Triumph Repair: breaks, needle nose pliers, auto parts stores

Question
QUESTION: keep up the good work off helping out people and speading your knowlage!

 my question is how do you get the "retaining clips" of the rear breaks as they appear to be stuck. also is the adjuster wedge/body (looks like the wheel cylinder but at the bottom of the shoe) does this effect if the breaks work e.g. do i need to replace it?          may i add: I HATE BRAKES

ANSWER: Jack,

Don't hate brakes.. they keep you from having worse breaks.  

Seriously, to remove the retainers a) carefully support the back end of the car with proper car jacks, b) remove the wheel, c) remove the drum and d) reach behind the backing plate and hold the pin in place with one hand while you turn the pin with a pair of needle nose pliers.  It usually helps to push in on the spring clip at the same time.

The adjuster screw has a cone (or pyramid) shape on the inner end and it hits two angle blocks that push on the brake shoes, making the adjustment.  

Typically with age/neglect the adjuster screw rusts into place.  

If the adjuster is in really bad shape you'll need to replace it but typically they can be cleaned up and reused.

You can easily remove the adjuster by undoing the two small nuts on the back side of the backing plate.  Carefully pull it apart, use steel wool or a small wire brush to clean off the gunk/rust, taking care to dispose of the dust as it can contain asbestos.  

Lube the screw and the wedges using anti-seize compound (auto parts stores) and bolt it back in and it should give several more years of faithful service before needing attention again.

Properly adjusted the brake shoes should be almost touching the drum with the brakes off... it takes a little patience to figure out the first couple of times.

Cheers,

Jim

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks for the advice, got everything sorted, however i have encoutered a new problem. i am trying to replace the break cyilander, i have managed to achive this on the the left hand side of the car. but on the other set of rear breaks i am finding it imposiable to take off the break pump ( the tube which pumps the break fluid in to the cyilander). i managed to take it off on the other set of shoes as there was a clearly defined bolt which could be un-tightened however on the other shoes which i am having a problem with, there is no bolt and it appears to have been welded on to the break cyilander. i have came to the conculsion that the only way to take it off is to cut it and replace it with a new one(break pump), so finaly, i was wondering where i could bye a "break pump" from and how much it would be.

 i also have a problem how to attach the "break pump" back on to the new cyilander as i attempted this with the set of shoes i managed to dismantel fully but it did not seem to fit or tighten on to the new (and even the old) break cyilander (maby the privious owner had the same problem and had to weld it on leaving me with my original problem)

 any advise would be greatly appriated.    
thanks again, jack

Answer
Hi Jack,

How about we use the term "brake" for the system and parts that stop the car?  When they stop working then they break.

I think what you're calling as the "break pump" is the steel brake line that connects to the wheel cylinder?

There's a good list of vendors on the Vintage Triumph Register website (www.VTR.org), one of them can supply a new one.  Or you can look in the classifieds for used brake lines... just give me a few minutes to post my ad.  ;)  (just kidding about the ad).

When you get ready to put it all together it's worth spending the $$ on a decent quality "line wrench", it's a box end wrench with a cutout to fit over the brake line.  It will keep you from damaging the brake line fitting, which is probably what caused the previous owner to weld the brake pipe to the wheel cylinder.

Then again the wheel cylinder is aluminum and the brake line is steel... maybe brass or lead was used?  Or JB Weld?


Cheers,

Jim