Houston we've got a problem..

[8v-of-fury]

So i go to do the most basic of basic things today on the gf's 90.

New shoes, hardware, drums and bearings. Also picked up the wheel cylinders just in case it needs them.. Get everything torn down, fight with the springs to get it all back together, new shoes on little adjuster all the way up, all the slack taken out of the e-brake cable, drum will NOT go on. It looks like its being held up by at least 1/16" of brake shoe.. Tap the shoes all around thinking maybe I have it off center blah blah... nothing.. Not only that nightmare but my fussing has caused the cylinder to weep.. meaning it needs to be replaced, guess what! the little nut on the end of the brake line rounded off... JFC.

I am in dire need of help on this one guys.. Even the old drum won't fit back on.. I'm up siht creek without a paddle.

What is causing the hold up on new drums and new shoes? Drums are same size as the old ones, and the shoes are as well.. I dont get it..

PLEASE GOD HELP ME

[R.O.R-2.0]

So i go to do the most basic of basic things today on the gf's 90.

New shoes, hardware, drums and bearings. Also picked up the wheel cylinders just in case it needs them.. Get everything torn down, fight with the springs to get it all back together, new shoes on little adjuster all the way up, all the slack taken out of the e-brake cable, drum will NOT go on. It looks like its being held up by at least 1/16" of brake shoe.. Tap the shoes all around thinking maybe I have it off center blah blah... nothing.. Not only that nightmare but my fussing has caused the cylinder to weep.. meaning it needs to be replaced, guess what! the little nut on the end of the brake line rounded off... JFC.

I am in dire need of help on this one guys.. Even the old drum won't fit back on.. I'm up siht creek without a paddle.

What is causing the hold up on new drums and new shoes? Drums are same size as the old ones, and the shoes are as well.. I dont get it..

PLEASE GOD HELP ME

did you shorten the adjuster up? there is an adjuster under the wheel cylinders on all the cars ive serviced, that part must be retarcted to as short as you can get it, then adjusted to proper tension..

as for the rounded off flare nut, just grab it with vice grips and loosen it. no big deal.. ive done it lots of times.. you really need an 11mm tubing wrench for doing the brakes on a VW tho..

[Quantum TD]

Hmm. That wedge piece needs to be ALL the way up. It's the piece that's tear-drop shaped with a tensioning spring on it. If not, the shoes will stick out too much.

Also, with new drums, I usually completely remove the nuts from the e-brake cable in the cab, until I get the wedge properly tensioned. Then I reinstall the nuts. Maybe that's your problem.

[8v-of-fury]

got it figured out... I had the ebrake cable fully retracted and loosened in the cabin, however it was what was causing the hang-up.. it was spreading the pads ever so slightly (About 1/16"....) and not allowing the drum to slide on. But why? I would think that an old cable with some stretch shouldnt have this problem?

I had to leave it unhooked for right now, as this needed to be back on the road for tomorrow bright and early.

Any ideas why it was causing this B.S to happen?

[nathan_b]

yeah,

drum brakes suck. 

if it drags with cable hooked up and doesnt when it is disconnected, must be the cable or something e brake related in that mess of springs and levers.

Sure it's assembled right? I do it for a living and still only do one side at a time and sometimes still get turned around with all the springs, and things being a part ways mirror image.

like I said, drum brakes suck, throw some mk3 rear brakes on that bad boy.

[Baron VonZeppelin]

In addition to the other possibilities previously mentioned.

There are 2 diff sizes of shoes/drums for mk2.
10mm or 20mm difference between them. forgot already

You "might" have gotten mixed-match parts.
Like big shoes and little drums.

And also, some brand shoes just aren't made right.
(lack of attention to details on emergency brake arm)
I went through that with my Truck.

[R.O.R-2.0]

yeah,

drum brakes suck. 

if it drags with cable hooked up and doesnt when it is disconnected, must be the cable or something e brake related in that mess of springs and levers.

Sure it's assembled right? I do it for a living and still only do one side at a time and sometimes still get turned around with all the springs, and things being a part ways mirror image.

like I said, drum brakes suck, throw some mk3 rear brakes on that bad boy.

mk3s come with drums tho most of the time? most of the mk3s ive seen atleast.. and i believe the mk3 rear beam is wider than the mk2 rear beam?

[8v-of-fury]

TBH I actually like drum brakes over discs.. Not for their performance, complexity or lack of stopping power.. But because I've been doing them longer than discs. I was 15 and my first car (67 mercury) had manual drums all around good place to learn.

Also yes the majority of mk3's I have seen have drums. GLS ones seem to be the disc population.. However my gf's sister had two mk3's last year.. Both 95's, both 2.0L, one stick and one auto. The stick had drums, the auto had discs.. Go Figure.

[R.O.R-2.0]

TBH I actually like drum brakes over discs.. Not for their performance, complexity or lack of stopping power.. But because I've been doing them longer than discs. I was 15 and my first car (67 mercury) had manual drums all around good place to learn.

Also yes the majority of mk3's I have seen have drums. GLS ones seem to be the disc population.. However my gf's sister had two mk3's last year.. Both 95's, both 2.0L, one stick and one auto. The stick had drums, the auto had discs.. Go Figure.

then its all personal preference.. because from my experiences, there is NOTHING better about drums..

it takes 10 mins to service disk brakes. it takes 10 minutes to get the drum off drum brakes.. lol.

and disks stop you soo much faster.. holy crap, the difference from drums to disks is night and day!

[8v-of-fury]

Yup when I get my tdi all finished up my attention is gonna switch to that same 67 mercury and I will be in the market for some power brakes for one, and a front disc conversion for another. They share the same crap as a mustang, so it should be fairly easy and inexpensive to obtain all new parts.

I don't mind drums on the back of cars, cheaper and when they only provide %25 of the breaking force? Why bother lol

[the caveman]

Ever replace discs on a Mk3 Jetta carat after it's been in 6 or more years of Montreal winters? Then you would hate them as much as i do.
I will admit they are better for racing ,or if you live in the mountains, otherwise...

[Syncroincity]

Ya, MKIII rear disk brakes are no picnic either, you get about 30K per set of calipers before the e-brake actuator lever freezes up & you need to replace them.

[8v-of-fury]

So the B.S continues...

I go to do the other side today (because i ran way to late on the last side and its shenanigans), friggan cake walk this time to get the old stuff off, cylinder out, cylinder in, shoes together, bearings pressed.. Get it all back together, go to bleed I get a little bit that comes out.. then nothing.. pump pump pump pump pump pump dribbles.. NOTHING. PEDAL GOES STRAIGHT TO THE FLOOR. Seriously ? did this actually have to happen?

[Quantum TD]

Yeah. Can't push an old MC to the floor. You can only press the same range of motion as before, or you run the risk of tearing the seals on the internal rust. That's why it's good to bleed with a Mity Vac.

[8v-of-fury]

Crap. I have a 98 MC from a jetta.. Any chance I can use it??