Putting the knuckle together went pretty much the same as the other side. Continue reading “Left front brake assembly”
Tag: brakes
Brake lines and booster
I got the driver’s side front brake line run. It is the shortest brake line on the car and just hooks under the frame. It would be tricky to cut and flare this line so I changed the routing a bit so I could use the length as-is. I also crimped the stupid line a bit but I think it will be fine.
Here is a fuzzy shot of the other end with the brake hose temporarily attached.
I also pulled the power brake booster. It is a rusty mess from leaking brake fluid.
This boot on the pedal end of the booster is pretty far gone. I will have to try and find one.
Here is the pedal linkage. I should take this apart for cleaning, painting, and lubrication but at some point if I don’t stop taking the rusty bits off the whole car will be in pieces. So I will just lube this up and leave it as is.
I tested the booster as best I could by sucking on the vacuum port while holding the seal in place with a big socket. It seems to not leak so it should be good. I pulled the boot and grommet off and cleaned up the booster for painting. The masking tape is to keep the paint out of the important bits.
Painted the booster and hardware. This should be ready to install once I get the new master cylinder. I need see about replacing that boot too.
Even more cleaning and painting
Short day today with all the graduation parties so we mostly cleaned and painted parts. Fewer pictures this time because I already know how it all goes back together. First I tore down the second hub locker. Continue reading “Even more cleaning and painting”
Hub assembly
.Time to put the hub back together. Here are the wheel bearings and the new grease seal. Continue reading “Hub assembly”
Brake lines and more front brakes
Brake drum cleanup
I had to do spring maintenance on the Studebaker today so we did not get much done on the Jeep. I went after the rust and crud with a wire brush in a drill motor. I then cleaned it with a Brillo pad and water. Then I dried the drum and sanded the surface. This is what I ended up with. Not great but tolerable.
I also cleaned up the threaded bits with taps and dies. I just chased the threads in the hub, lug nuts, and wheel studs. I have several new lug nuts and was tempted to just replace them but decided to just use what I have.
I also got three tubes of John Deere Cornhead Grease to use in the steering knuckles. This is a very thin and slimy #0 grease that should be loose enough to lube the knuckle but thick enough not to run out. I cleaned up my backup grease gun and put this stuff in it.
Passenger side axle back together
Getting the knuckle seal on I spend a bit of time trying to get the rubber grease seal (red arrow) to snap into the knuckle before I realized I was making it too hard. I started putting the retainer on and used that to force the seal into place. Before I started I squirted oil on the felt seal (blue arrow) where it rubs on the ball. Not sure if that is necessary but it felt right.
Looks good. The bolts are snug but not stupid tight.
Next Rachael put the axle in while I put some sealer on the spindle. It took all of our hands to get the parts held in place while putting the bolts through so I did not get any pictures. Rachael torqued the bolts to 30 ft-lbs. I just guessed at that torque.
Next the “s” shaped little brake line and the new brake hose. We reused the old clip.
Brake hose is attached. Three more wheels to go!
While Rachael worked on the knuckle I was cleaning parts. Bearings look good.
Got the drum and hub de-greased too. The drum does not look worn at all. It was probably turned “recently”
Building the brakes back up
I only had a little time tonight so I decided to put the brakes back together. To help me do this later on the other 3 I will cover every step. Here we have to backing plate ready to rock.
The first step is bolting the wheel cylinder on. For some bizarre reason the car uses 4 unique wheel cylinders. Crazy. This is the one for the passenger side front.
Done.
Next these rods go in. I lubricated both ends of the rods.
Brake shoes go into the slots on the rods.
Next the retainer rod and spring go for the left (rear) shoe.
Next the ratcheting spring for the self-adjuster goes over the end of the rear shoe.
Here is the adjuster cleaned and lubricated. Hard to believe this cleaned up so well.
Self adjuster is in place on the ends of the shoes.
Then the other shoe’s retainer goes on.
The first of my new springs goes on next. This holds the self-adjuster together.
Then a new spring on the leading (front) shoes. These springs were $8 each but it is amazing how much stronger the new springs are than the old ones I took off.
Then the spring on the trailing shoe. Notice how they go next to each other.
Next the linkage for the self adjuster goes in. The pivot point screws into the trailing shoe.
Done. Looks purdy!
Passenger side front brake
I decided to do one wheel at a time on the brakes. Since the backing plate, hoses, and everything else are a rusty mess I decided to just remove everything. There are 6 bolts on 3 lock plates that hold everything together. Once I bent the tabs on the lock plates back I hit the bolts with an impact wrench.
With the backing plate and brakes out of the way I next removed the hose. The lower end is held on by two of the kingpin bolts. Impact wrench time again!
I had already removed the brake line from the upper end of the hose. So all I had to do to get the hose out was remove this rusty-ass clip. This is in pretty bad shape but might be salvageable.
After cleaning around it to try and keep dirt out of the axle I popped the spindle off. Here is the spindle and hardware. The spindle looks to be in good shape and the bushing inside it does not seem badly worn.
With the backing plate on the workbench this is the easiest brake job ever. I carefully photographed each step as I took the brakes apart. I am going to replace the cylinders and springs. Hopefully the rest can be saved.
Good thing I have new wheel cylinders. This is pretty gross. I could not get the piston to move at all. I will try and get these apart later but for now they go in the discard pile. Time for a massive parts-cleaning party.
I got everything painted but the backing plate. That will have to wait until next time though. It is too cold to keep painting tonight.
I also hit the frame where the brake hardware attaches with a wire brush. When it gets a little warmer I will paint all this too. But time to knock off for today.
Started on the brakes
Well the head is still at the machine shop and the radiator is off being re-cored so I decided to see where I am with the brakes. This picture is of the driver’s side front wheel and hub. That locking hub will have to go first.