✅ SOLVED Old Brake Drum? Water Pump? No Idea!

[FreeBirdTim]

Found a couple of old auto parts in the woods today. Here's the first one. Is it a brake drum? Water pump? Guesses?

 

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[lyon46]

pre 1967 VW brake drum

 

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[crtrett]

Brake Drum

Found a couple of old auto parts in the woods today. Here's the first one. Is it a brake drum? Water pump? Guesses?

View attachment 1142036View attachment 1142037

That's a rear brake drum off an old VW.

 

[Ant]

I always thought of myself as being born with the gift of mechanical aptitude. At an early age I was drawn toward mechanics and science. Thank God because I'm not an editor. People that posses this ability can recognize which mechanical principle/s are relevant or related to a particular component. Now anyone can learn to be a mechanic, but that's different than a mechanic that has mechanical aptitude.

The durm that you posted is splined (used in applications that require torque), but on the part/adapter I see a keyway, no splines, it utilizes a shear system to protect the power source. I see more differences but that should be enough to show my point.

 

[Ant]

 

[BosnMate]

I think DCMatt nailed it.

 

[Doubter in MD]

Looks like VW brake drum is the winner!View attachment 1142706

Early VWs had keyed brake drums. This VW brake drum is keyed. I took it right off of an auto parts website.

I'm not sure the found part is a VW brake drum. It doesn't look quite right. But being keyed doesn't rule it out as a brake drum for something.

 

[Ant]

The hit and miss engine flywheel is what I first looked at. But when I come back to this mechanical aptitude it tells me that the majority of flywheels are weighted (they utilize momentum to help transfer power), different than a flexplate. That's how I came to the conclusion that it isn't a flywheel.

 

[Ant]

Well I'll be that does seem to have a keyway, but it doesn't use studs (green), it looks like a greese cap goes here (blue) but there's no machining on the adapter/part in question for a greese cap to fit , so that's poo pooed too, and I notice what looks like an inspection port (red) that isn't on the adapter either.

 

[Hungry Horse]

Its a rear brake drum from a Ford passenger car. Commonly called a wide five pattern. They were used on cars made from 1935-1939. They were used a lot on short track race cars from the fifties, and early sixties.

Hungry Horse

 

[Ant]

I think we can say the part in question isn't new. So if that is case the area that I have pointed out in this picture should have wear (ridges) that is indicative to break shoes.

 

[Ant]

Knowing how deep that area is too would help eliminate the break drum theory.

 

[Doubter in MD]

From jalopyjournal.com

"Here's the other drum I have which is a '37-'39 Wide five rear drum. It's closer to the 1-3/4" that I am used to seeing."






This is a match in my opinion. Thanks for the tip Hungry Horse!

I'd say we can mark this one solved!

 

[flathead_jer]

That key has nothing to do with brakes...the drum is bolted to the wheel, not transferred through the keyway.


Sent from a empty soda can!

That is definitely a rear drum used on '36-'39 Fords with what is known as the wide 5 wheel. Very similar to the older VW design. I own '35 Fords that have wire spoke wheels. '35 was the last year that Ford used wire wheel in US production.

Forgot to mantion that this drum mounts on a tapered axle. The axle nut is torqued to 220 ft lbs. This tapered fit is what takes the rotational load/torque. The key is just there as backup incase the tapered fit becomes loose.

 

[Ant]

Edited:
There is no match because I see splines no a keywsy. Back in the day components like these were similar or the same construction, no matter if it was for turning a fan, pump, or tire, some manufacturing company could have held the patent, or it could be that it was the most efficient method to transfer power at the time (same as today).

Okay now it looks like like there's a spring ring (the baby blue tack, it prevents bolts and nuts from backing off or out), that goes around the part, (the blue tack shows this ring going around what looks like a hex head bolt tacked red). Then I've tacked the 2 main parts green and yellow.

 

[Doubter in MD]

I pulled my images off of google. I didn't see any from the other side but you are welcome to look. I'm good. Hungry Horse nailed it.

 

[Ant]

I don't see a discernable keyway either, but I do see what looks splines, so no match.

 

[cudamark]

Many car companies in the early days used a tapered axle shaft with a keyway type hub to mount the rear brake drum. They didn't have enough power to strip the key until much later when the design was changed to a flange type axle shaft.

 

[Ant]

They use splines not a shear pin keyway.

 

[Ant]

The shear pin keyway was designed to transfer power at the same time protecting expensive component on the power side of the system from being destroyed, splines on the other hand don't give.

If you lock the breaks on a wheel spindle that had that setup the pin would shear and you would be done.

 

[Ant]

Doubter, this is the pic that I meant to post pointing out there's no keyway, it looks like a shadow or mark: