ABOUT US

We are the manufacturer of the "Original So. Cal. Front Brake" system. Also known in the past as "Fake Brakes", "Functional Fakes", "Buick style disc brakes" and so on.

Just as I was setting up this new venture, and by that I mean the new way of selling my product line in a direct sales way, I was shocked to hear through the vine that there was going to be a new competitor with a brake kit similar in appearance to my product, the "Original So Cal Front Brake". I feel it important to tell you the Consumer, the Future Buyer and Street Rod Builders the true History and Originality of my Southern California (So.Cal.) Company.

Please read on and let me tell you more about my products and most importantly my Company.

First I would like to address the Originality of my product. This system was designed and engineered by Paul Carroll, who has had a working model ("and still has") dating back to 1995 of a disc brake system concealed between an early "Ford T style" backing plate and a finned aluminum "Buick style" cover. His first attempt was to design it to fit around an existing Wilwood Engineering brake kit, which would have made it an easy upgrade to an existing Wilwood brake system. Unfortunately it wasn't going to look right due to the mounting location of the caliper on the Wilwood kit and also the offset of their existing hub. It wasn't going to look as authentic as he wanted it to, his intention was to have the flex brake fluid hose exit the backing plate in a similar location to that of an early Ford wheel cylinder on a drum brake system. Paul then knew he had to start with a blank sheet and design the whole system from scratch but he still wanted to use the proven Wilwood caliper and pads. Their racing background, design, and compact dimensions made it the perfect caliper to work around and also would make it easy and simple for the owner to service and purchase replacement parts if need be. Paul at that time was in his 16 th year with a leading Aerospace and Defense contractor where he held some of the highest certifications in Navy Nuclear tig welding, specializing in titanium and other exotic metals. In the later years with the company, although now in manufacturing engineering, it wasn't unusual for him to be found in the welding department in a white lab coat, shirt and tie qualifying new weld procedures or doing prototype designs, and still continued to tech write all new weld procedures for the company in the Navy Nuclear department.

So with being in the accompaniment of some of the top Navy Nuclear and aerospace engineers, Paul's pet project soon became an every day lunchtime brain storming session. Guidelines and priority had to be set and because of Paul's expertise in welding and manufacturing, his first priority was material control. He wanted all of the components for this new system he was about to manufacture to be "American Made," and that all the aluminum pieces to be produced from virgin ingots with certifications provided by the foundry, otherwise how do you know what you are getting?

Design and functionality were next, and since the whole idea was to come up with a safe, functional and improved way to stop your ride and also offer an alternate to the expose disc brake kits that were the norm back then. He knew there was no way to improve on the look of the Buick style drum, that was a no brainer. Although it would have to be totally re-designed, he and CAD-guru Gary Grant set about and designed the first part of it's kind in full size dimensions and only had to widen what was now just a cover, only a mere half inch. (we still have those old original drawings signed by Gary .) Since Paul was going to be encasing a cast iron rotor between a cover and a backing plate, heat was going to be a major factor, so material, ventilation, and heat dissipation would be of most importance. After all, he wanted to improve the stopping ability over a drum brake system that suffers from what is known as brake fade, which is something that occurs when the drum gets so hot that it actually causes the brake shoes to glaze and lose their ability to be the least bit abrasive.

As I show here in the photos of Paul's first design, he used the kidney bean style on the outer face of the drum cover (like on his prototype) to ensure plenty of airflow around the rotor. That would prove to be unnecessary later on.

Now with all of the critical dimensions taken care of with the drum cover, next would be the backside, the "backing plate/heat sink" yes "heat sink", meaning that there had to be a way to pull heat away from the hot rotor and make sure it would continue to dissipate the heat as the rotor got hotter otherwise there wouldn't be much of an improvement over the "drum brake" glazing problem.

Paul says the suggestion back then was to stamp the backing plate from stainless steel for the bright look and ease of polishing. That suggestion was shot down because of the fact that stainless steel does not dissipate heat very well. Instead, by it's natural composition, it is best known to hold heat, making it one of the reasons it is so popular with frying pan and cookware manufacturers. With a frying pan, a cook wants the pan to heat up fast and stay hot even after the heat has been turned off, not the kind of material you would want next to a hot rotor getting hotter by the second. Think about it, a heat source that continues to heat the caliper and brake fluid even while the vehicle is parked. This too was a no brainer.

NOTE: ( For a more detailed explanation on why and how stainless steel retains heat so well,please refer to an excellent article written by the experts in this field, BURNS Stainless LLC. at www.burnsstainless.com )

To make sure that this wouldn't happen, the backing plate had to be made from aluminum so it could serve double duty as a cosmetic item but most importantly as a "heat sink" to draw that damaging heat away from the rotor and allow it to cool down faster. " That was the big improvement the Buick aluminum drum had over the conventional cast iron brake drum of that era. The aluminum cast around the cast iron liner cooled so much faster, and continued to cool well even when the vehicle was parked."

