[unruhjonny]

What should GM#372249 drum brake spring and retainer kits contain?

I just got back from the PDX swap meet, and bought these three boxes of drum brake parts;
The vendor was asking $10/box, but none of the boxes had the same contents;
I got a deal to buy all three thinking that I should at least have one full kit between the three boxes.

The attached image, has the left and middle groups with the same parts, and the right group has less than the other two;
In the foreground are the extras between the three boxes - almost all of which were in one of the boxes.

Can anyone help me to deduce what each box should have contained?



I tried some google searches, but to me, these types of searches are actually offering less useful information since AI has been working in the back ground (you know google searches are awful when you cannot even get a Delco oil filter for your truck);
I saw several listings of bags (some GM, some not) that appeared to have less than this.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out!!

[unruhjonny]

Is there no GM/Delco book which spells out the contents of this package?

Maybe over time the contents changed?

[TXSTARFIRE]

Someone probably robbed some parts from the one kit at some time. The extra parts were probably leftovers that were not used and just put with the kits since they are also brake parts.

['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

Is there no GM/Delco book which spells out the contents of this package?

Maybe over time the contents changed?

That part number first shows up in my late '84 dated GM (full line)Price Schedule. That type book is near 3" thick & basically lists a part number & the Group number & the divisional usage, & the price structure. It is not listed in my '81 dated Pontiac Master Parts book, which is my latest date Master Parts book. All of my other Master Parts books were printed from the late '60's til '73. Plus the near worthless bound '83 dated manual for Pontiac models before 1975

['ol Pinion head]

5.043 is the group number & the part number is called a Pin KIt. This is for rear drum brakes. To figure out if they are of any use,
you will need to measure the lengths of the pins & compare to those from the rear backing plate of your '70 Formula, or any
loaded backing plates from a late 60's 8.2 10 bolt or from a '71-81 8.5 rearend with 9.5" diam rear drums & not with 9.5" diam 2.5" wide drums like used under VistaCruisers.

believe that the brake shoe return springs were offered separately at GM dealer.
What you have most likely was used to assemble rear drum brakes on some kind of 80's GM crusher bait/ '80 + X body, 6000's, J-bodys, even possibly the Chevette clone.

In rebuilding drum brakes, anymore I typ source the spring & pin kits (w small pin springs) & retainers from Inline Tube.. In the shop I have several dozen different styles of loaded A-F-GP GM muscle era
rear drum brake backing plates, & i"ve found its best to purchase the new pins from them (they slide in the wheel cylinders. many originals are pitted). As a matter of practice I only purchase brake hardware
& new fuel lines during Inline Tubes sales (on my credit card), usually have a running list going for when I get a text for the Big Sale text from them.

[unruhjonny]

thank you, thank you, thank you.

your knowledge, and take on this is VERY helpful.

I do post things here in the hopes of being spoon-fed information, but I never expect it.

I really did look for this information before posting, and I have continued trying to figure this out after creating this thread - from that searching, it looks like this kit may have changed over time.

What confuses me is that it's a six digit part number;
To me, the smaller part numbers generally mean that it's an older application;
So I was quite confused when I wasn't showing up in my Firebird MPC that I had referred to;
It was also not in my Acadian/Tempest/Grand Prix MPC...
It was also absent from my recently aqquired May 1973 Pontiac (full sized) Mpc... ??

I did last night find it referenced in my 1977-1981 Pontiac (full line) MPC;
This MPC has an August 1985 print date - which is congruent with what you mentioned about it being a later part number, and not an older part number like I had presupposed.



Unless I've misinterpreted it, this is showing it as having been applicable to Pontiac Acadian/ Pontaic T1000 (aka: a rebadged Chevrolet Chevette);
It also suggests that the #372249 was replaced with kit #18004862 and #18011245;
Because I am reading between the lines, it appears that the 80/81 X-body could also use this kit.

Lets take pause;
I expected that this kit had a myriad of applications;
I expected that this kit was good for both rear drums brakes;
on the merits of three sizes of pins - this suggests that it's a multi-application kit.

I continued looking, and think I hit pay-dirt of sort;
I found a mention of it being applicable to GMT400 trucks, so I grabbed the MPC that I bought for my 1992 half ton truck (curiously it's not a 1988-1992, but instead a specific 1992 catalog)... and looky-looky:



This spells out what the kit was supposed to contain at the time of print (March 1992)
It's somewhat generic - because it doesn't spell out the different types of pins, springs, or cups - but from this, I could deduce from these three boxes, what should have been contained...

And then you added this:

believe that the brake shoe return springs were offered separately at GM dealer.

So the brake shoe springs were added to a box;
ditto the adjuster cup, and (?)green parking brake spring.

So I think this is solved.

I will next try to see if GM later consolidated any of these part numbers to be applicable to the Chev 12-bolt rear end - I really suspect that these will work just fine in any 10 or 12 bolt rear - on the merits of the truck using larger brakes...

['ol Pinion head]

Ck'ed earlier Master Parts books, & two parts history books before posting

For your '70 F-body's 12 bolt, it uses same brake shoes and hardware, similar 9.5 x 2" usage drums, as majority of 71-81 8.5 rears. There are many different styles of original drums with 2 different center hole diameters. Have built waaay too many of these.

The 70 type O & 71-72 8.5 VistaCruiser rears will be an exception with a 9 1/2" diam drum as it is part of a compete rear assembly that uses wider drums. Wider shoes & drums will require longer pins.

[unruhjonny]

this kit has twelve pins;
three different lengths, each with a quantity of four pins.