<VV> Re: locking brakes??

[Rick Norris]

Back when I still had my 69 I had a similar pull hard to the right 
situation. I discovered the left front brake whell cylinder was so full of 
crude that it was hardly moving at all. There was no hint of leaks until I 
removed the rubber cups. When I do a brake job I always replace everything I 
can. The only brake shoes I ever had that you could clean with BrakeKleen or 
anything else was the sintered metallics. Nothing affected them.

Staying on the brake theme....I did a complete brake job on a fellow Corvair 
owners 65 110 Monza awhile back.
Several weeks later he called me and said the rear brakes were burned up. 
Burned up?
He's a very forgetful guy and he had driven a long distance with the 
emergency brake on.
I didn't have time to re-do the brakes so he had a local "mechanic" do it 
using local FLAPS parts.
When I called to tell him I had time to do a U-joint and lower strut rod 
replacement he said his brakes were making noise and getting hot. I told him 
to bring it up and I'll look at it.
What had happened was the brake shoes were riding up off the pivot pin and 
appling themselves.
The reason was the "mechanic" used the old pull back springs and hardware 
which had no tension in them after being heated up.
I had a hell of a time getting one of the drums off but after replacing all 
the hardware with new parts the brakes work as advertised.
I let this guy "help" me and I tried to teach him the old "Righty tighty, 
Lefty loosey" but all he had to do was turn around one time before getting 
under the car and he got it wrong everytime!
I discovered he was good with the ShopVac and degreaser. There's a job for 
everybody!
Oh, He thinks I the Corvair God! He had never owned one before so when he 
decided he needed one it had to be a 65 because thats the year he and his 
wife married. He loves the car and the attention it gets.
Ya should have seen the look on his face the first time he saw my V8 Vair. 
Priceless!

Rick NorrisRick Norris
First Pres. CORSA 1971
www.corvairalley.com