Even though Paul added an air scope to the backing plate late on when he decided to discontinue the kidney bean style cover the scope would give the system a new way to breathe and also that famous nostalgia look of that era, but the backing plate still served as the major source of heat dissipation, "Heat Sink".

So now with the two most visible and important components designed and proofed, Paul went on to design the rest of the components to complete the system and the rest is Hot Rod history.

Now that I have given you the "Originality" of my product, follow along and let me tell and show you how we manufacture our product and why we are so proud to use key words like "Original" and "American."

Once all the drawings were done back then, Paul then had to secure the capable sources to manufacturer his designs. Since Southern California (So.Cal.) is a major manufacturing area for Defense and Aerospace products, Paul immediately went to his foundry of choice for obvious reasons. First, being that they had been serving the Aerospace and Industry since 1948 and secondly this company, Pacific Cast Products Inc., is employee owned. What could be more "American"! So when he asked for Material Control that was second nature to them since they had an excellent Quality control program in place and could supply certifications of materials used and also heat treating records and charts for the heat treated hubs, which I will get to later.

Next came the process by which these major aluminum components would be produced and Permanent Mold would be the only choice for the drum, backing plate and that important hub.

For those of you not familiar with this process, Permanent Mold in short, is the process of cast iron molds machined to the image of the desired part to be produced. In this case a clamshell style, where two halves come together and lock. With Permanent Mold the aluminum is poured into the pre-heated mold and allowed to solidify with the mold closed, then released from the mold and allowed to cool. This process produces a very stable and dimensionally correct part with great detail and repeatability. This process is totally different to the sand cast method. Permanent Mold is just that, the part/item is molded not cast and since I only specify virgin A-356 aluminum these components polish to a very high,long lasting luster because of it's purity. That too is Material Control!

The hub to my brake system was an important item to Paul, because it plays the important duty of having the rotating brake rotor mounted to it and housing the bearings that allow the whole assembly to rotate. Paul insisted it be produced from A-356 aluminum then heat-treated to the T-6 condition. This process is contracted to Coast Heat Treating Company of Los Angeles , Southern California (So.Cal.) by Pacific Cast Products Inc. At that point of completion, I am provided with certifications of heat treatment by a Quality Control Manager certifying that these parts have been heat-treated and Rockwell tested to the requirements of QQ-A-596 and ASTM B 917/B917M. This to was second nature to Paul because of his history and past in the Defense and Aerospace Industry, again "Material Control."

The Company

I've always had that "American Dream" to one day have my own company. If asked back then what my company would do or make, I never had a confirmed item in mind. I always thought more of how I would run my company. How I would oversee and make sure everything was "checked and double checked" before leaving my sight, you know "the old way."

Well that was a long time ago and I never started that company, but I lived the next 30 years "checking and double checking" whether it be a friendship, my performance on the job, caring for those in life who need extra care or those special home made projects that reflect true sincerity to the recipient, it's been my focus since childhood. I also knew back then that you could only be a Company if you associated yourself with the right people and treat people the way you would want them to treat you. You know "the old way."

So with a " for life " contract with Paul Carroll to be my chief designer and manufacturing consultant, Paul will continue to design all future products produced by Deuce Manufacturing LLC but will not be active in the day by day running of my company. I know from my experiences around him, what his expertise really is, along with his lifelong commitment to this great hobby that consumes so many of us.

At this time along with the "Original So.Cal. Front Brake" and the matching Buick style rear drum covers for 9" Ford brakes with 11" diameter drums and most early Ford hydraulic brake drums, we are also well under way with our new direct replacement Buick brake drum, designed by Paul and to be produced in Permanent Mold. It will be manufactured by Pacific Cast Product Inc. in Southern California (So.Cal.). The new replacement drums will also be manufactured to the same high quality and material controls of my current products. Other items are currently under design and will be featured at later times.

With all this said, Dear Consumer, Future Buyer And Street Rod Builders, before you make that important purchase, take a few minutes and give it some thought. If Originality, Quality, Functionality and "American Made" mean anything to you, along with the "check and double check old way". I am convinced you will make the right choice, and for that I would like to thank you in advance.

Sincerely, Gra Lomonico

Sole Owner of Deuce Manufacturing LLC

A MESSAGE FROM THE OWNER

F.Y.I.

Ever since it's introduction back in 1998 the "Original So.Cal. Front Brake" and matching Buick style rear drum cover were first distributed by So-Cal Speed Shop of Pomona, CA and then for a short time through a multi dealer program then eventually went back to So-Cal Speed Shop in 2002 until recently. At no time was So-Cal Speed Shop any part of the design or manufacturing of the "Original So.Cal. Front Brake."

I feel it important to clarify this as not to cause any confusion in the future between the "Original So.Cal. Front Brake" and So-Cal Speed Shops.

The "Original So.Cal. Front Brake" was named back then solely for it's place of origin "So.Cal." and also the fact that it was designed and manufactured by Paul Carroll, a Southern California street rodder and builder.