Classic/Antique Car Repair: Brake Noise, rear brakes, ford mustang

Question
Hi, my front brakes on my 1965 Ford Mustang are making a weird rubbing/metal on metal noise. This happened out of nowhere. It seems as though something in the drum has been offset. The car stops but it takes a while to come to a full stop. I have to push the brake pedal almost completely to the floor. I had adjusted the brakes so that they would be tighter and it helped a little but now its back to the same noise and pushing the pedal amost to the floor. Any suggestions or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Answer
Metal touching metal when you step on the brake pedal is a very serious symptom.  Do not drive the car any further that way.

If you can tell which end of the car the noise is coming from, pull the drums at that end of the car and inspect the brake mechanism.  It is silly for me to guess, but from the fact that the pedal is going to the floor, I think there is a good possiblilty that your self adjuster mechanism is broken or disconnected - and I also think that might be the cause of the noise - the loose parts are getting between the brake shoes and the drum.  This will ruin the drum and/or the lining very quickly, besides making the car unsafe to drive.  No matter what the cause, you should be able to see something wrong visually with a careful inspection.

If you think the noise is coming from the rear of the car, see if it also happens when you stop the car by putting on the parking brake - that will tell you for sure if it is the rear brakes that are involved.

Dick