New(er) front brake shoes

Posted on by March 3, 2024

Back in December I put the old brake shoes back on the car. I kinda knew this was a bad idea, and it turns out it was. The brakes did not work very well and squealed a lot. So, I am going to put the new shoes back on and get them right this time.

I am not going to cover the blow-by-blow because I have way too many posts about brakes. There was one snag so I will cover that.

When I tried to install the driver’s side shoes, the rear shoe did not lay flat on the lower pin. Looks like it was bent at some point. I bet this is why these shoes were binding before.
Sure enough the end of the shoe was bent a little. I put it in the vice and gently bent it back straight again.
Much better.
Now the lower c-clip slides right on and both shoes swing free. Can’t believe I missed this before.
I got the shoes back on and recentered them with the Ammco 1750. Then I put the drums back on, adjusted the brakes, and took it for a drive. Much better. I still can’t quite lock up the wheels but I bet I will once the new shoes bed in. Now I can get back to fixing the fubar-ed carburetor.

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