Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi
Just fitted two new wheel cylinders to drivers side. Everything fitted fine, all connected ok. But when I refitted the drums they just won't turn now- the shoes are stopping them moving completly. I have to use a large amount of force (with a hammer) just to refit the drums. Then they are locked fast, no turn at all.
I have backed off the adjusters as far as possible, but am puzzled as to what else I have missed?


Thanks for any help.

Are the shoes the ones that come off? or did you change them?

Yes, they are the same shoes that came off. All turned fine before.

Judging by that photo the top shoe isn't centred. It needs nudging to the left with a soft mallet.

That was it! Thanks so much. A lot of hammering with the rubber hammer and all sorted.
Thanks again!

Aren't they the shoes for the other side?
I seem to remember being told the lining should appear to have slipped in the direction of travel. If you see what I mean.
Maybe this is why my brakes aren't as good as BMC suggests they should be?

Back plate doesn't look up to much.
Refitting proceedure
Mark brake adjusters with tippex, makes them easier to see.
Slacken adjusters fully,
Centre shoes with soft hammer,
Refit drum and tighten up using two wheel nuts on diagonal studs. This ensures the drum is square
Replace and tighten two set screws. Note these are retaining screws not tightening screws
Tighten each adjuster until the wheel locks then slacken off one or two clicks.
Press the brake pedal a couple of times. This ensures that the shoes are centralised, then do a final adjustment. Pressing the brake pedal also checks for air in the system.
Grease the front suspension whilst the wheel is off. You can never overdo the grease,
Replace the wheel and tighten wheel nuts.
Lower off jack and fully tighten wheel nuts immediately before replacing hub cap
Check fluid in master cylinder

Yes, Marky, the leading edge is wrong.

the leading edge is wrong.

I think you are right .

the notch for the brake adjuster can only go in one way surely, did not know shoes were handed

The shoes can only go one way - unless the backplates have been fitted wrong side - it MUST be right.
Looks ok to me - just a lot SMALLER than I'm used to seeing!!!

did not know shoes were handed

the ones available presently are certainly not handed!

Never were!

the back plates are marked so they can not go on wrong, or maybe someone put them on wrong

They are marked - but can be fitted wrongly. Other possibilty is the linings may not be correctly fitted to the shoes.

Safety First Alert.

It is best to support the car with stands or blocks as well as a jack, and never work under the car when it's just on a jack.

never work under the car when it's just on a jack.

I do...
However if doing so, it always has the removed wheel on top of the spare wheel under the floor & sill. Never rely on the handbrake when jacking up - use some nice big wheel chocks. I will also stand a little bit away from the car and gve it a good heave-ho to see if the jack/axle stand / wheel ramp can be toppled over.
A car can fall off a jack or an axle stand - be extra careful to make sure it doesn't fall on YOU.

Yes! Leave NOTHING to chance when working on a car with wheels off.

I'd suggest that a brake drum should never be hammered on - how do you get it off again? I've had to hammer off drums on neglected Minors, and bits start flying off them, theoretically upsetting the balance. Ugly, too.

If you can't get the drum on by hand, keep investigating until you can.

IMO you'd have to be a little bit unhinged to want to work under a car without an axle stand supporting it ... it's just plain lazy not to take care of your own safety like that ... admittedly if all you are doing is changing a wheel then that's not so bad, but anything where you are going to be working in close proximity to the car for any length of time, like fixing your brakes, it's just insane.

Also, just wondering why you are putting those shoes back on, at least one of them looks pretty much worn down to the metal, replacing the shoes may cost a little money, but nowhere near as much as replacing the drums after old shoes with rivets have scored them to chuff.

One last thing is that a little bit of copper-ease on the snails and the slot in the back of the wheel cylinder will go a long way to allowing your shoes to move about and sit centrally as they wear - avoiding the situation where you have uneven wear across the surface of the shoe ;)

Just a point I forgot to write.

I centralise the shoes as best I can visually, then use the brake drum to centralise them a little better........bring it up to the shoes, and gently use it to tap them right and left until it slips over them easily. Then do up the adjusters until they lock, back them off two notches, press the brake pedal hard, rotate the drum a quarter turn, press the brake pedal hard, rotate the drum another quarter turn, press the brake pedal hard, do up the adjusters until they lock, and back them off a notch so the drum can be turned freely by hand.
If that doesn't centralise them.................