69 R/T Drums and Adjusters

[bakerhillpins]

All,

Have a 69 R/T with Power Drums all the way around. Looking to do a brake job this spring and working to get all the parts up front. Have lots of questions, many I think I found the answers for and some not so much. Going to dump it all here and see if I can get it all in one place. I will try to update this thread as I move through the process. Please make a note of anything I have incorrect and I can update the original post so that it's correct.  


OEM equipment for a 69 R/T with Power Drums is:
11" x 3" manually adjusted drums in front, 11" x 2.5" manually adjusted drums in the rear.
Utilizing a Midland-Ross power brake booster with a (forget the part #) master cylinder.
Points of interest:

• The lower spring on the manual adjustment lever is apparently difficult to find. This thread talks about an existing NAPA replacement.
• On the manual adjustment systems the adjusters are a different length than those used on the auto adjusters.

So the Front/Rear of an OEM rig would look like the following:


Since kits to replace the manual adjusters are NLA most convert over to the automatic adjusters. There is some debate as to why the OEM configuration was manual for the R/T cars but Ill be dammed if I can decipher from all the opinions out there. Anyone know for sure?

The 69 FSM shows these drawings:


Both of which show the automatic adjusters with a Spring Loaded Cable. Note that the end of the spring loaded cable can be over or under the adjustment lever. Apparently it's doesn't matter.


When sourcing replacement adjuster kits, many of them don't show the Spring Loaded Cable for use in the rear? Does it matter one way or the other?

When replacing the springs is it important to have the springs overlapped in the proper order at the top anchor point? I read that somewhere and can no longer find that thread.

Is there any great need to replace the parking brake lever and spring or just clean it up and reinstall it?

Finally, this thread has a superb collection of photos of a rear drum brake setup!

[bakerhillpins]

 

There is some debate as to why the OEM configuration was manual for the R/T cars but Ill be dammed if I can decipher from all the opinions out there. Anyone know for sure?

When sourcing replacement adjuster kits, many of them don't show the Spring Loaded Cable for use in the rear? Does it matter one way or the other?

When replacing the springs is it important to have the springs overlapped in the proper order at the top anchor point? I read that somewhere and can no longer find that thread.

Is there any great need to replace the parking brake lever and spring or just clean it up and reinstall it?