I have been working on the brakes on my '67 off and on for the past couple of weeks. The car has power brakes - discs in front w/ 4-piston calipers, drums in the back. I bought new front rotors and pads, new rear shoes, drums, wheel cylinders and spring kits. I also bought 2 caliper rebuild kits for the front.

And, finally - to the questions! I finished putting the rear brakes together this afternoon and figured I'd go ahead and put on one of the new drums. I adjusted the star wheel all the way closed, which seemed to me to be the position that would have the shoes in the closest to each other. When I put the new drum on - it was pretty hard to get it on. I rocked it back and forth as I pushed in, and eventually had to get a block of wood and a BFH to get it on the rest of the way. Now, with the wheel back on, I can barely get it to turn. I figure it should be pretty tight, since the shoes and drum are at their thickest - but should it be really hard to turn?

The other question I have is about rebuilding the front calipers. I was able to get all of the piston seals on pretty easily. The dust boots have not been so easy. Should I be able to just snap those dust boots in with my fingers? Is there some tool I can put over the metal ring and tap the boots in with a hammer? I had to buy a 3rd caliper rebuild kit because I bent up the metal ring on a couple of the boots trying to tap them in.

I can take digital pics of any of this stuff if it would help.

Thanks guys!

If the star wheel is all the way in,closed or however you want to say it thh drum should go on pretty easy,the BFH thing and brakes scares me a little.Just some dumb questions,do you have the parking brake disengaged? and are the wheel cylinder pins extended due to pressure build up from working on the front brakes?think I'd start there

Yeah - I didn't think I should have to pound the new drum. The parking brake is disengaged, and I think the wheel cylinder pins are in all the way, or most of the way.

If your wheel adjuster (at the bottom between the shoes) is all the way in, you should be able to put the brake drum on without hammering it on. The problem now is getting the drum off. You are going to have to find a way to get it off. One way would be to heat the drum to expand it to get it loose. Or you might just be able to hammer it back off. Once you get the drum off, take it to your local parts store and have them turned .010" taken off. After that the drum should slide on without difficulty. Then adjust the rear brakes and you are good to go!

OK - I will probably be able to use the block of wood / BFH combo tool and get that drum back off.

Thank you!

You should not have to machine the drum to fix that. It should measure 9.500" and should slide right on, Then be adjusted up.
Check the parking brake adjustment. Perhaps the cables are too tight. Measure the drum or have it measured. If it is smaller than 9.5", it is incorrect, or defective.

Check the starwheel clevis' engagement on the shoes. Sometimes thick paint on the shoe backings keep the adjusters from going all the way on.
Check that the shoes pivot on the top anchor without disengaging from it.
Check that the parking brake strut is not compressed between lever and primary shoe.
Check that the w/c pins and pistons can be pushed inward.
Check that the shoes line up relatively evenly (in plane) on the top anchor pin.

OK - I will get the drum off, measure it and check the things you mentioned. Thank you!

I measured the drum - and it's 9.5 inches. I think I checked out all the other things you mentioned, and it all looks ok to me, but I wouldn't notice anything wrong unless it was really obvious.

I'm not good at uploading pics, or building webpages but there are some pics of the driver's side rear brake here:

http://rpgehrke.home.mindspring.com/rearbrakedrum.htm

You should be able to click on the thumbnails to get bigger pictures.

Does anything in any of those pics look like I put things together incorrectly?

Wow. Big. Nice pics.
1. hard to tell, but the rear clevis of the adjuster (this pic) (http://rpgehrke.home.mindspring.com/driver's%20side%20rear%20drum%2006.jpg) may not be on all the way, binding on some paint. Slip the whole starwheel assembly out and take the rear clevis off, test fitting it to the rear shoe. It should slide all the way on to the shoe. Also, it appears that it might not be on the other part of the adjuster all the way. I noticed it appears new, while the rest of the sdjuster does not. There looks like a gap between the washer and the starwheel. Sometimes when overpacked with lubricant they will do this, or perhaps the parts dont mate together perfectly.

2. it is possible that the new shoes are not made to specs. you might try another brand.

Oh, and Its hard to tell from the pic of the parking brake strut. Does it move freely (push forward against spring pressure without moving front shoe)?

Do either of these pics show you anything useful about the parking brake?

625


That star wheel adjuster is in all the way on both shoes. It's not new - one part of it just cleaned up better than the other part.

If that looks right and shows you what you needed to see - I might just go buy a set of different shoes and compare the thickness.

Thank you!

I cant tell. If the metal bar above the hub moves forward freely, it should be fine.

If you're sure that adjuster is not bound on paint, that's what i'd do. Get different shoes. I forgot about this, or would have mentioned it first... Some places list two different part#s for the back, both are 9.5x2, but one has a larger spread, and is wrong.

That metal bar you're referring to - is it the one with forked ends and a spring on one end? It just sits on top of the hub and goes into both shoes?

yup

I always have to beat on my shoes after I get them all in place before I can get them to allow the drum to slide on!!

I use a homemade dead-hammer just to make darn sure they are sitting right is all! AND gently, not WHAM!!!

I had to do this to the old '80 P/U I bought. AND it's e-brake cables were rusted solid inside the rubber cover armored ends so I had to fight to get them loose b/c they WOULD NOT allow my drums to go on b/c they were stuck with the e-brakes expanded!!

pdq67

I think everything is moving correctly and seated. It sounds like maybe my shoes are too thick or something. I will buy another set (from a different maker) and see if that does the trick.

One thing I noticed from the pics is that you put the tension spring above the wheel adjuster backwards......no big deal. It might interfere with the adjust though. You want the long end of the spring over the adjuster.

OK - Thanks! I will switch that when I try the new shoes.

Excellent eye Dave! I missed it completely.
You need to swap that around for sure or the coils bind on the starwheel. It makes it real difficult to adjust, and it wont self adjust at all, eventually seizing the adjuster from non-use. The brakes work fine for quite a while that way though.
There should be a left and right spring (some kits come with 2 identical springs). Looks like the correct one, just backwards. The long hook goes in the rear shoe from the inside, giving it clearence around the star, and keeping the coils closer to the backing plate so they dont push the lever away from the starwheel.

It was the brake shoes! I bought a set from a different store, put them on and the drums slid right on! Hallelujah!!!

The backing plates were pretty rusty. I cleaned them up some with a wire brush. Do those need to be really cleaned up (and painted?) before I put everything back together and (hopefully) forget about the brakes for awhile?

Next trick: bleeding all 4 wheels!

Thanks for your help fellas!

you can paint the backing plates but make sure you use a heat paint,I actually used an exhaust paint on mine,you know the 1200 degree stuff you get at any autoparts store. The heat generated by the brake will turn regular paint to goo,makes the brakes stick...just a mess,had one of my Chrysler buddies go through this a few years back. I used heat paint on mine with no problems...glad you found your problem with the brakes too!