VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1931 Chevrolet brake shoe rivits

I received my 3/16" woven brake shoe material from McMaster-Carr. I have ordered a repair/Service manual but have not received it yet. McMaster-Carr has a lot of brass hollow rivets to choose from. I received a riveting tool from Snyders. The Service manual I'm waiting for will most likely tell me the exact size rivets to use and the sequence procedure to setting up brake adjustment. I was wondering if there is anyone out there that could tell me what exact size brass hollow rivets to purchase? I would like to get started before my service manual gets here. will wait for response. Thanks!

Hopefully a '31 expert will respond to this thread. I expect that the shop manual will not state the actual size of the rivet.

The Master Parts list only shows part numbers for those rivets. They are not listed in the standard parts section so that does not help determine what style and size is needed.

I would also confirm if those were tubular rivets originally. There is a lot of force on a brake lining trying to tear it off the shoe.

The rivit size is determined by the hole in the shoe and thickness of the lining & shoe.

Thanks for your response!

Thanks for your response! I can determine those measurements. I would imagine the rivet has to protrude through the lining and the shoe about 1/8 of an inch.

They are brass tubular rivets don't remember for sure the size. Will need to check in the shop when it warms up a little more. Freezing weather is not normal for this part of Texas. I have bought them from McMaster-Carr and Snyder's Antique Auto Parts in the past. Same size as on Model A Fords. I use the same brake lining tools that they sell as well.

yes, I see there are brass tubular end hollow rivets. I see that these are a solid brass rivets with only the ends are tubular. Thanks again for your input.

I purchased that tool from snyder's . How do I gauge how far to drill making the counter sinking hole? It looks like on the old shoes the countersinking hole is about half way through the 3/16 lining. Do you just drill by eye sight or is there some kind of a made up Gauge? Thank You Chipper

Hello DanPryor,
On a YouTube video, a person relining brakes using 3/16" thick lining (0.1875) and rivets said, use a wood workers Forstner drill bit of the same diameter as the rivet head and drill to the half way point in the material (0.090). This would make a counterbore hole. This person was not concerned about a countersink for the rivet head. You might practice this on a test sample to see if that would be satisfactory or not. If not, maybe a Dremel with a debur bit could get closer to a more precise counter fitment. Don't go by eyesight, use a drill press with a depth stop set to the proper depth. Even with that, it depends on how much down force you apply. That's why some practice tests need be done so that you'll get the hang of doing what you want.

From my Raybestos manual dated 1947.

I have a set of NORS shoes for 30-32 Chevy. They are lined with the old asbestos SOFT wire back (for mechanical brakes). They used 4/4 brass rivets.

thanks for the response!

The counter sink holes are 1/2 the brake lining thickness.

Thank you for the suggestions! I have a drill press and it makes sense to practice first. Thanks Again!

No brake experience here, but I'm sure you want those "countersinks" to be counterBORES, with flat bottoms.
A Forstner bit or end mill will do it, or square off a twist drill and sharpen it across the flutes. Can be bought, of course, a bottoming drill.
WL

I have relined some brake shoes, but I was fortunate to have pre drilled linings and access to an old time drill and press machine made for the purpose.
Real brake shoe rivets have a bit of countersink on the bottom of the head. You can see this in the pages posted above. The drill bit that is made for this purpose, drills and countersinks in one operation.
Brake shoe rivets are identified by two numbers, one for diameter and one for length. I can get some for you if need be.

Mike

The rivets listed on the McMaster-Carr site list a 150 degree seat angle so if following the above instructions that would be the drill angle needed. Having a drill bit with the correct size and angle in one unit would be ideal.

I am having my first experience with installing brake relining. It's on a Cushman scooter, but I think the counterbore of the rivet holes part of my story is applicable to this discussion.

The brake lining material came from the manufacturer with no predrilled holes. I positioned the lining inside the brake drum and drilled the holes the same diameter as the rivet pins, 9/64" (.141"). Yes, for this application, the lining attaches to inside of the drum and not the shoes.

Then comes the question of drilling the counterbore for the rivet heads, which are flat. Since the rivet heads are 5/16" in diameter, I decided to make a counterbore bit out of a 5/16" drill bit. A one-time-use specialty tool.

I put the drill bit in my lathe to spin it and used my dremel to shave down the last 1/4" down to .141". See the first pic below.

Before I used this new counterbore bit on the brake lining, I wanted to make sure I did not drill too far into the lining material, so I glued (JB Weld) a steel washer to act as a stop at the correct depth. I set the cutting depth to 2/3 of the brake lining thickness.

I put the new bit in my portable drill at a slow speed and the counterbore holes drilled very easily. I put a small piece of plywood in my vise as a drilling platform. I did have to clean the lining lint out of the bit in between each hole because the JB Weld prevented the shavings from coming away while drilling.

The photos did not turn out that good, but you get the idea.

It's always fun to made do with what's laying around.

;-) Dean

thankyou! very smart ideas