OK, i know this has been talked about in many tiopics and yes i have done the searches for it. But i am after different peoples method for adjusting the brakes.

A bit of background, 72 clubbie with drums all round, have replaced master and slave cylinders and bled the system. Now time to adjust them. How would you go about it?

Is there any way to go wrong? Basicaly i am after a step by step if anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.

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I'm guaranteed to break something every time, but there's nothing like getting under the bonnet and having a go!

There's no real trick to it.

Jack up each corner one at a time until the wheels freely spin and brace with chocks and jack stands (it requires you to reach under your wheel arcs and it's better to be safe than dead). For rear have it in gear and the handbrake off, for fronts have the handbrake on and in neutral.

Spin the wheel and turn the adjustment screw until the wheel catches. Turn it back slightly so that the wheels just spin freely. I prefer to do the back ones so that they spin but not freely (ie. less gap than fronts)

that's it really... have I forgotten something?

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

agreed, that how i do it

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real men race downhill - keiichi tsuchiya

The trap that a lot of people fall into with twin leading shoe front drums is that they have two adjusters per side.

It takes practice to learn "the feel", but if one is adjusted tighter than the other then you could be using only half your front brakes.

I usually slacken one adjuster off first. Adjust the second one until the drum just grabs, then back it off a smidge (tech term ). Then adjust the first one back up until it just touches.

Watch for spongey pedal (air) which can occur when front wheel cylinders have been replaced. Sometime bleeding can be a PITA as air seems to get trapped in one or both cylinders. Pushing the pistons together b4 replacing shoes can help here

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1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

Maybe pump the brakes a couple of times to recentre the pads after each adjustment and check them again before moving to the next wheel.

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Michael N

Make sure you have the shoes on the right way, they have a leading and trailing edge!
Also front and rear shoes are different widths, putting rears on the front is not good!!
Biggest fault with the front drums is slack adjusters in the backplate, you adjust them, then after a few applications, the adjusters 'back off' and the brakes go cr@p again. You might be able to tighten them upo with a BFH, but often the only cure is new backplates (the adjusters are 'peened' in).

Make sure the wheel cylinders at the rear have the gasket behind them and the clips hold them snug and tight to the backplates.

Oh and bleeding, that can be a pain too!!

Other than that drums are sweet!! ROFL

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Sir Alec! we are not worthy!

The best way to adjust them is to throw them away & put Cooper s disc on it.

Doogie

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I won Hay once, here's the pic to prove it..


Hay, it's not about the car, it's not about the venue, it's about the people that come here. Peter Dwyer, Mayor of Hay NSW.

Fair call.

Just remember that the direction you turn the adjuster is different front to back. Front brakes are adjusted with spanner direction being the same as forward wheel rotation.

With reference to the workshop manual for two leading shoe front brakes.

1. "Turn the adjuster in the same direction as the forward rotation of the front wheel until the drum is locked, then back off the adjuster the minimum amount to allow the drum to rotate freely."

2. "Spin the wheel and apply the foot brake firmly to centralise the shoe."

3. "Re-check the adjustment, and repeat the complete operation with the other adjuster."

4. "Carry out the same sequence on the other front wheel."

Back brakes are pretty much the same except that adjuster rotation is, as you look at the back of the drum, in a clockwise direction for both sides.

Hope this helps.

When changing front wheel cylinders, air can get trapped in the curved connecting pipe.
I slacken the pipe's top connector and bleed it there too.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.