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MG MGA - Brake drum removal

I have a drum removal problem. Seems the shoes are dragging a bit and the adjuster is not budging. Of course, this is making it impossible to remover the drum. The cars been sitting for at least 15 years.

Short of cutting it off... any ideas?

...
MAndrus

can you undo the fixed pivot from the rear of the backplate?
more wiggle room
Art Pearse

Heating the drum might help. Cheers - Dave
DW DuBois

Have you soaked the adjusters in WD40 or similar through the adjuster hole and then left several days? It might write of the lining but you are probably replacing them anyhow.

Paul
Paul Dean

Also once you have done as I said you could try hard hammer hits straight on the adjuster slot as presumably it is rusted to one or both of the surfaces of the adjusters and this may separate them. Do try not to damage the screws as you will obviosly still need to turn them, but adjusters could be bent back if necessary, and replacements don't cost much.

Paul
Paul Dean

Probably a silly question but I assume you have removed the two flat retaining screws from the drum face? Barney also mentions this in his guide to the problem.

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/brakes/bt105.htm

Steve
Steve Gyles

Wow all good answers....

I usually use heavy hammer with a large face and pound around the drum. Dont go crazy use enough force to nudge it around if it will budge. I try to get a tire iron or pry bar between the rear dust cover and the brake drum tapping the hammer from side to side while prying from side to side. Dont kill the thing..but just see if you make progress. You should get somewhere with it. If stubborn I do like DW DuBois says.

Ive taken some really stuck drums off with an air chisel with a very blunt tip. The small vibrations in the right spots will walk the drum off...but be careful not to damage anything.

One thing to note when you rebuild the brakes wich it took me a long time to learn. Make sure the drums havent been cut to far out..youll struggle to get a good pedal and be frustated in your efforts to get one.

Goodluck!
Steven Devine

Got it. I turned the drum every time I got the drum to move 1/2" or so which allowed the shoes to 'relax' their grip a bit.

The slight ridge at the inside edge didn't help.

The adjuster wasn't stuck, it was turned all the way loose.

...
MAndrus

HA HA HA ....and on a Thursday night no less!

You are a determined man!
Steven Devine

Striping the chassis is easy...

I'm shooting for a car show in late May.

...
MAndrus

This thread was discussed between 17/09/2015 and 18/09/2015

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.