14-02-2019, 05:49 PM
Hi Bob, you asked whether the brakes were Girling or the simple earlier brakes, not a simple answer.....
My Ruby's Chassis number is 247862 and she was first registered July 1st 1936 so she was towards the end of the early Ruby's production line.
The front brakes have what is described as Lozenge shaped back plates and the shoes are different from the normal earlier Ruby brakes with an offset pinion at the top and are steel, see first attached pic.
The brake drums are also not standard.
The rear brakes are of the semi Girling type, see second pic.
I purchased the car some 35 years and started the restoration but family and circumstances took over and the work stopped and so it was only in 2016 I restarted the rebuild, the picture taken are at the start of the 2016 rebuild.
The car when purchased was an empty steel shell on a rolling chassis with everything else in boxes, loads of them, including a vast array of other parts including engines, gear boxes, dynamos, starters etc.
All the internal woodwork was missing, including door frames and rear seat.
The body had been liberally patched together with lots of aluminium sheeting and copious amounts of body filler.
The type of brakes fitted now are the same as when purchased, however I have replaced all the bushes, linings, cams, cables etc. front and rear and have had new expanders machined and case hardened on the Girling brakes.
Both fronts and rear brakes have shims between the linings and the brake shoes and there are "shoes" fitted to the ends of the brake shoes, worn versions of these were in place on the original system, these have all been replaced.
At the time of purchase, I contacted one of the A7 guru's, Jack French and had a long discussion and follow up correspondence with him by post, long before the time of the internet.
He was of the opinion that as my Ruby was at the tail end of the production line Ruby may well have left the factory with this arrangement as parts ran out of the original design they would have used what was available, however I have no proof of that, but Jack French was well respected and as knowledgeable as there was around, and I was not about to argue.
Hope all this makes sense
Cheers Denis S
My Ruby's Chassis number is 247862 and she was first registered July 1st 1936 so she was towards the end of the early Ruby's production line.
The front brakes have what is described as Lozenge shaped back plates and the shoes are different from the normal earlier Ruby brakes with an offset pinion at the top and are steel, see first attached pic.
The brake drums are also not standard.
The rear brakes are of the semi Girling type, see second pic.
I purchased the car some 35 years and started the restoration but family and circumstances took over and the work stopped and so it was only in 2016 I restarted the rebuild, the picture taken are at the start of the 2016 rebuild.
The car when purchased was an empty steel shell on a rolling chassis with everything else in boxes, loads of them, including a vast array of other parts including engines, gear boxes, dynamos, starters etc.
All the internal woodwork was missing, including door frames and rear seat.
The body had been liberally patched together with lots of aluminium sheeting and copious amounts of body filler.
The type of brakes fitted now are the same as when purchased, however I have replaced all the bushes, linings, cams, cables etc. front and rear and have had new expanders machined and case hardened on the Girling brakes.
Both fronts and rear brakes have shims between the linings and the brake shoes and there are "shoes" fitted to the ends of the brake shoes, worn versions of these were in place on the original system, these have all been replaced.
At the time of purchase, I contacted one of the A7 guru's, Jack French and had a long discussion and follow up correspondence with him by post, long before the time of the internet.
He was of the opinion that as my Ruby was at the tail end of the production line Ruby may well have left the factory with this arrangement as parts ran out of the original design they would have used what was available, however I have no proof of that, but Jack French was well respected and as knowledgeable as there was around, and I was not about to argue.
Hope all this makes sense
Cheers Denis S