Brake Shoe Relining

[POR68]

On my '62 Coupe, the brake shoe lining is reportedly original and its pretty hard, although the pedal is firm and car stops straight and reasonably well. I have had all the drums off and they are in good condition and well within the required measurements. As I am in Australia and freight cost is a real issue for ordering a full set of new shoes from a US source, I approached a local brake shop that does drum brake relining on classic cars. The assure me that they can reline my existing 'shoes' and radius them to suit the wheel matching drums. The cost is only $50 a wheel and that seems more than reasonable for the job. They would be softer than the rather glazed originals, and that may be a good thing for the drums and the braking.

Any thoughts or experience that can be shared on this process?

[Mike Smith]

If the lining reads Energit 999 on the edge - KEEP them

They will last forever and the best lining material ever used by Porsche - - Yes they are asbestos

On your own admission everything is working fine - Why are you even thinking of changing them ?

Drum Wear? - how many miles a year do you drive ?

[POR68]

Drum wear seems OK Mike. The brakes show very good pedal pressure but are hard and don't have much 'grab'. My reading leads me to believe that the Energit (that name is there but faded) shoes required greater pedal pressure.

The rears are getting a bit thinner, however.

[Mike Smith]

Would be nice if you could find a set of Shoes and have them re-lined

Have an ask around

You can then save the old Energit`s and you will then also have a direct comparison

[POR68]

Good idea Mike. I will see what can be found. In the meantime I will also clean up the existing shoes and drums and all the retainers and adjusters. EDIT: the old front linings clean up well but they are just too thin, well below the 7mm depth recommended. Looks like a reline.

[POR68]

The rears turned out to be in good condition with almost 7mm of lining depth. De-glazed the shoes and cleaned everything off and then checked the rear drums (again). Did some light sanding by hand to get rid of the shine and did some laser measurements to ensure roundness as much as possible. No lifting or scoring evident. Dropped the fronts off to the shop that does relining and chose linings that were a tad on the middling side to match the rears. Will see how that all goes in a week or so, after they have done the radius on the shoes to match them to them front drums.

The original linings were real 'diamonds' - about that hard and polished/glazed to the same degree. On the hardness scale they were up there with the hardest racing linings currently available. Pushing against polished drums they were really only good leg exercise.

[POR68]

All done. New linings were 7.3mm (old front ones were 3.0mm) with adjusters backed right off, initially. Just took the shine off the metal drums and fitted new springs and high temp grease on the plates behind the shoes. Adjusted and then drove and then adjusted all 4 wheels again after checking wheel temps. New front wheel bearings as well. Huge difference in braking performance. Very pleased with reduced pedal pressure and straight effective braking.