@@TheCorvetteBen I ran into a similar problem with a friends '57 Chevy. His set didn't come with primary shoes, it had 4 secondary ones. I used a cut-off wheel and made my own. They tend to lock up easily without the primary shoe.
@@TheCorvetteBen I've ran into this similar situation everytime I need to do a brake job on these Caddies.. my simple fix is just to add a small relief valve on the brake line . It will prevent the rear wheel to lock up and will prevent premature wear on the shoes.. awesome job as usual brother.. after a few years on RUclips it's easy to get away with some good camera angles to skip some odd jobs just to pump out content.. not your case.. I salute you for the awesome attention to quality when you get to hustle around these old gems👍💯
Back in the early 1970's my older brother managed a auto parts store and one day he had me look up the brake shoes for 1971 Caddy and then had me look up shoes for a 1971 Chevy station wagon. Both took the exact same part number but the Caddy's list price was about twice that as the Chevy's. They did then and still do now charge a premium price for the same parts on luxury cars. I've found the same thing on C4 Corvettes where certain parts interchange with those on say a 1988 Impala but are much cheaper than the list price for the Corvette. Sometimes it pays to cross reference something before you buy.
Ben, I’ve been watching your vids a while now and I enjoy them all. Thank you for making this comparison and showing the brake work. I own a pink 54 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special (not all original) and an all original inside and out 64 Sedan Deville in white with a black interior, and I love both cars for their own unique strengths and weaknesses. The 64 drives way better, is smoother, has effortless power and power steering, feels more modern and is sleek and sexy, while the 54 is boss like, feels like a tank is massive, chromed out and feels a lot bigger to drive. Everything feels so solid too. Personally I like 54-56 Cadillacs styling the best out of all Cadillacs ever made. They are tall, easy to get in and out of, are very wide inside, I love the front grill and bumpers the best from 54-56 and the Fleetwood interior is also very massive! Literally the biggest interior with the most space than any Cadillac I’ve ever owned including the 64 which feels a bit more cramped on the inside especially in the rear seat. What’s nice about both cars is that the 331-365-390 and the 429 Cadillac engines are all pretty much the same kind of engine with the larger 429 being bored out larger. That’s why when you pop the hood of both your 56 and the 64, they’re more similarities than they are differences. The 64’s Turbo 400 is superior in smoothness and power handling compared to the old hydramatic. But not too many people know that the 64 Devilles and Fleetwoods had the Turbo 400 and the 62 series models still had the old hydramatic installed. BTW I love your 56! Never sell that beast, these are special cars, back when Cadillac built the highest quality Luxury works of art. I feel that my 64 and 54 quality of materials totally surpass modern luxury car interiors even when it comes to styling and solidarity. Plastics weren’t even really used back then, less components to break and fall apart unlike modern vehicles.
Thanks for the comparison and comments on the 56. I bought a 55 and then, my Cadillac friend said 1956 was nicer. I get it now and my 56 came this week.
That’s awesome, the 54-56 Cads are probably the best of the 50’s Cadillacs IMO. Sure the late 50’s like the 58-59 are iconic, cool, and exciting looking, but they lack the boldness and heavy chrome look of the mid 50’s Cads. Plus you can easily fit like 8 people in a 54-56 60 Special Fleetwood with tons of headroom and legroom to spare. No other Cadillac can come close to the interior room of these cars.
Nice to see more old Caddys on the road.. Always wanted a 63 convertible...Got a 63 coupe, that I tried to buy from this old guy for almost 10 years. It was just sitting in a field..One day out of the blue he died and his kids sold it to me for almost nothing..
And the old man never got to enjoy the car or the money. A shame for him but at least you ended up with it. Most of the time they end up getting scrapped and it is a shame.
Replacing 20 year old tires is a good upgrade, for safety (first & foremost) and also, new tires are just a pleasure to roll with. I hope you can find whitewall tires for the convertible. Both of them must be a blast to drive around in.
