One of the last projects I did on my Datsun before sending it back to my brother was freshen up the drum brakes. I had recently got it running and when driving it around the block for a test run, I realized the brakes were really bad. It was pretty damn scary.
I would bleed the brakes, but when I started driving, the pedal kept losing pressure. I assumed it was a leak in the rear wheel cylinder(s).
This was the first time I ever did work on drum brakes and I had to ask a friend for a lot of help and tips. We also did not have those special drum brakes tools so it was a little more difficult than it could be.
Jacked up the car and placed it on jackstands. Made sure the car was solid and was not going to roll or fall when I was under it. Also, many people have told me that drum brakes should be done one side at a time. This was good advice as I could use the unfinished side as reference.
Very first thing I had problems with was removing the drums. They were on pretty tight. I had assumed that it would be easy to just pull off. It wasn't. There was a lot of pounding with a mallet but eventually, we got it off.
From visual inspection, we saw that the wheel cylinders were leaking.
There was a spring loaded rod holding the drums in. To remove it, I had to push the spring in and turn the rod until it aligned with the hole on the spring's cap.
After removing all of those springs, the brake shoes pretty much came right out. Along with the shoes were the springs that everyone complains about.
I think most people use a special tool for those springs. A tool that we did not have. This made things difficult when
trying to put the brakes back together.
The wheel cylinders were the next thing that needed removal. I tried to take a picture of the cylinder on my car. It is connected to the hard brake line.
I did not have a brake flare nut wrench so this was a scary part to remove. I took my time and tried really hard not to round off the nut.
The cylinders are held into place with metal clips. Kind of a pain to remove.
This is a photo of the wheel cylinder installed on the car.
After installing the wheel cylinder, I reinstalled the brake lines and the retaining springs. I resurfaced the brake drums and put it back on and bled the brakes.
Did a test run in and out of the garage but the brakes still did not feel really tight. Bled the brakes a few more times but it never really felt good.
Eventually, my friend called a more knowledgeable guy to come and look at the car. He said that the master cylinder needs to be bled really well on the Datsuns. He did it, and the brakes felt solid.
I am no longer afraid of working on drum brakes. It was a major pain getting the shoes back on the car without the proper tools but with some patience, it was done. We still had to call in someone to complete the job, but I learned about the master cylinder. So next time I could just do it myself.
