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A Club member contacted me with a technical question about his '55 Coronado. He is a former DeSoto and Chrysler dealer and has had his '55 Coronado completely restored and road ready for the show circuit. His '55 has manual brakes as original. He claims to have had the brakes properly adjusted by an "old timer" familiar with the correct process. However, he is not satisfied with the braking performance. He asked me if I knew where to obtain an aftermarket brake booster. I've never seen one on eBay but then I'm not looking for something like that. Of course, adding the original Kelsey-Hayes power booster is an option but not without it's own set of problems.
I've got manual brakes on my '55 Firedome and am satisfied with their performance. I keep them adjusted and use silicone brake fluid. The DeSoto doesn't stop like my '06 Volvo with four wheel discs, but I drive it differently and don't expect the DeSoto to stop on a dime.
Of course, adding a dual master cylinder from a later model MoPar and/or adding disc brake conversion is an option. The Coronado owner doesn't want to go with such modifications. Any suggestions or thoughts about improving the '55's braking performance?
Mark
Mark,
My 55 Coronado also has manual brakes and the braking performance is weak by today's standards even with what I think are properly adjusted brakes, new shoes, rebuilt master and wheel cylinders, and silicone fluid. I too drive it with this in mind.
I am of the opinion that power brakes will not stop a car quicker than manual brakes. It just allows the car to stop with less pedal exertion. You do have to exert a lot of pressure on the pedal to come to a relatively fast stop. I do not know if I could exert enough pressure on these brakes to make the car come to a sliding stop. DeSoto redesigned the brakes on the 56 models and went with what was called a center plane brake. Don't know if these were better or not.
I would like to compare my braking performance with yours some day. I ordered a rebuilt master cylinder for mine several years ago and received one which had a smaller i.d. bore with a smaller diameter plunger than the one which came off the car. I have wondered if this has affected the braking performance.
Is the questioner a member of the club? Would he be willing to share the data on his car with Jessica for her Coronado data base?
Mac
I've got a '55 Firedome with the power brakes; totally satisfactory braking. The only down-side to the '55 power brakes is the scarcity of parts but there is nothing wrong with the design. I also have a '56 and my opinion is that the '55 brakes are better than the center plane brakes, which seem to be very susceptible to contamination. If the '56 sits for any length of time and a little rust forms in the drums, next time you hit the brakes, instant lock-up!
Have a nice day
Steve
