Anyone interested in relined Aluminum drums?

[70 Cam Guy]

You will likely receive even more responses on HybridZ in the Brakes/Wheels/Suspension forum if you haven't already posted there.

I don't race but I have already have a spare pair of Aluminum drums because of the limited availability

[ZCurves]

I've made contact with a vendor who relines Aluminum drums. He may be interested in doing the Datsun Z drums too. He'd like to know the potential market before making capital expenditures. I'd like to give him as honest an estimate as possible. Responses would be greatly appreciated.

Preston

I would be interested too. But he needs to stay competitive to what is already available. He could contact MSA and BlackDragon to see if they would consider reselling them...

[AnthonyG]

one reason i did a brake swap to rear disc was because i saw the prices of new drums skyrocketing. and adjusting drum brakes is in the top ten annoyances when working on a car. .

if they were cheaper, i would have kept them.

[pwd]

I would be VERY interested to know the process by which he restores lost dimension to the drums. Over-boring and inserting a steel sleeve can create bi-metal corrosion issues down the road, as well as reducing drum strength. If he uses plasma spray, well, that's a whole 'nuther ball game.

According to the owner: The old liner is removed, the aluminum drum trued and checked to factory spec. A new liner is machined to the drum size and pressed/glued/pinned in and the drum machined to factory size. They look like brand new with all the steps they do.

They currently do Pontiac/Buick aluminum drums and get $245 each for them.

They need confidence for a break-even order before feeling comfortable investing in tooling.

Does anyone know how many classic Z's are on the road that might want to stay with aluminum drums?

Would this price be prohibitive?

[Z train]

According to the owner: The old liner is removed, the aluminum drum trued and checked to factory spec. A new liner is machined to the drum size and pressed/glued/pinned in and the drum machined to factory size. They look like brand new with all the steps they do.

They currently do Pontiac/Buick aluminum drums and get $245 each for them.

They need confidence for a break-even order before feeling comfortable investing in tooling.

Does anyone know how many classic Z's are on the road that might want to stay with aluminum drums?

Would this price be prohibitive?

The Pontiac rims you are referring to are really odd ducks.VERY few Pontiacs had those rims.Only full size cars thru '68 got them and they were a special order..I wouldn't use that as a price comparison.

[ajmcforester]

According to the owner: The old liner is removed, the aluminum drum trued and checked to factory spec. A new liner is machined to the drum size and pressed/glued/pinned in and the drum machined to factory size. They look like brand new with all the steps they do.

They currently do Pontiac/Buick aluminum drums and get $245 each for them.

They need confidence for a break-even order before feeling comfortable investing in tooling.

Does anyone know how many classic Z's are on the road that might want to stay with aluminum drums?

Would this price be prohibitive?

Hear is my concerns, they where not lined to begin with, please make sure he knows that we don't want any suprizes if he decides to do this.

Second $245 each is way up there they are selling new for about $200-$250 a set new. I know you can get good money for the Buick drums hotrods have used them to replace the Ford drum. The reason I know this is that is what I'd do with a hotrod.

I think we all would like to stay with aluminum it is a higher performance drum. I hope I didn't smash your idea I just see some problems.

[pwd]

The service has finally arrived! The establishment with whom I've been working has finished the Datsun Z relining process and is now taking orders. Attached are the pictures of my own drums, which I offered up for prototyping, and they look fantastic! He's going to keep them a little while longer for demonstration purposes, so if you live in his neck of the woods, please drop by and take a look at them, then report back what you think.

The final cost for a pair of drums will run $300.00, plus shipping.

Here's the contact information:

Don Booker

at:

J&G Drum Relining

Aluminum Brake Drum Repairs

McHenry, IL.

(815) 276-2578

And here's their web-site: http://www.jgrelining.com/

Don will reline your drums with a turn time of approximately 25 days. Unfortunately, right now he doesn't have any "cores" he could use to develop an exchange pool. He's interested in buying any rebuildable cores we might have for between $15 to $25 each, depending on condition, in order to build up a small supply to help with urgent requests.

When we consider that cast iron drums cost $200 a pair, bumping up to $300 for a pair of high quality, relined, original aluminum drums really isn't that bad, considering you will still have many turnings to go before they need relining again. Also, many who've bought the cast iron drums find they must get them turned if the factory didn't allow the green castings to fully cure before machining them. They then warp on the boat coming over. That adds another $40-$50 to the $200, so you're almost there by that point.

I want to thank Don for his willingness to help out every Z enthusiast by offering his time and money to develop this process. I wish we could find more suppliers like him.

Preston

[tlorber]

Before he does this you may want to check here.

http://www.datsunparts.com/

They just commissioned to have NEW drums made. I was kind of surprised because I didn't think there would be that much demand, but judging by the comments above, I guess I was wrong [once again].

[conedodger]

Pretty much every ITS racer in the country will thank you for this... They have to remain stock. I want to. Mine are fine for now though...

[pwd]

Before he does this you may want to check here.

http://www.datsunparts.com/

They just commissioned to have NEW drums made. I was kind of surprised because I didn't think there would be that much demand, but judging by the comments above, I guess I was wrong [once again].

With all due respect that's a Roadster place and I couldn't find any mention of a Z drum. I'm pretty sure the drums are different between the Z and Roadster. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if any new manufactured aluminum drums don't come in at twice the price of cast iron. The process for casting aluminum on a steel band and then machining it all on a low production basis can't be cheap, even when done overseas. Thanks for the heads up though.

[ajmcforester]

With all due respect that's a Roadster place and I couldn't find any mention of a Z drum. I'm pretty sure the drums are different between the Z and Roadster. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if any new manufactured aluminum drums don't come in at twice the price of cast iron. The process for casting aluminum on a steel band and then machining it all on a low production basis can't be cheap, even when done overseas. Thanks for the heads up though.

http://www.datsunparts.com/Brakes He is right look at part number 2550, the last one on the page. Quality would be the only question

[pwd]

http://www.datsunparts.com/Brakes He is right look at part number 2550, the last one on the page. Quality would be the only question

Right you are, AJM, sorry I missed that last night. In this economy it'll be interesting to see if this pans out, or if it still comes in at that estimated price. For now, J&G is a "bird in hand" and for $150 each he will deliver an immediate solution.

Side note: I have no financial interest in this venture. I'm just trying to help the Z community, as well as a vendor looking to expand his business. Dan has told me his prices might come down in the future with enough volume and some tweaking of his processes, but for now it appears his prices are pretty competitive with new.