I started working at a Caddy dealership in 1969, later when disk brakes came on all the old mechanics wouldn't touch them because "you can't adjust them and harder to work on" hah I said I'll do them all and rode that gravy train until the others caught on, those were the days.
I like both Caddies. The 56 was when I was 2 and the 64 was when I was 10. I remember the 64’s better. Haha. But the 56’s were still common on the road. Thanks for this great repair and comparison.
Great video, glad you posted this about the brake job 👍!! When I saw you yesterday at Bucc-ees and you said it was already gone home to Allen I was still hoping for a drive around the block, was great to see you in person driving the '56 really made my day 👍 thanks for sharing and as always you know "Howdy from Texas "!!
Thanks for the ride along, Ben. I love your 56 (I saw your latest video as well). Have to laugh when I see the prominent rear tailor hitch attachment on the 64. Lol Good stuff!
hey ben, all gm drum brakes have a longer shoe in the back, there is too much distance over the top side between those pads on the shoes. it will rub the drum prematurely and cause uneven wear
I prefer the ‘64 but that’s probably because my parents had one similar when I was 6 or 7yo. Ours was also white but it was a Coupe DeVille. I used to stretch out and sleep on the back seat on long drives. It was more comfortable than my bed!
Dad bought a new 1954 Caddy that he later traded in on a special order 1963 Caddy convertible. Which was White body with red interior and black top. Dad did not like white tops for keeping clean. I was born in 1955 and had the pleasure of both cars. These bring back the memories of that time. Dad had health issues and passed in 1966. I'm pretty sure I found the 63 and was for sale a few years back and did not sell. I'm on the fence about pursuing it. Rather have a 68 Road Runner again.
Ben :P following you for a while now. I used to work on cars and found it easier to work on guitars as I got old lol dig your shit man! your videos are great but believe me I know quality work has to be too! and you've got that working. cheers my young brother! keep on keeping on!
If the customer feels ok with it, I would suggest converting the points to Pertronix right away to prevent issues with startup as well as smooth out the ignition system. :)
My brother and I owned a 57 Cadillac Coup. I loved the car, but by 67 it was out of place on the road. We paid $350. for it. It had 50,000 mi. The body was in good shape. Even the 59 Cadillac were not popular.
What is the purpose of the triangular metal plates on the front brakes? Did you have to drill your new shoes to fit the auto brake adjusters? If not Where do your get your brakes? I have a 65 Fleetwood Brougham 47,000 orig miles. I have only one of those thin plates on the rear shoe and whoever had worked on the car parked since 67 didn't put the one on correctly It didn't make sense so I never serviced them and thus do not drive the car. Thank you for showing this. My issue is a leaking left front wheel cylinder but the thin plate is missing on the adjuster side and the plate seems to have been modified by removing the corner that goes under the retaining spring being attached to the shoe only by the upper return spring. So that one plate didn't seem to have purpose so the car sits and I left it unmolested. I have looked for years online hoping to see one serviced to see what part or parts were missing. The rear brakes needed to have the adjuster hole reamed where the retaining spring goes. I don't like modifications to make things fit. Thanks
Maybe a big difference in the 50s and 60s Caddies - friend had a 66 convertible and that machine would cruise all day at 75 without really pushing it. Try to get to 80 and she struggled. Just guessing, but the 50s era probably not designed for those kind of speeds or at least not all day. Having nearly 100 extra cubes was a big factor probably. Easier to go taller on the gears b/c of gobs of torque maybe?
1964 was the last year of the fins on most Cadillac models, except for the 1965 Fleetwood 75 Limousine. The 1965 Fleetwood 75 Limousine is identical to the 1964 Fleetwood 75 - The only way to tell is the body tags are different and the 1965 hub caps are on the 1965 Fleetwood 75. I don't know why Cadillac didn't incorporate the 1965 body style (no fins) onto their Fleetwood 75 Limousines.
