My new 1988 T/A

[MP81]

That's certainly odd, but I guess it happens. The rear drums must have such little bias that the one side not operating didn't really cause much of a pull.

[DynoDave]

SUNDAY: Didn't feel the best this week/weekend. I did get the driver side rear drum brake disassembled. Decided to give the special tool for the wheel cylinder a try. Took the new cylinder apart and cleaned it. Glad I did...the bore was very dirty, remnants of the machining process.

1.jpg

Got the driver side front disc brake apart. Found something I'd never seen before...a wheel bearing with a plastic cage. Seemed to be in good shape, so I soaked it in a mixing cup of mineral spirits, and removed all the old grease. Some brake clean and time to dry, and it appeared to be entirely reusable.

2.jpg

Removed the old grease seal, and rear bearing. Same routine...soaked, cleaned, sprayed, dried. Came back to it today, and the inner felt a touch gravel-y. Tapping it on the paper towel, I got this.

4.jpg

Put a magnet on it, and about 80% of the pieces can be picked up that way. So Despite looking good visually, it's coming apart inside. Tapped the outer with the plastic cage on the towel the same way, and got one bit of debris, also magnetic. May have migrated there from the back bearing, but, in for a penny, in for a pound. I'll get all the bearing for both sides ordered tomorrow. Was going to reuse the rotors, but since I'll be pounding races in and out, I might as well start fresh with some new rotors too.

Capped off the evening listen to The House of Hair, and got the engine oil and filter changed.

[MP81]

The one with the plastic has got to be original, at least in my mind. Pretty cool - never even thought that'd have existed in a wheel bearing application.

[DynoDave]

Yeah, me either. That surprised me.

Ran out at lunch and returned the wheels for re-coating. Stopped on the way back and picked up the new wheel bearings and rotors that I order yesterday. Later today, and special tool I ordered for removing those wheel cylinder clips arrived.

Have to get up early (yuck) and head into the office tomorrow. So I that's it for progress today. Work is busy enough that I think I will not get much done Wednesday or maybe Thursday night. Might be Friday before I'm back out there. I'll try to swing by NAPA on the way home from work and pick up another tube of the same wheel bearing and chassis grease I used on the front steering components so I can make sure I have enough to lube those bearings and the cavites in the rotors.

Do you guys have Friday and/or Monday off?

[MP81]

Yeah, we have a four-day weekend as well...which is seemingly packed...

[DynoDave]

Yeah, some things never change. Including...I took Tuesday off "just in case" I don't get enough done through the weekend. And as of today, due to work, I may end up working that day.

[MP81]

If you took it off, you'll be taking vacation and working none of it. Or, at the least, not counting a single minute of it as vacation - just make sure you DO take it somewhere else.

[DynoDave]

This was a bad car week. Too busy at work to do much. Holiday is finally here and I don't feel well today. Tomorrow will be house cleaning for company on Sunday. So if I'm lucky I'll be back in the garage on Monday some (do have to do a few hours of work Monday). Might get out there Sunday night late...House of Hair you know. That gives me a good 3 hours of work if I feel up to it.

I may have made some progress on some sort of boot for the struts. Mailed my broken factory boot to a manufacturer, who may e able to do something for me. We'll see.

Today was going to be wheel cylinder day. Did some office work this morning, then on the phone with my brother for an hour or more. Next thing you know it's 1:30. Eat some lunch and it's 2pm before I get out there. Looking over the wheel cylinder which I disassembled and cleaned the inside of, I notice this trash in the inlet port.

11.jpg

Managed to dig these bigger chunks out with a dental pick (have a dozen of these "swap meet" tools...use them all the time).

6.jpg

Using a brush and some brake clean, and working inverted so I did not push debris inside, I cleaned that bore, and the one for the bleeder valve. More trash.

4.jpg

Now, to that old wheel cylinder.

The Devil.

8.jpg

And the Holy water? The china made Amazon copy of the factory special tool.

9.jpg

Holy water? Not exactly. Test fitting it to the wheel cylinder on the car, a couple of problems became apparent. #1, as you start to spread the tool, it opens in a V, meaning by the time you spread it enough to straddle the wheel cylinder, the tips are approaching some very small holes at an angle. Straight on would be much better. #2, be it due to corrosion, dirt, or tips that are too big, they would not go into the holes they were meant to fit. #3, during one attempt to retract the jaws back together, the circlip or e-clip at the other end of the tools threaded shaft, which applies the retracting pressure on the outside of the jaw...it went missing. Never did find it. Fortunately my stash of assorted fasteners included a tray of clip, and I had an e-clip that worked. Now the tool is back in action, but not working thus far. SO more time wasted. Also burned time cobbling together the fittings to add one of those disposable water traps to the end of my air nozzle, so I could blow air through the portion of the wheel cylinder I have not disassembled.

