<VV> Sometimes the simplest jobs...or what I did instead of goingto the convention.

[Ron]

Sounds like the brakes were over ripe for a redo.
RonH

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick & Janet Norris" <rickjanet at charter.net>
To: "Bill Elliott" <Corvair at fnader.com>; <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2005 1:51 PM
Subject: Re: <VV> Sometimes the simplest jobs...or what I did instead of 
goingto the convention.


> This past weekend I was doing some wrenching on my friend Roger's 65 Turbo 
> Vert. The deal was we would replace the master cylinder with a dual 
> conversion kit. Fairly simple job.....but.....I know from past experience 
> that a job that should be simple can turn tedious.
> I got the cylinder mounted okay and hooked up but I couldn't get it to 
> bleed out of the front wheel cylinders at all. The rear's would bleed okay 
> so it was time to pull the drums and check it out. Actually, this was part 
> of the plan as Roger said it was pulling a little in front. I decided to 
> start with the rears first. As might be expected they were oozing crud 
> under the rubber dust covers. I don't think they were doing much braking 
> either as the pistons were semi frozen in place.
> As luck would have it I had a set of new rear cylinders. Our luck held out 
> getting the bolts out and the tube fittings loose without twisting 
> anything off.
> Moving to the front left wheel I began trying to slip the drum off. It was 
> tight and I had to work (hammer) it off a little at a time. I thought 
> maybe the adjuster was installed wrong or not working. However when the 
> drum finally came off so did the brake linings! They literally fell out of 
> the drum. I could see by the marks on the back that they had been loose 
> and spinning around when the brakes were applied! Uhh...I think I found 
> the pulling problem!
> I have seen a lot of weird stuff concerning Corvairs and other cars before 
> but that was the first time I ever saw brake linings completely separate 
> from the shoes. These were bonded shoes and I've heard people talk about 
> linings coming loose but this was a first for me.
> The wheel cylinder looked fairly new and I saw no evidence of leaking so I 
> moved on the right front wheel. Here the luck ran out as I twisted the 
> tube fitting off using the vise grips as the tubing wrench was slipping. I 
> was able to cut and flare the existing line for a patch piece and I had a 
> new front wheel cylinder too. Since I had the hose off I tried to squirt 
> some Brakleen down the hole. No go, so I applied the air hose at full 
> pressure. Still no go. Huh, never saw this either. We tried to rod it out 
> with a piece of wire but it was completely collapsed inside. I didn't have 
> any hoses for the front for a 65 so new stuff was ordered today. Also I 
> noticed a clever use of coat hanger wire. I guess the previous owner lost 
> the C-clip that holds the brake hose in the bracket so the coat hanger 
> wire was wrapped around the groove like an outside C-clip. It worked but I 
> replaced it with the proper part.
> Easy little brake job huh.....yeah...right!
>
> Rick Norris
> First President CORSA 1971
> Email rickjanet at charter.net
> Web Site http://webpages.charter.net/corvairalley
> V8 Vairs Web Site http://www.v8vairs.com
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