The front axle and brakes on car #37
![]() Front axle with wheels, tires, brakes, and steering gear. |
![]() Rod-operated brakes on 1929 President FH front axle. I'll grind off the small towers that support the bell-cranks. |
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Here is the front axle with the chassis (left). You can also see the 58 lb flywheel, a couple of shock absorbers, the aluminum cylinder head, and the steering gear. Heavy does not begin to describe these parts! Pity the person who had to change a tire in the "good old days". The tire was mounted on a detachable rim that was held to the spoked wheel and its brake drum by a set of small blocks. Even so, the tire and rim weighed an incredible 73 pounds. The wheel and drum assembly weighed 48 lbs, backing plates and shoes came in at 26 lbs, and the axle itself, with tie rods, at 90 lbs. That made 384 lbs (plus the springs) of unsprung weight on the front alone, leading to a poor ride and heavy steering. The President brakes were 15 inches in diameter and had three shoes. The original race cars replaced the brakes with cable-operated 12-inch ones from the lighter Dictator series cars. The Dictator and President brakes used stamped steel drums which went from cylinders to bell-shapes when they got hot. It has been said that the Indy cars had just enough brakes to get them off the trailer. During races at Indianapolis and other oval tracks, the brakes were only used when coming in for a pit stop, so it may not have mattered much - except when another car hit the wall or spun in front of you. Lots of dependable stopping power was not what those mechanical brakes provided. Following the lead of Mike Cleary and his #18 car and August Grasis Sr. and Jr. with their #34 car, I decided to put on hydraulic brakes. Because of the large size of the steering knuckles in front and axle housing in back, 12-inch brakes are needed to provide clearance, as well as replicate the look of the original cars. Buicks used 12-inch brakes from the late 1930s well into the 1970s on the full-size cars like the Invicta, Riviera, and other models. Shoes, wheel cylinders, springs, etc. are all easily and cheaply available for the 1960s cars. I found a set of rear backing plates from a 1961 Invicta sedan and front backing plates from a 1963 Riviera on Ebay. |
![]() Backing plates and aluminum drum from 1963 Buick Riviera next to 1929 Studebaker front axle. |
![]() Adapter plate laser-cut from 3/16-inch steel on front knuckle. Opening was 3"x7". |
![]() The 1928 Studebaker GB-W "sedan" as offered on Ebay. At some point, it had been converted to a flat-bed farm truck but even that had been left to rot. |
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The junkyard was trying to sell the engine for $500 - and it may still be on Ebay - but, I called them and negotiated a deal for the rear axle. It had a 3.31 ratio, a little higher than the original cars, but perhaps better for road driving and vintage racing. Maybe I'll only get to go 115 mph. A freight company picked it up in Ohio and delivered to the loading dock where I work. I brought my trailer and hauled it home. Fortunately, my engine hoist could be maneuvered into position to haul it out of the trailer. I wanted to weigh the axle, engine, and all of the other parts for the car, so I bought four cheap bathroom scales at Walmart. With three of the scales under the ends and the differential, the total came out to 175 lbs.
George Hull, who assists August Grasis with the care and feeding of the #34 car, sent me a number of photos of the rear axle from when he had it stripped for overhauling. The pictures showed some of the subtle modifications needed to adapt hydraulic brakes to the axle. August and George had used Dexter 12" trailer brakes, as used on travel and boat trailers, but found that the linings needed to be a better grade for racing. As with the front axle, the hydraulic wheel cylinder needs access for the bleeder and hose, so a couple of notches have to be cut into the axle flange. To clear the large hex-shaped end, the backing plates and adapters have to have a 5.5" diameter hole, much larger than on modern backing plates. An advantage of using modern backing plates is being able to have parking brakes. This will make it easier to get the car registered to be street-legal some day.
![]() Rear axle housing used on car #34. Note added notches for wheel cylinder bleeder and hydraulic hose. |
![]() George Hull with Studebaker Indy car #34. This car, once owned by Brooks Stevens, has the 1933-style body and modern hydraulic brakes all-around. August Grasis, Jr. drives the car in vintage race events. |
As with the front axle, an adapter plate was laser-cut from 3/16" thick steel. The adapter will be welded to the 1961 Buick Invicta backing plates and the assembly will be mounted on the axle. The axle shafts will need to be cleaned up, perhaps the threads chased. All new bearing cups and cones will be installed - would you believe that Rock Auto stocks at least half of them for $10-$15 each? A little backlash adjustment, a little paint, and the axle will be good for another 80 years.
![]() Rear axle placed under the new race car chassis. |
![]() Rear adapter plate before welding. Laser cutting produced tight tolerances (+/- .003" or better) so that no additional machining was required. |