66 rear brakes, any tips for rebuilding?

[1977 Cutly]

Okay, so I've rebuilt a dozen or two drum brakes in my life, and am about to tear into my beloved Olds.

I have 4 sets of new shoes and hardware, and 4 new wheel cylinders. I've also got four new shocks and a new steering stabilizer while I'm at it.

I'm planning on painting the backing plate with high temp paint, does anyone know the proper color of the plate and drum?

Tomorrow night I'm going to start on the back pass side, then the drivers.

I love this car. Its needs more miles on it.

[Doc Hubler]

My 67, and I'm sure 66 Toros as well, had bare steel backing plates. These were never painted at the factory. Neither were the cast iron drums. After having taken everything apart and replaced parts and removing all the rust, I decided to paint mine for better retained look and overall protection from corrosion, so I used Eastwood Detail Gray for the bare steel parts and Eastwood Cast Iron gray for the cast parts -- they look great. There's no need to use high temp paint on those parts. Some people just spray some clear on the parts after cleaning them, but that doesn't really look right either. You could just clean them and leave them bare, as they came from the factory, but they will start to oxidize pretty quickly.

[gmrocket]

Probably moot at this point, but make sure you have decent quality wheel cylinders. I needed one in a hurry for one of the rears on mine and made the mistake of getting a piece of junk from Autozone. THAT part lasted <1 year and I had to do the job all over again.

[1977 Cutly]

Probably moot at this point, but make sure you have decent quality wheel cylinders. I needed one in a hurry for one of the rears on mine and made the mistake of getting a piece of junk from Autozone. THAT part lasted <1 year and I had to do the job all over again.

Parts quality is NEVER a moot point.

I'm pretty sure I bought four Delco cylinders.

[Otto Skorzeny]

Where were they made? Any stamps on the parts or packaging?

Delco doesn't mean made in Ohio anymore. Lots of name brands are made in China. It's to the point now where if you see a part made in Mexico, you're happy.

[gmrocket]

Only moot if you already installed them like I did! LOL...

No idea where my Autozone throw-aways were made but they're gone now. As with anyone else, when you have a good, reputable source for parts, stick with them even if it costs you a bit more moolah. It's amazing to me how the quality of parts have varied and/or slipped so much in the 19 years I've owned my car (and several others along the way).