The Ford Capri Laser Page

Owen, I don't know if you've done drum brakes before, usually it's 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions with a wide screwdriver or chisel and try to jiggle between backplate and drum. Are you near Manchester?

I've not done the drum brakes on a Capri yet,only on my Cortina and Sierra,and the wheel cylinder is at 12 o'clock position. I've just checked,on the Capri they sit in this position

And,a tip,drill a small window in the backplate where the cogged adjusting ratchet is,so you can adjust the shoes with a screwdriver when the drum and wheel is on. This is what I have done on my Cortina.

That looks like a good tip

Undo the handbrake cable & rod from the rear arms. Take off the plastic back-stop that is fixed to the arm with a little plastic pin. Hammer the arms toward the backplate to remove any tension working on the shoes. These arms are renowned for seizing at the spindle so they might be working against you! The drum will have a wear-lip around the back edge and the shoes may have self-adjusted outwards which can mean they catch behind this wear-lip, this affects the tops of the shoes as this is what both operating mechanisms (foot & handbrake) work on, the bottoms are just against a fixed mount. Try to work the bottom of the drum off first, if it does move off the hub flange a bit then tap it back on half that amount, this re-settles the shoes stopping the rearmost edges catching the lip on the drum, they tend to twist inwards as the drum pulls them meaning the rearmost outer edges effectively 'put the brake on'. Keep moving the drum off a bit then back on a smaller amount. Newspaper or cardboard on the floor will collect the big pile of black dust that will drop out.

Did this ever get resolved?
And is it all set up and working properly now?

Bug wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:46 pm Did this ever get resolved?
And is it all set up and working properly now?

Looks like we may never know Martin.

It's incredibly rude, after all the help given.

Wow, thanks for all the tips guys, I’m currently in Africa and have been since the beginning of January, hopefully home by the end of April. I’m not being rude just don’t have access to internet or the car!
I’ll be having another bash at it when I get home.

Owen

Owent2005 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:30 am Wow, thanks for all the tips guys, I’m currently in Africa and have been since the beginning of January, hopefully home by the end of April.

Thanks Owen, good luck when you get back to working on the car, and stay safe!

Owent2005 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:30 am Wow, thanks for all the tips guys, I’m currently in Africa and have been since the beginning of January, hopefully home by the end of April. I’m not being rude just don’t have access to internet or the car!
I’ll be having another bash at it when I get home.

Owen

Hi Owen, thanks for the update.
Hope you get home safe and get the brakes sorted.

To be honest, at the moment the whole world's handbrake is sticking a bit so you have nothing to worry about.

Good morning all,

After being out of the country for a while I’ve finally managed to finish what I started before Christmas.

In the end the drums came off once I sprayed penetrating oil on the studs (allowing the oil to go between the drum and the hub) and giving it a tap with a hammer between the studs. The hub then wiggled off.

Not as drastic as I thought it would be but having never done drums before, didn’t want to force anything without checking for tips.

Thanks for the pointers,

Owen

Well done for the perseverance. Will you need to change the brake shoes or cylinders or are they in ok shape ? Make sure everything is clean and the adjusters are working freely before reassembly . Clean off the holes in the drums where the studs pass through with some rough sandpaper and smear the tiniest bit of grease there to prevent them sticking again.

I replaced the shoes, although I think the issue was the seized handbrake linkage and shoe automatic adjuster, (I initially started the job as the braking system as a whole was suspect and the front brakes looked ok). I cleaned everything up and applied a little copper grease on the hub between the studs to prevent the drum sticking to it again. The cylinders looked ok but will be keeping an eye on the rear braking system for a while. Thanks again for the pointers.

Owen