Ah youth. The '56 was very of its' time, a bargelike, unapologetic, gas guzzling Godzilla. Skinny bias ply tires, dry weather brakes, ohv 4bbl (and up to 6) carbretor, vacuum wipers, leather seats, metal dashboards (with an optional top pad), overpowered steering and marshmallow handling. In eight short years they became lower, wider, faster, and more gadgety. But still had skinny bias ply tires, drum (dry weatherer) brakes, a bigger ohv v-8, electric wipers (+), leather seats (with seat belts in front/optional rear) (+) a "padded dash", variable ratio power steering (+) and "better" ride/handling in spite of the final year of the "X-brace" or beware-side-impact-accidents-frame. And yet, I've owned 3 (78/81/88) and have always wanted a 50's/60's Cad. Ok, thanks for listening, heaps 'O kudos to you and best to the family.
I like both caddies. Style wise, I like the 64 a little more because of the longer/lower/wider theme, but yours has more of a ‘presence’. Unfortunately your ‘Patina’ paint has deteriorated to the point it’s handicapping the looks of your car. I think it’s approaching time to do something about it.
@@TheCorvetteBen I am aware a nice paint job is buckets of money. And most certainly not a high priority. (Because family) I am thinking more in the line of preservation. There is actually quite a bit you can do inexpensively with what amounts to affordable over the counter stuff. It won’t be top of the line perfect, but can really preserve the car from further deterioration and even spruce it up quite a bit. I like you Cadillac and it’s worth making some effort to slow the deterioration of the surface metal. Compare the current condition of your surfaces to what it was from photos and videos of just 4 years ago. You will see what I am concerned about. You have spent a lot of time, effort and funding to save this car.
Great Content Ben, Beautiful Rigs Man!! I Have An Original Big Block 427 1968 Corvette Convertible, Had It All My Life, I’d Love To Talk To You About Doing Some Work To It..
![World's Best 1956 Cadillac Series 62 Test Drive! [HD] - Bullet Motorsports Inc](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-jzl-RWAvDA/mqdefault.jpg)
Your brake shoes are on backwards. The primary shoe (the shorter one) always goes on the front side of the brake assemblies.
The brake shoes are identical front and back on this replacement set of shoes. Idk why they made them like that
@@TheCorvetteBen I ran into a similar problem with a friends '57 Chevy. His set didn't come with primary shoes, it had 4 secondary ones. I used a cut-off wheel and made my own. They tend to lock up easily without the primary shoe.
@@TheCorvetteBen From the view I have, 🛠LOOKS - like you got it right.
@@TheCorvetteBen I've ran into this similar situation everytime I need to do a brake job on these Caddies.. my simple fix is just to add a small relief valve on the brake line . It will prevent the rear wheel to lock up and will prevent premature wear on the shoes.. awesome job as usual brother.. after a few years on RUclips it's easy to get away with some good camera angles to skip some odd jobs just to pump out content.. not your case.. I salute you for the awesome attention to quality when you get to hustle around these old gems👍💯
Back in the early 1970's my older brother managed a auto parts store and one day he had me look up the brake shoes for 1971 Caddy and then had me look up shoes for a 1971 Chevy station wagon. Both took the exact same part number but the Caddy's list price was about twice that as the Chevy's. They did then and still do now charge a premium price for the same parts on luxury cars. I've found the same thing on C4 Corvettes where certain parts interchange with those on say a 1988 Impala but are much cheaper than the list price for the Corvette. Sometimes it pays to cross reference something before you buy.
The door handle on a porsche 944 is identical to the one on a vw jetta.
Price difference is about 200 dollars.
Ben, I’ve been watching your vids a while now and I enjoy them all. Thank you for making this comparison and showing the brake work.
I own a pink 54 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special (not all original) and an all original inside and out 64 Sedan Deville in white with a black interior, and I love both cars for their own unique strengths and weaknesses. The 64 drives way better, is smoother, has effortless power and power steering, feels more modern and is sleek and sexy, while the 54 is boss like, feels like a tank is massive, chromed out and feels a lot bigger to drive. Everything feels so solid too.
