and be able to solve the problem.
 
The primary brake shoe lining is shorter and is installed toward the front of the car. The rear or secondary shoe is installed toward the rear of car. Here's a video of the brake shoe installation. Hal
Untitled URL Link
 
Not a lot of information to go on here, but a couple things come to mind...

Were the wheel cylinders replaced or rebuilt? If not they may be stuck and not retracting. With any drum
brake job, the cylinders must be serviced or they will certainly leak.

Did you compare the old shoes to the new? Were they the same shape, diameter, and width?

If the fit is "real close but the drums won't quite go on" possibly the linings are too thick. May need to
have them arc ground to fit the drums. Good luck finding a shop that can still do that! Sometimes you can
grind away a little of the shoe or shorten the adjuster. But be careful, brakes have to be right or they
will not work properly!
 
If yo have new parts you probably should do a major adjustment where you go after the anchor pins too.
Old Motor's manual cover the procedure.
 
It's always good to snap a picture with your cell phone or only do one side at a time. I suspect you don't have your adjuster in the right place. I made that mistake when I was a young man doing my own brake job. Any way you can post a picture on here for us to see?
 
Thanks for the good ideas everyone. Steve, my friend was at his wits end. I don't know if he fixed it yet but I'm sure he has not got it yet. I went over to his mechanic and looked at it for myself. I found out that the 38 Studebaker President is one of those oddball in-be-tween makes. The breaks were off an aircraft drawing board and was adapted to the car.
The adjusters are two studs that have cam shaped shoulders and are adjusted for each shoe individually. wish I had some pictures.
 
Well I found out that the breaks on a 1938 Studebaker President were off the drawing boards from the military aircraft division of Lockheed Werner and were "organic". I'm not sure, but the way the old boy talked about them being so smooth he may have meant ceramic. Although I have heard of an "organic" material being used for clutches.
 

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