[gtorich]

Tried doing it like the 66 manual says, well almost, I tightened the brakes up until the wheel was locked, then tried the 26 clicks back, that's was somewhat a problem, cant see good back there with the wheel on and using the brake spoon hard to tell if your turning it 26 clicks anyways...…...and it doesn't click going the other way, so whats up with that.

Im wondering if I have some other issue, recently put new axles in, new shoes, seems like im having trouble turning the brake drum around, if I put the wheel on it turns a little easier.

Talked to a shop today and they said the wheel should free spin 1 -2 turns by hand, my issue is the wheel spins but you have to use quite a bit of force to turn it.

Im pretty sure I have the brake and adjusters right...…….I can turn the driveshaft pretty easily and both tires spin, but when trying to turn the brake drums to feel for some resistance on the shoes, its hard to turn them to feel any resistance.

I got them now where I can get the drum on and it only moves a little in both directions, will that be ok, and then keep backing up until they adjust better.

I guess what im asking, is are guys able to turn you brake drums easily...…..mine are not working that way.

Pic is of the brakes...……..pretty sure they are correct.

Rich

[Goatracer1]

Have you driven the car yet? If not drive it around the block and use the brakes a few times. This will center everything. Then check how well the wheels turn. If they still turn hard find out why. You don't want them dragging. I have seen shoes that are too thick for the drums or they could be just adjusted incorrectly.

[gtorich]

Originally Posted by Goatracer1

Have you driven the car yet? If not drive it around the block and use the brakes a few times. This will center everything. Then check how well the wheels turn. If they still turn hard find out why. You don't want them dragging. I have seen shoes that are too thick for the drums or they could be just adjusted incorrectly.

GR, I still have to bleed the brakes yet, not sure what my issue is, even when I have the adjuster all the way in, still very hard to turn the drum, with the wheel on I can turn it a little easier. Say I give it a really hard push, it only goes about a quarter turn if that.

Since I really cant feel any drag because im turning the drum hard, ive been adjusting so the drum fits pretty tight, I can still get the drum off, but I have to wiggle it some. Am I off on this deal, or should I let it a little looser and just keep backing up and hitting the brakes when when I get the car going.

Rich

[gtorich]

Don't know if this makes a difference or not, the drums are new.

Rich

[OG68]

I use a set of drum calipers. Measure the inside of the drum and then transfer that setting to the shoes. A lot easier to turn the star wheel with the drum off. Picked up an old Proto set off eBay for about ten bucks.

[Geoff]

You should bleed the brakes once you get a ball park adjustment.

Then, with each star wheel adjustment, hit the brake pedal to centre the shoes.

Do the adjustment with the wheels off, but drums on. Once the adjuster has locked up tight, back off a couple of notches so that you can remove the drum. With drum removed, you can adjust the 26 notches more easily.

[Lemans64]

2nd what goeff said, bleed the brakes, that will center the shoes, then check. Sometimes the drums make have a edge on them that contacts the shoe. Does drum turn if you don't put it on all the way?

[dhcarguy]

Are the wheels hard to spin because of it being a posi rear??

[gtorich]

Originally Posted by Geoff

You should bleed the brakes once you get a ball park adjustment.

Then, with each star wheel adjustment, hit the brake pedal to centre the shoes.

Do the adjustment with the wheels off, but drums on. Once the adjuster has locked up tight, back off a couple of notches so that you can remove the drum. With drum removed, you can adjust the 26 notches more easily.

Ok, bled the back brakes today, took the car out and did some 25-30 stops, backed it up quite a bit, seems to be working good, except I couldn't get the wheels to lock up.

This whole thing started because the one rear brake was locking up while braking, that was the one with the leaking brake cylinder.

Well after that, put the car back up on stands, I can spin the tire fairly good, if I put the BF Goodrich at the top and give it a good shove it will go about 3/4 of a turn, at least now I can turn the drum fairly easily.

Now the drum is somewhat loose, very easy to take off...………..so your saying get the drum to lock up, then back up some to get it off, then do the 26 clicks...……

Gotta admit, I cant believe you guys are doing this with the wheel on, I cant see anything right in there, let alone count 26 clicks, since your pushing on the adjuster and it isn't clicking anyways. lol

Couple pics for ya...……...the one with the blue tape is the drive side...…..

Cant thank you guys enough, i know i don't explain things quite right, maybe because im old. lol...………..i thing you young ones can figure it out.

Today, im painting those drums.

Rich

[Lemans64]

Drums won't lock up until the shoes seat into the drum. will take a little while. Shoe won't make full contact till they seat in
so braking won't be 100% till then.

[gtorich]

Originally Posted by Geoff

You should bleed the brakes once you get a ball park adjustment.

Then, with each star wheel adjustment, hit the brake pedal to centre the shoes.

Do the adjustment with the wheels off, but drums on. Once the adjuster has locked up tight, back off a couple of notches so that you can remove the drum. With drum removed, you can adjust the 26 notches more easily.

Two different things today...……..did the above, im wondering about the doing it by the book.

After doing the 26 notches, seems like the drum is pretty loose, so im not sure of that. im gonna leave it there for now and see what happens.

Other issue I had today bled the back brakes, went good, bled the pass side, few bubbles, no issue, now for the drivers side, didn't count the times my wife pushed down on the petal, but im thinking about 40 or so tries, went thru 24 oz of brake fluid, still getting bubbles.