Personally I like 54-56 Cadillacs styling the best out of all Cadillacs ever made. They are tall, easy to get in and out of, are very wide inside, I love the front grill and bumpers the best from 54-56 and the Fleetwood interior is also very massive! Literally the biggest interior with the most space than any Cadillac I’ve ever owned including the 64 which feels a bit more cramped on the inside especially in the rear seat.
What’s nice about both cars is that the 331-365-390 and the 429 Cadillac engines are all pretty much the same kind of engine with the larger 429 being bored out larger. That’s why when you pop the hood of both your 56 and the 64, they’re more similarities than they are differences. The 64’s Turbo 400 is superior in smoothness and power handling compared to the old hydramatic. But not too many people know that the 64 Devilles and Fleetwoods had the Turbo 400 and the 62 series models still had the old hydramatic installed.
BTW I love your 56! Never sell that beast, these are special cars, back when Cadillac built the highest quality Luxury works of art. I feel that my 64 and 54 quality of materials totally surpass modern luxury car interiors even when it comes to styling and solidarity. Plastics weren’t even really used back then, less components to break and fall apart unlike modern vehicles.
Thanks for the comparison and comments on the 56. I bought a 55 and then, my Cadillac friend said 1956 was nicer. I get it now and my 56 came this week.
That’s awesome, the 54-56 Cads are probably the best of the 50’s Cadillacs IMO.
Sure the late 50’s like the 58-59 are iconic, cool, and exciting looking, but they lack the boldness and heavy chrome look of the mid 50’s Cads.
Plus you can easily fit like 8 people in a 54-56 60 Special Fleetwood with tons of headroom and legroom to spare. No other Cadillac can come close to the interior room of these cars.
Nice to see more old Caddys on the road.. Always wanted a 63 convertible...Got a 63 coupe, that I tried to buy from this old guy for almost 10 years. It was just sitting in a field..One day out of the blue he died and his kids sold it to me for almost nothing..
And the old man never got to enjoy the car or the money. A shame for him but at least you ended up with it. Most of the time they end up getting scrapped and it is a shame.
Two Beautiful Caddy's Ben Thank You for Saving History !!!!
i enjoy watching your video, you leave your face out and just show the cars. I’ve been watching for. years and am a fan
When it's all sorted and spiffed up, the 64 is just going to be gorgeous!
Replacing 20 year old tires is a good upgrade, for safety (first & foremost) and also, new tires are just a pleasure to roll with. I hope you can find whitewall tires for the convertible. Both of them must be a blast to drive around in.
Keep bringing them back to life
Ben your videos used to be longer. They have gotten too short. What you do is very interesting and there is nothing exactly like it on this platform.
People only have a certain attention span. They only watch an average of 7 mins regardless of length
@@TheCorvetteBen 7 minutes is all people can handle???😂🤣 Maybe if they were only born with 7 brain cells. I hate short video's personally.
Taking pictures of the rear brakes like you did is a great tip so you’ll remember how things go back together.
Ben. You would be amazed how much easier the job is with brake spring pliers.
Nice job
I started working at a Caddy dealership in 1969, later when disk brakes came on all the old mechanics wouldn't touch them because "you can't adjust them and harder to work on" hah I said I'll do them all and rode that gravy train until the others caught on, those were the days.
Love this project.
Do yourself a favor and get the tool set for drum brakes, makes it so much easier.
Keep up the great work!
Good to have both of them, and to be able to compare and contrast, to your heart's content 👍🖖🙏🇨🇦
Love that Kennedy for President sticker!
You gotta love these big old Caddies!!! They're the best!
I like both Caddies.
The 56 was when I was 2 and the 64 was when I was 10.
I remember the 64’s better. Haha.
But the 56’s were still common on the road.
Thanks for this great repair and comparison.
Great comparison with your Cad...
Lol, i have a 64' and a 55' cadillac too :) BIG HAPPY!
Great video, glad you posted this about the brake job 👍!! When I saw you yesterday at Bucc-ees and you said it was already gone home to Allen I was still hoping for a drive around the block, was great to see you in person driving the '56 really made my day 👍 thanks for sharing and as always you know "Howdy from Texas "!!
