The 510 Realm

I am rebuild the rear brakes on my 71 wagon. New wheel cylinders and shoes. I have everything installed but am having trouble getting the drums back on. It feels like everything has grown a little bit. I have not bled the brake yet, so I know that there should be room. Any help

Are the wheel cylinder adjusters backed out all of the way? I have had to "dress" Portefield pads before because I was having the same problem you are having. I did it on a flat surface with a piece of 100 emery cloth taped to the table.

It looks like the adjusters are all the in. It was 20 years ago the last time I worked on drum brakes. It might be a good time to purchase the 510 manual. In the mean time I think start over from step one, and reinstall everyting again. Unless someone has an idea.

scottrosenberg wrote:I have not bled the brake yet, so I know that there should be room. Any help

if that doesnt allow the cylinders to fully retract, then try 'dressing' the shoes.

E brake cable backed off too????

What brand of shoes? Some cheaper aftermarket stuff might not be exactly within spec.

However, even with Datsun NOS, I still had to adjust the shoes vertically a bit to get the drum to fit the first time. When you replace them, there's a decent amount of room for 'em to move up and down. Likely you just have to get the shoes into the sweet spot and you'll be GTG.

Did you disassemble the adjusters to clean and grease them? If not, there could be crap inside them keeping them from collapsing fully. Just a possiblility.

I've found with a set that the shoes nubs that sit on the adjusters and the cylinders needed to be ground down a bit. Now I don't know why this was to be but after a grinding they fit in my 510 just fine. I was told I had shoes for the 240Z not the 510, yes they were after markets. Don't know fersure as I haven't done rear Z brakes in 30+ years.

Thanks for all of the insight to my brake problems. Got the problem fixed with your help, everything went back together great. One last question on the brake adjuster, once I backed it in all of the way, and everything is together, what is the correct setting for good brake wear?

The wheels should be tight to turn by hand, but not hard to turn. I usually adjust them in until they become hard to turn, then back off one "click".