Hi
MoT due so thought I'd check rear brake shoe wear to avoid being told 'rear shoes need replacing, that'll be £150'. Couldn't find any info re this here or on my Panda workshop disk.
There is a small oval-ish black plastic cover on back of drum which I prised off. But with the handbrake off or on all I could see at any angle was a shiny metal 'lever'? and in the whole background a metal surface - no friction material/layers visible. Erm... what should I be seeing and am I being a pratt? Is there another inspection hole I'm missing? The brakes aren't graunching and all seems fine but I thought I would see a thickness of friction material.
Thanks

sounds to me like your seeing the back of the auto adjuster......

i would think your drums come apart like this

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto-guides/235078-rear-drum-strip-clean.html

I have have never found the black plastic disc you mentioned. Some brake drums have an inspection hole, but you really need to see the whole shoe to decide how good it is. It is best to take the drum off - just remove the wheel and the two set screws (one of them has a register peg on it) and the drum should come off easily by hand if the car has been serviced properly. If it doesn't come off easily it could be because it is stuck on the hub or because of the wear ridge inside the drum (if there is a wear ridge it should be cleaned off before refitting the drums. Before refitting the drums smear a little copper grease on the hub to stop the drum sticking, a stitch in time saves nine!

alban said:

Hi
MoT due so thought I'd check rear brake shoe wear to avoid being told 'rear shoes need replacing, that'll be £150'.

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As Andy Monty says, to check them properly you need to remove the drums.

All I'd add is the easiest way to get them off is to screw a couple of bolts (M8 from memory) into the holes left in the drums after you've taken out the 2 wheel locating studs - these holes are tapped for this very purpose. Tighten them evenly & they'll pull off even the most stubbornly rusted drums.

Comment applies equally to the drum braked 500's.

David Bliss said:

Before refitting the drums smear a little copper grease on the hub to stop the drum sticking, a stitch in time saves nine!

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Good advice. Same applies to alloy wheels, smear a little copper grease on the mating surface where they meet the hub and it won't be so frigging hard to get them off next time.

I have to say the faff that comes with inspecting drum brakes is one of the reasons I plan on converting the back end of my 500 so it runs the same rear discs as on the 1.4 and Abarth and put either 1.4 or Abarth discs and calipers on the front.

306maxi said:

I have to say the faff that comes with inspecting drum brakes is one of the reasons I plan on converting the back end of my 500 so it runs the same rear discs as on the 1.4 and Abarth and put either 1.4 or Abarth discs and calipers on the front.

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No faff at all if you keep the mating surfaces greased - it only takes a minute or two to pull the drums off once the wheels are removed. Keeping rear discs properly maintained is likely to be more of an effort, since they're ideally placed to collect all the muck & you really need to strip them down and reapply copper grease each spring if you don't want them to squeak, rattle, stick or seize.

jrkitching said:

No faff at all if you keep the mating surfaces greased - it only takes a minute or two to pull the drums off once the wheels are removed. Keeping rear discs properly maintained is likely to be more of an effort, since they're ideally placed to collect all the muck & you really need to strip them down and reapply copper grease each spring if you don't want them to squeak, rattle, stick or seize.

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Perhaps. Tbh I've not heard any complaints from 1.4 500 owners about squeaking rear brakes. Winter tyre changeover day would be a good day to clean any crud out of the rear brakes anyway.