Bigger Drum Brakes

Hello everybody. The car is a 68 Coronet. The brakes on my car are rough to say the least. One of the fronts has the bleeder nipple broken off, and they just don't work well anyway.

Now, I'm on a tight budget, and short timeframe for completing a replacement since it is my daily driver.

I'm pretty sure I have 10" drums, not sure on the width. How hard would it be to swap in some 11" drums if I can find them? I even saw that some of the newer cars had 11x3 drums, which should be a decent improvement on the crap I have now.

Anyone know about this, and possibly a good source for the parts? Used is fine, I'll just pick up a hardware kit and shoes. I would think since everyone is going discs they would be cheap and not real hard to find, but I've got 0 junkyards in my area with anything older than 1990.

Thanks!

You would also have to change the backing plate. They are sized for the diameter and width of the shoe/drum

Yeah I figured the backing plate, but what else would I need? Or would in the insides of my 10" drum work on the 11" (with bigger shoes obviously).

You pretty much need it all.About the only thing that might interchamge is hold downs if the shoes are the same width.To convert is pretty easy just get complete setup and bolt on.But it might be cheaper to go the disc swap.There should be drum parts used for sale as many have swapped to the later disc.I hate change but adding discs to my 65 was one of the best things I did.Rocky

Backplate and hubs. New drums don't come with the hubs. Can find used 11x3 drums (with hubs) with some looking. They aren't as cheap as you would think. All the innards (springs, cylinders, nails, adjusters) are readily available from your local parts chain. Obviously the shoes are different, so are the springs and nails.