I had a few 60's Caddies in My day, they are floaters fer sure.👍
Thanks for the ride along, Ben. I love your 56 (I saw your latest video as well). Have to laugh when I see the prominent rear tailor hitch attachment on the 64. Lol
Good stuff!
Both are beauties in their own right! 1962 is my favorite in the body style and a 1968 Eldorado without a vinyl top would be a second choice.
2 beautiful carb.thanks john from arizona
This was huge fun, thank you! Great cars. Real cars!
Nice video as always keep it up
I have a 62 sedan I love it.
I learn something new every day. Today it was "dagmars". Never heard it before, and the "why" it was named that even funnier.
I would drive the red one every day.
As a Cadillac driver I approve this.
Mines a red 03 STS
Amazing car, my dad owns a Cadillac DeVille coup
Every time you show the '64, I get an urge to go watch the movie '48hrs' ..............😉 Neat seeing the side by side comparisons. 👍
I would love to have that 64. You're doing a great job, content is excellent.
It’s funny you posted that video, I just did brakes wheel cylinders and brake lines on my 59 Oldsmobile today, it was a bear ,
Great video !
To be honest. I need a little bit more of Noodels and Chopstick. ;) And a little footage of your wife and your son was always nice.
hey ben, all gm drum brakes have a longer shoe in the back, there is too much distance over the top side between those pads on the shoes. it will rub the drum prematurely and cause uneven wear
I prefer the ‘64 but that’s probably because my parents had one similar when I was 6 or 7yo. Ours was also white but it was a Coupe DeVille. I used to stretch out and sleep on the back seat on long drives. It was more comfortable than my bed!
Dad bought a new 1954 Caddy that he later traded in on a special order 1963 Caddy convertible. Which was White body with red interior and black top. Dad did not like white tops for keeping clean. I was born in 1955 and had the pleasure of both cars. These bring back the memories of that time. Dad had health issues and passed in 1966. I'm pretty sure I found the 63 and was for sale a few years back and did not sell. I'm on the fence about pursuing it. Rather have a 68 Road Runner again.
Sounds to me like you have to decide between two nice cars.
Both are cool also both are bigger than the chevy suv lol
Ben :P following you for a while now. I used to work on cars and found it easier to work on guitars as I got old lol dig your shit man! your videos are great but believe me I know quality work has to be too! and you've got that working. cheers my young brother! keep on keeping on!
I now know of Dagmars…and the personality they are named after.
dear ben did you put the longest shoe lining to the back of the car?
1964 DeVille convertible length - 223.5 in.; 1956 Sedan DeVille length - 221.9 in.
Ben the 64 has a 129.5 wheel base the 56 wheel base 129 1/2 difference in wheel base overall length 56 214.9, 64 223.5 inches long
If the customer feels ok with it, I would suggest converting the points to Pertronix right away to prevent issues with startup as well as smooth out the ignition system. :)
Hi ENI had a i969 Devill conv 1970 and a new 1976 conv all were guess witch one got below 6 MPG
That is some big land yacht, . bet it haa a fantastc MPG 🤣 👍👍
Where do I find that bleeder bottle with a check-valve? My bride grows weary of pushing brake pedals for me!
Amazon
My guess is the 64
Those big ole Caddies got about ten gallons to the mile.
My brother and I owned a 57 Cadillac Coup. I loved the car, but by 67 it was out of place on the road. We paid $350. for it. It had 50,000 mi. The body was in good shape. Even the 59 Cadillac were not popular.
That Cadi needs a suspension reset.
