My brakes are back in business. I put the old brake shoes back on (the ones
with the extra thick linings), and now my handbrake kicks in right away, and
my pedal is high and firm. After comparing the old and new parts, I believe
the lack of handbrake had nothing to do with the ID of the brake drum, or
the thickness of the linings. The new shoes are an eighth inch longer on one
end. This was causing the cylinder to hold the shoe ends apart, instead of
the handbrake lever (in the resting position). This left an eighth inch gap
in the slot the lever goes in. It took a whole inch of cable pull to close
this gap before the shoes would start to move. With the old shoes there is
no gap, the shoes start to move as soon as you pull on the handbrake.
So which shoes are right, the old or the new? They clearly don't have the
same dimensions. My old shoes have markings indicating that they are
original shoes that have been relined. Next time I buy brake shoes, I'm
going to look for re-manufactured ones.
BTW, what ever happened to rivets? I can remember buying just the linings,
and riveting them to the old shoes. How long have manufactures been using
glue?
Bob Donahue (Still stuck in the '50s)
Email - bobmgtd@insightbb.com
52 MGTD - NEMGTR #11470
71 MGB - NAMGBR #7-3336
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob D." <bobmgtd@insightbb.com>
To: "mgs" <mgs@autox.team.net>
Cc: "Peter Chast" <pchast@francomm.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 12:28 AM
Subject: Possible Clue - Help, What did I do wrong?
> After staring a good time at my handiwork, I realized that the new linings
> are only half the thickness of the old ones, 4/32 VS 8/32. Assuming the
> vendor sent me "good" goods, I must have drums that have been turned down
a
> few too many times. Extra thick linings must have been a cheap fix for
worn
> drums back in the old days. My TD is the same way (which is probably the
> only reason I spotted it).
>
> Does this theory sound credible? I'll try the old shoes tomorrow, and
report
> back.
>
> Has anyone else heard of double thick linings? Are they still available?
>
> Bob Donahue (Still stuck in the '50s)
> Email - bobmgtd@insightbb.com
> 52 MGTD - NEMGTR #11470
> 71 MGB - NAMGBR #7-3336
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bob D." <bobmgtd@insightbb.com>
> To: "mgs" <mgs@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2003 9:14 PM
> Subject: Help, What did I do wrong?
>
>
> > I installed new brake shoes and cylinders on the rear of my '71 B today.
I
> > bleed the brake fluid and adjusted the brake-shoe adjuster, but
> something's
> > not right. The pedal is very low, and the hand brake lever goes all the
> way up
> > with out engagement. I pretty much followed the shop manual. Can anyone
> think
> > of something I may have overlooked? The parts are a "rear brake kit"
from
> > Victoria British. The brake cylinders are made in Italy, looks like good
> > stuff. I did a "front brake kit" last weekend that went fine.
> >
> > The brakes were working well before I got into them, even though one of
> the
> > pistons was frozen.
> >
> > Bob Donahue (Still stuck in the '50s)
> > Email - bobmgtd@insightbb.com
> > 52 MGTD - NEMGTR #11470
> > 71 MGB - NAMGBR #7-3336
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