56 brake job issues

**powerage** · 05-01-2006, 02:18 AM

Hi allI'm a brake novice having an attempt at restoring the entire brake system on my 56 Century. Had the master cylinder reconditioned, wheel cylinders, drums machined and now fitting up new shoes. According to my shop manual, primary shoe goes forward, socket and star wheel adjacent to the primary shoe on front brake. Done left front wheel, fine. Front right, if I put the primary shoe in front, and the socket and star wheel adjacent to that, the star wheel on the adjusting screw doesn't line up with the hole in the backing plate. Does it really matter which way the adjusting screw faces? Does the primary shoe have to face forward? Do the primary shoe and the socket and star wheel have to go together? It seems with this right front wheel the adjustment hole in the backing plate is toward the rear and wont line up with the adjusting screw inside.Again, I'm a rookie brake guy, and I'm piecing this car back together from someone else's strip down, I never saw the brakes complete. Please point out if I'm missing something obvious, and I plan on getting a pro to run brake lines and check over my job.Cheers

**heidigirl** · 05-01-2006, 11:04 AM

i suppose others will correct me, but i think the backing plate may be the same part number, left and right. that is why the starwheel access slot is either ahead of or behind the hub centerline depending on which side of the car it is mounted. because of this, the starwheels are going to be reversed from one side to the other. notice also, that they are left and right hand threads. right hand on the right side of the car and left on the left side. primary shoe to the front.

**tbone** · 05-01-2006, 11:24 AM

Righto! So your adjusting will be in the opposite direction on opposite sides ~T~

**powerage** · 05-01-2006, 09:30 PM

Hey guys
thanks for the replies. Still a little bit confused though. So does it matter which way the starwheel faces? With the hole on the backing plate toward the rear on the right side, it has to face the rear of the car to be accessed through the hole. But the manual says it has to be adjacent to the primary shoe which must face the front.

????

**heidigirl** · 05-02-2006, 07:11 AM

it matters in the sense that the starwheel needs to be accessible through the backing plate slot. ease your concern with this: without the springs, set the primary and secondary shoes on the backing plate in place with the starwheel assembly. now reverse the starwheel assembly. in one position, the slot and starwheel pretty much line up. in the opposite direction, the alignment is way off. right hand thread goes to the right side of the car.

**powerage** · 05-04-2006, 07:31 PM

thanks heidigirl, it seems there is only one way to put the starwheel and thats facing the rear on the right front backing plate. I was just concerned that the manual said it should be adjacent to the primary which faces foward. Once again, first brake job, hopefully I got it right!

**heidigirl** · 05-04-2006, 08:22 PM

good job. your confidence level will grow with every job you do. also, you will discover that not everything you do will be done strictly 'by the book'.

**powerage** · 05-08-2006, 10:13 PM

OK, another beginners question. I have refitted shoes and springs, repacked wheel bearings and refitted the drum. The drum seemed to fit good, although it doesn't spin freely. I wouldn't say its hard but requires both hands to turn. I fitted the adjusting screw with it wound right in as I thought this would be furthest from contact but it feels and sounds like the brakes are lightly on. Is this because they are new shoes? Is this normal?

**heidigirl** · 05-09-2006, 12:35 PM

"I fitted the adjusting screw with it wound right in"

are you saying that the starwheel is fully closed? if yes, there may be some 'fine tuning' to set the spacing of the primary shoe to the drum.

bear with me, if you have already done this:
there should be a slot on the face of the drum next to the outside diameter.
insert a feeler guage in this slot at the top and bottom of the primary shoe. ideally, the gap will be .015 inch and there should not be more than .002 difference from top to bottom.
by loosening the lock nut on the reverse side of the backing plate, you can rotate the anchor bolt. its eccentric, allowing the primary shoe to be adjusted vertically and horizontally. now might be an appropriate time to ask someone to review your work before the tires go back on the car.

hope this helps.

**heidigirl** · 05-09-2006, 04:42 PM

well, i guess i didn't really answer your specific question, did i?
you may have just ever so slightly, too much force against the drums.
a very modest amount of drag is ok, but you should still be able to spin the drum roughly one full circle with the tire mounted.