What is the purpose of the triangular metal plates on the front brakes? Did you have to drill your new shoes to fit the auto brake adjusters? If not Where do your get your brakes? I have a 65 Fleetwood Brougham 47,000 orig miles. I have only one of those thin plates on the rear shoe and whoever had worked on the car parked since 67 didn't put the one on correctly It didn't make sense so I never serviced them and thus do not drive the car. Thank you for showing this. My issue is a leaking left front wheel cylinder but the thin plate is missing on the adjuster side and the plate seems to have been modified by removing the corner that goes under the retaining spring being attached to the shoe only by the upper return spring. So that one plate didn't seem to have purpose so the car sits and I left it unmolested. I have looked for years online hoping to see one serviced to see what part or parts were missing. The rear brakes needed to have the adjuster hole reamed where the retaining spring goes. I don't like modifications to make things fit. Thanks
1956
I could talk about dagmars whole day long!
I learned a new word: Dagmar. Had to Google it. I would have called it a bumper bullet.
Hi y’all from west Alabama does ac work that car
Maybe a big difference in the 50s and 60s Caddies - friend had a 66 convertible and that machine would cruise all day at 75 without really pushing it. Try to get to 80 and she struggled. Just guessing, but the 50s era probably not designed for those kind of speeds or at least not all day. Having nearly 100 extra cubes was a big factor probably. Easier to go taller on the gears b/c of gobs of torque maybe?
Just ordered me a decal but it’s going on my “drink” cooler if that’s alright. 😬
1964 was the last year of the fins on most Cadillac models, except for the 1965 Fleetwood 75 Limousine. The 1965 Fleetwood 75 Limousine is identical to the 1964 Fleetwood 75 - The only way to tell is the body tags are different and the 1965 hub caps are on the 1965 Fleetwood 75. I don't know why Cadillac didn't incorporate the 1965 body style (no fins) onto their Fleetwood 75 Limousines.
You put your brake shoes on backwards. The short ones go in the front and the long ones go on the back.
Shoes were all the same. Crappy Chinese repops I suppose
Hello how are you? I think the 1964 be longer 👽✌️🖖
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Ah youth. The '56 was very of its' time, a bargelike, unapologetic, gas guzzling Godzilla. Skinny bias ply tires, dry weather brakes, ohv 4bbl (and up to 6) carbretor, vacuum wipers, leather seats, metal dashboards (with an optional top pad), overpowered steering and marshmallow handling. In eight short years they became lower, wider, faster, and more gadgety. But still had skinny bias ply tires, drum (dry weatherer) brakes, a bigger ohv v-8, electric wipers (+), leather seats (with seat belts in front/optional rear) (+) a "padded dash", variable ratio power steering (+) and "better" ride/handling in spite of the final year of the "X-brace" or beware-side-impact-accidents-frame. And yet, I've owned 3 (78/81/88) and have always wanted a 50's/60's Cad. Ok, thanks for listening, heaps 'O kudos to you and best to the family.
I like both caddies. Style wise, I like the 64 a little more because of the longer/lower/wider theme, but yours has more of a ‘presence’. Unfortunately your ‘Patina’ paint has deteriorated to the point it’s handicapping the looks of your car. I think it’s approaching time to do something about it.
Paint will cost $4-$6k. Everyone says paint it since they aren’t the one who is paying for it
@@TheCorvetteBen I am aware a nice paint job is buckets of money. And most certainly not a high priority. (Because family) I am thinking more in the line of preservation. There is actually quite a bit you can do inexpensively with what amounts to affordable over the counter stuff. It won’t be top of the line perfect, but can really preserve the car from further deterioration and even spruce it up quite a bit. I like you Cadillac and it’s worth making some effort to slow the deterioration of the surface metal. Compare the current condition of your surfaces to what it was from photos and videos of just 4 years ago. You will see what I am concerned about. You have spent a lot of time, effort and funding to save this car.
Great Content Ben, Beautiful Rigs Man!! I Have An Original Big Block 427 1968 Corvette Convertible, Had It All My Life, I’d Love To Talk To You About Doing Some Work To It..
I hate drum brakes. That's why I stay away from them. My jeep is all disc anyways
I suppose that Cadillac is longer
Land yachts.
👍🤪
Loved to see when Cadillac was a truly special vehicle, now they are a glorified piece of crap chevy
what's with the tent in the yard??? Got homeless people invading you too?