<VV> Brakes

[Padgett]

>I don't like working on drum brakes by the way.  They're 
>contraptions.  They're not stabil until every little piece is put together.

Guess you have not worked on many rear disks with parking brakes. The best 
ones use little drum brakes inside. The worst ones rattle if not adjusted 
exactly right and one whole series was the subject of a reacall (Fiero).

The drum brake became a "contraption" because they were highly evolved over 
a long period of time. About half of the springs and rods are for the self 
adjustment. And the other half are for the "servo actuation" which makes 
power brakes unnecessary (have had a couple of cars with non-power disks. 
My wife refused to drive them).

Frankly, I think that front disks and rear drums make a lot of sense on 
cars that have 75-80% of the braking done by the fronts and, if you have 
the right tools, putting a drum brake together is a snap.

Padgett

ps: will be in Georgia and South Carolina next weekend, if anyone knows of 
a straight, complete no rust/minimal rust late model convertible in that 
vicinity that is for sale, please let me know.

pps humidity does not cause rust. Salt/electrolytes in the presence of 
water cause rust. Orlando has over 55 inches of rain a year and Northerners 
wilt from the humidity but things do not rust as long as some attempt tis 
make to wash and wax periodically. I have gotten used to being able to 
remove exhaust manifolds without expecting any to snap. Over by the ocean 
(east more so than west for some reason) there is a real problem but I am 
50 miles from the closest beach. This is why very nice cars are often found 
in the Pacific Northwest.

The problem here is that in the '60s, the great bulk of the population 
lived on one of the coasts, Orlando was just a wide spot in the road, and 
if someone was dumb enough to drive on the beach at Daytona and got into 
the surf, that car would last maybe three years before bow and stern 
separation took place. But not here.