<VV> Brake drums

[N. Joseph Potts]

I'd guess your drums are rusted to your hubs. On many/most cars (such as
"someone" had experience of) the hub is riveted to (not separable from) the
hub. If yours is, you will see rivet heads on your drum if you take the
wheel off. The rivet heads I've seen are big. Now that you're finished with
the work, no real harm in leaving them that way. Sometime at your leisure,
you may wish to separate hubs from drums (banging on them), but if I
undertook that task, I'd first take the hubs off their spindles (again).
     If your backing plate were a clock, the access hole for the star wheel
would be at 6 o'clock. Don't take yours out (I haven't mine). They make your
brakes susceptible to water, and even though you can get rubber plugs for
the access holes once they're opened, (a) you have to get the plugs; (b) you
have to put them in; and (c) you have to keep them in (they can fall out,
etc.). Forget about the access hole, and especially about punching it out.
It's something left over from the days of manually adjusted brakes.

Joe Potts
Miami, Florida USA
1966 Corsa coupe 140hp 4-speed with A/C

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org]On Behalf Of Sebastian Denault
Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 3:45 PM
To: VirtualVairs at corvair.org
Subject: <VV> Brake drums


I'm very new to the world of classic cars, and car repair in general. My '65
corsa needed some front brake work done, so I consulted my shop manual, and
it said that the brake drums could be easily removed without the removal of
the hubs. So I ended up sitting there trying to remove the drums until some
one recommended that I just remove the hubs to access the shoes and wheel
cylinder. This worked and I managed to do my repair on the brakes, but it
still bothered me that I had to remove the hubs, whereas the manual said I
could just pull off the drums. Are you supposed to be able to separate the
drum from the hub, or not? The shop manual never showed a picture of the
front brakes with the drum off and the hub still attached.
I was also confused about the access hole for the star wheel. Where exactly
is it, and how is one supposed to punch it out?
Any advice to a beginner would be greatly appreciated.