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Re: stuck brakes

To: mg-t@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: stuck brakes
From: Rocky Frisco <rock@rocky-frisco.com>
Date: Fri, 03 Sep 2004 16:24:34 -0500
Bob Howard wrote:

> Andrew,
>    You might try slacking all the adjusters, then spraying penetrating
> oil around the backing plates into the drums.  More will be wasted than
> gets in there, but it's worth a try if you consider the brake linings to
> be spoiled anyway.  When you have got in as much as you think possible,
> tap the drums with a hammer and block of wood.  You might also remove the
> hub nut and crank up a wheel puller, leaving it in place for a couple of
> days and whacking the drums with a hammer every time you think of it. 
>    This sounds like an unusually great amount of rust--after all, the
> front shoes are not in contact with the drums even if hand brake is left
> on, and for the fronts to be stuck also is not common.  
>    Frequently, if the clutch works OK, one can start the engine and let
> its might unstick brakes.  Since there may have been so much rust growing
> in the car, I would want to put oil into the cylinders and turn the
> engine with the starting handle, as a basic check that rust has not
> formed in the cylinder left with a valve open.
>     Sorry that this is more likely to be three days of hard labor on the
> Labor Day weekend than three days happy motoring.

It's possible you might get them unstuck without the oil and thus save 
the shoes. I would remove each wheel in turn, back off the adjusters 
and apply rotary force with a bar on the wheel-studs (if you have disc 
wheels) while whacking the drums with a knock-off (copper-faced) 
hammer. This is obviously easier with two people.

-Rock    http://www.rocky-frisco.com
--
JJ Cale Live CD and video: http://www.rocky-frisco.com/calelive.htm
The Wednesday Night Science Project: http://www.wednitesciproj.us
Rocky Frisco's LIBERTY website: http://www.liberty-in-our-time.com/

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