Keep in mind, this is a very tight work space, thus no photos. And I want to get my nose about 8-10 inches from where I'm working, but even with 4.5x readers, I can't see that close up.

Now we're on try 6 or 7, and it just is not working. Tried it with the brake pipe out of the way, but fluid is pouring out, and no way to cap it without seriously bending the pipe away from the wheel cylinder. So I left it connected, thinking if I got the clip loose, and pull the cylinder in with the line on it, I can take it off then.

Looking more closely at the tool, of you have a pair of snap-ring pliers with interchangeable tips, it's sort designed like that. The actual tips are 6 sided stock, like an Allen key. The very end where they are supposed to slip behind the clip, they are half milled away to make them thin. Problem is, unlike a snap ring pliers with a round tip, there is now an orientation to those tips, to keep the flat surface vertical. And guess how one of the holders is machine for grabbing that 6 sides stock? That's right, it hold the bit crooked, or clocked wrong. Tried to adjust it, but it just slips back. Can't fix that.

So I grabbed two small trim nails...a thin finish nail. I tapped them in past the clip, and they stayed and were tight. So far so good. Now to use the special tool to spread those nails (and thus the clip) at their base. This works so-so. The nails spread at the free end pretty substantially, and the tool wants to slide up that V as you spread it. But it sorta worked...felt like it made some progress. And those nails are now super loose, where I had to tap them in. Maybe some progress?

I switched to larger finish nails, like 8 penny or so. Tapped them in, and applied the tool again. Seemed to be working, and holding the tool in one hand, I grabbed my kotter pin hook tool and put it behind the wheel cylinder casting, and pulled. It moved out. Repeated on the other side, and it had clearly pulled away from the backing plate. I wedged a mid-sized straight blade screw driver behind the wheel cylinder to stop the wheel cylinder from slipping back. Removed the tool and nails, then the brake pipe. Capped the pipe, and I need dinner and a margarita.

Nails, special tool, and hook tool.

15.jpg

Brake shoe still attached to the brake cable, and held to the hub with a bungee cord so it did not dangle in the path of the dripping brake fluid. Pipe capped with a rubber plug.

12.jpg

The trouble maker (I hope) removed. I'll dissect it after dinner. My back and knees need a break.

13.jpg

[MP81]

I guess maybe I am missing something...but what were you trying to accomplish here? I'd think any of that degree should have bled out when you bled those wheel cylinders.

Also...why are you working on a holiday off of work???

[DynoDave]

This was removing the driver side rear drum brake wheel cylinder. Rather then being bolted to the backing place as they were for generations, the later cars used a round clip with two ear that snap into pockets machined into the sides of the wheel cylinder. Age this all 35 years, turn everything brown with rust, and try to work with your head hung over the top of the drum, looking down at something too close to you to focus on, and it's a bit of a pain. They are infamously difficult to remove.

wheel cylinder.png

The orange and red lines show where those ears go against the side of the wheel cylinder, where the cylinder pokes through the backing plate. The green arrows indicate where that "special tool" and it's tips are supposed to slide in, and then you expand the tool to force the clip ears out. Sounds good in theory, not so good in practice.

This is the corner I could not get any fluid out of when I tried to bleed the brakes.

[MP81]

Good god, that is a horrible setup...why on Earth...

When I did the Cav, it was just bolted in, which makes a whole lot more sense. I see why you had to deal with all that now...ugh.

[DynoDave]

Yes, I've done some bolt-ins in my life, but this was the first one of these. If you see the General trying to bring this design back, be sure to smack the engineer up side the head for me, please.

You should see the service manual art....they show working on that backing plate like it was a clock hanging on the wall. NOTHING else exists in the universe except this magical floating backing plate. Now I get it....you can't get a decent photo of the environment, period. Then add two tools and two technicians arms, and yeah, you'd see nothing. So it's necessary, but also amplifies how ridiculous access to this space is, especially when you have to fight with a special tool and an unusual design.

The new cylinder is in place with the pipe connected and gravity bled, which it does well now, just like the other side. I'll wrestle with that clip and the rest of the drum system this evening. With any luck, onward to the front discs next.

[MP81]

Yeah that is...beyond strange...can't say I foresee that making a comeback (partially because drum brakes are almost extinct).

[DynoDave]

Sadly, just been too busy this week to et anything meaningful done. Got my fuel filter bracket media blasted, primed and painted, fasteners too. Not very exciting stuff, and not a pace that's going to get me where I need to go.

[MP81]

At least it's some kind of progress. Better than nothing.