10" Drum brakes on Early A

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Valleyant

Valleyant
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Can I fit 10" drums on my '60 Valiant.....seeing how much better the 10"ers are on the later cars, I would like to add that extra braking power to my '60....is it a simple bolt on?
 
The spindles are different between 9 and 10 inch. Should work if you get the spindles with the 10 inchers.
Not sure about a 60. Oldest I worked on was a 63.
 
As long as you're using A body brakes, it should fit no problem. In the front you'll need the 10" spindles and hoses, in the rear the lines should match up to the new backing plates and cylinders. You *may* need 14" wheels (minimum) to go with the new brakes- I think the 13s will still physically fit, but it doesn't leave much if any room for cooling.
 
You need the '65-72 A-body 10" spindles, backing plates, hoses, hub/drum assy's. bearings, seals, and all the shoes and hardware for 10" brakes. The stock 13" wheels will probably not work over those 10" drums. It's a real tight fit and due to the crude manufacturing of those parts back then, interference is common. The early 13" wheel are the ones with the wide slots between the center hub and other rim. Starting in '65, they remade the 13" rims with a narrow slot. Those will work if you insist on staying with 13" wheels. Now, all that being said, why in the world would you go to that trouble when you could have a much better braking system going to disc brakes? It's about the same amount of work and parts to change, just more expensive. I guess if you can get the 10" brake setup cheap enough and you can do the work yourself, it might be worthwhile. Wouldn't be for me though.....not a big enough upgrade for the work involved.
 
Just for fun.......

How about 11" drums all around?
 
On my 65 273 Valiant, it has 10” brakes front and rear. Also still has its 13” wheels.
 
On my 65 273 Valiant, it has 10” brakes front and rear. Also still has its 13” wheels.
Yup, That's the year they changed the centers in the 13" wheels to ones with the narrow slots. The earlier wide slot centers will interfere with the 10" drums most of the time, and won't seat flat against the drum without bending something, or grinding extra clearance. Sometimes even that doesn't work.
 
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