This is how were doing it, she pumps the pedal 3 times and holds it, then I open the bleeder until I see no more bubbles, I close it and she lets go of the pedal.

I have the Russell speed bleeders in the front...…...so could I have possibly something else wrong here, master cylinder, bleeder itself, or the rubber hose to the brake.

I have that mity vac, but for whatever reason I cant get that to hold a vacuum...…...tomorrow im thinking of trying that gravity bleed...…..don't know if that's if gonna work any better.

Rich

[Lemans64]

Almost sounds as though you are sucking air somewhere, BUT it should do it on both sides. I think I would tighten it all up and pump then hold and see if you have any small leaks. Quite possible you have a line that did not seat correctly in the new wheel cylinder. Loosen the lines off and tighten numerous times to make sure they are seated. DO not try and tighten all at once, loosen and tighten back and forth and it will slowly go in further. Another way of adjusting shoes is to remove drum and adjust a few clicks, then try drum, continue till drum is hard to get on then back off and bit. 26 clicks sounds like too much.

[gtorich]

Lemans 64.....i got the back off 26 clicks from the 66 shop manual, does seem like a lot.

Sooner or later im gonna figure this out...…...of course with the help from you guys.

Rich

[Geoff]

The 26 clicks is an initial adjustment, deliberately 26 clicks so that the shoes are not binding on the drums.

The final adjustment is done by driving the car in reverse & applying the brakes. That is how the 'automatic' adjustment works: in reverse only. Get the car up to about 30 mph & apply the brakes reasonably hard. Drive forward again to rest the shoes. Repeat in reverse. The adjustment only advances 1-2 clicks at a time, so a few 'trips' in reverse might be reqd. If the brakes are a long way out of adjustment, you will notice the brake pedal will be higher after adjusting.

[gtorich]

Ok, for you guys keeping up with this train wreck...….bled the back brakes, did the pass side front no issues...…….couldn't get the drive front to get rid of the air bubbles, didn't keep track last nite of the count, but it was high...…….today I kept track of the count, 28 times before I went two without air...……..shut it up and called it a nite. Not sure what the issue is with that one...…….all the others were 3-4 tries and good to go.

Was wondering if you guys put anthing on the bleeder screws...…..I put the new one in without anything on it...…….but I noticed if you buy the speed bleeders they have some red stuff on the threads.

Im thinking maybe starting from scratch, new MC and maybe new calibers, new hoses ands start all over...…….something isn't right here, that's for sure.

Rich

[Lemans64]

What was the initial repair?? Just rear shoes and cylinders? Did you let the master cylinder run dry?
Sometimes it is hard to get air out of master cylinder due to upward tilt.

[gtorich]

Originally Posted by Lemans64

What was the initial repair?? Just rear shoes and cylinders? Did you let the master cylinder run dry?
Sometimes it is hard to get air out of master cylinder due to upward tilt.

Lemans...…...started out with a leaking rear cylinder, after looking at that, found out the bearings were bad, the axles were bad, backing plates bad...…...you name it. lol

I checked the m/c after every 4-5 tries, never got close to being low, for whatever reason that driver side front, just doesn't seem to clear the air out...…...though I got two tries without air...…….don't feel too confident on that though.

Any thoughts on maybe the caliber itself might be bad...……...I see some people using that corvette style m/c, seems to sit straighter than what I have, im open to all suggestions.

So im taking it you guys are not putting anything on the bleeder screws...……

Thanks

Rich

[Lemans64]

No we usually don't put anything on bleeder screws. Speed bleeder probably do have some sealer as you loosen the screw a bit to make it work
and could possibly suck in air past threads on up stock of brake pedal. was just checking if master cylinder ran dry when you had all the stuff apart?
Close up the system and start the engine and see if you have any leaks.

[Sirrotica]

Gravity bleed it and you'll be done in 5 minutes. After 50 years working on cars as my profession, I have no idea why bleeding a brake system is so labor intensive for so many people on this board.

Three videos, first one explains how people ruin a working master cylinder in a classic car by pumping the brakes to the floor to bleed them, and why gravity bleeding should be used to avoid this problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=5Mkj2fRmTws

Second one is getting a siphon started after replacing a component. Only thing is this guy pushes the pedal all the way to the floor, when just stroking the pedal at the top of the travel will accomplish the same thing, and not chance ruining the seal in the master cylinder as explained in the first video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=D2NC_mkJ-VQ

Third video is a older woman in an auto vocational shop. She is working on a late 90s, early 2000s S-10 gravity bleeding the LR wheel. She shows how easily someone without any special tools, or training, can gravity bleed a brake system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shz8CPQfcVI

I've bleed brake systems using this method since I first learned how to do it in my early teens, even before I had a drivers license, and it always works perfectly. No fuss no muss nor special tools required.

[gtorich]

Brad, thanks for the vids, helped a lot...……...had the car out today and even with all my screwing around seems like the brakes are working pretty good.

Eventually im gonna go the hydro-boost deal, car stops well, but if your hitting the brakes quite a bit in a row I have some issues.

When I got the car I had manual disk in front...……..now I added power booster, to tell the truth I think the manual seemed to work better.

Rich