Sup peeps.. Dose anyone know if there is any numbers i can match up between a car and its rear end? I took my 62 special to get the rear brakes done. The shop ordered the parts but the pads where wider then the pads that where already on the car. The mechanic thinks the car is really a 61. He makes a few calls and looks at some paper work and eveything tells us that it is a 62. He says he can still get the pads to work with a tiny mod so im having him do it. Now i can only think that maybe the part supplyer sent the wrong parts, the previous owner used different pads or the whole rear end was swapped out.......................... or maybe i have a 61????? X( Im trying to search for the rear brake info for a 61 special vs 62 special but am coming up short. Any one have any ideas?
Pads or Shoes? I'd be concerned about this "tiny mod" he is doing. If the shoes are too wide, how is he going to narrow them, or make them work? I could be wrong, but shouldn't they be 9.5 x 2.5? Can you get him to measure the old shoes? What is the width of the new shoes?
There are numbers on the passenger side axle tube. Clean it and look carefully about 3 inches from the center section (or anywhere on the tube...). Monzaz should be able to cross it over. Get the correct pads. You don't want to be monkeying around with your brakes! Wagons had bigger brakes in the rear than the sedans. - Bill
I'm no expert on these year Specials, but I think you might have a '61. I looked at the pictures of your car on the other thread you started, and began comparing pictures of other '61s and '62s online, and what I found was that the pictures of '61s had tail lights identical to yours, and all the '62s had squared off edges on the tail lights. I'd say you have the right rearend, but the wrong year car :grin: Try '61 parts, and please, like others have already said, don't fool around with the brakes. They may be the least exciting parts on your car, but they are the most important.
My idea is you have the wrong parts. I looked at Auto Zone and Rock Auto both, They both had listings for 61 and62 Buick Special, and both places said 61 and 62 used the same brake shoe on the rear. Look it up yourself. Good luck, Mike
I thought this post was going somewhere else.....:laugh: BTW my rear end was also swapped out...with a chevy:moonu: Scott
possibilly they got front shoes instead of rear shoes in 64 the rear were like 2 inches wide but the front were 2 1/2 just my 2 cents worth scott
Thanks for the great input guys. @rOckstarr They are shoes. These are drums all around. as for the mod.. the shoes are wider but not to wide to prevent the drum from fitting on properly. The issue was with a small groove for the e brake lever. Ill see if i can get measurements. @12lives Thanks for that info.. ill check out them numbers. I agree 100% about monkeying around with my brakes but they seem to be very sure that these shoes will work. There not that different. These very well could be the wagons shoes! ill mention that when i see them tomorrow. @hilbornnailhead hmmmmm ill have to take some more looks at the 61 & 62 special pics. i know about the squared off edges on the tail lights but those where all on the skylarks and not the specials from my understanding. i wouldnt mind if this was a 61.. tho i would think the dmv and my insurance company would have been able to tell by the vin if it is a 61 and would have corrected me right? @ragtops i did that same search and noticed that the 61s and 62s shared the same shoes too so i am stumped on that. Like it was mentioned before, maybe they are the wagons shoes. @pphile yeah could be..ill look into that too Thanks for all the input guys. Hope it all goes well when i pick it up tomorrow.
Doesn't Barret-Jackson have a VIN decoder on their website? I know somewhere there was one for older cars. Maybe if you can find that, you can put in your VIN and see what year your car really is.
This could very well be. Like I said, I'm no expert on these years, and possibly the pictures I looked at were improperly labeled as Specials and not Skylarks. Although, I do have to question why they would use a different tail light for different models of the same year, as Buick usually uses the same shape, often times though with different chrome/stainless trim. Something to look into either way! Who knows, maybe your Special is more vintage than you thought :TU: As far as DMV and your insurance company catching any mistakes, don't count on it, especially with antique vehicles. The VIN system uses 17 digits now instead of 13, and often times, they can't even look up the old VINs. I actually got screwed over when I first registered my '57 Special a few years back. I went in to the local town office to register; and in Maine, when we register a vehicle (old or new) for the first time, we have to pay an "excise tax" based on the original price of the vehicle. Well, they only had books (literally, books) that went back as far as 1966, so instead they based the tax on what I paid for it (which was a 'bit more than original, to say the least), so I ended up paying a heck of a lot more than I should have. I would have argued the point, but there's no sense arguing with a stick in the mud.
Post the first 6 digits of the VIN and we will tell you the year of the VIN. Back then a letter denotes the model year.
LET ME SAY REAL LOUD, I AM NO EXPERT! BUT. Where do these guys get the idea wagons have different brake shoes? The wagons do not have a specific listing in the parts books which leads me to believe the wagons have the same shoes as the cars, if I am wrong give a link to a listing in a parts book which specifies the wagon brakes are different. And I would like to add this note. I have read numerous times on here and other places that a 65 GS had bigger brakes than a Skylark. Brother I had an all original 65 GS and the brakes were the exact same size as the Skylarks, there was NO difference. Now granted, maybe, from the factory the friction material on the brake shoes may have been different, but that was lost the first time the shoes were replaced, the size is the same. Best luck, Mike
Well i got it from the shop today. Even tho the brakes seem to be doing ok, i dont think ima take this car to those guys again. They called me last night asking me how to start the car. They flooded the carb and didnt know how to deal with it ou: wth! A buddy of mine came over today. We took the carb apart so i could get to know it better. It was fun checking it out, cleaning it and putting it back on. :TU:
They can modify the brakes to work, but cannot start a carbed car? Yeah, I wouldn't go back either. I would also have your buddy check out your newly modified brakes as well. You've got a single master cylinder. If you lose rear brakes due to a leak, the fronts also stop working. I've been there and it is not fun at all. Better safe than sorry.
For a 68: BENDIX Part # RS245 GLOBAL BRAKE SHOE Rear; Except station wagon $17.16 Add to Cart BENDIX Part # RS246 GLOBAL BRAKE SHOE Rear; Station Wagon I'm not an expert on all years, but it is a possibility that should be checked. The designers thought the wagons would carry more weight and gave them more stopping power. Whoa Nelly! -Bill
Great stuff! Thanks, now can I find this listing online somewhere? I would like to research their parts listings on a few things. EDIT, Yes on some years on the wagons I did find different listings for wider shoes on some wagons, I stand corrected. But on other years the wagon does not have a different listing than the cars. I guess you may find some are different and some are the same. On the 61 Special I could not find a wagon listed, on a 67 The Sport Wagons were listed but not the Special wagons, confusing. Thanks, Mike
There are several different listings for the RS246: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&rlz=1R2GGLL_enUS407&q=bendix RS246 Devon
oh no that is not cool Is there a way to keep the fronts working if the rears go out? dual master cylinder? but yeah i wont be taking this car to them any more. The brake shoe part number they used was Bendix R245. I googled the part and it comes up as the front shoes for 61-63 specials and rear shoes for 64-69 specials
