Technical Fitting new rear brake shoes on Sei?

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Technical Fitting new rear brake shoes on Sei?

Hallsy200sx

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Hi, first post here and have come for some advice.
My other half owns a '98 Seicento Sporting Abarth, basically the brakes or handbrake are never great and every year they have to free off the adjusters at MOT time.
It's due an MOT soon and I said I'd sort the rear brakes out for her. Haven't seen a manual for it, but brakes are usually pretty simple, just after a few pointers really.
So, firstly, how is it easiest to remove the hub nut? I don't have a compressor so will use a breaker bar, can you get through to it with the wheel on or is there no centre cap? (Abarth wheels)
Secondly, I've heard people having trouble with springs, are these the tensioners or something for the shoes? What is usually the problem?
I plan to get both shoes and h/b adjusters, anything else I should consider?
Basically after any advice so I don't get caught out!!
Cheers.
 
Eyup mate. I did the same thing from a similar standpoint as you last month on my car. It is a really simple setup (apparently) so there should be no major probs.

It is fairly self explanatory and simple once you get in there. Just do everything in reverse when you put it back together. There is no need to remove the centre nut. Just the screws on the outside and if it struggles to work off, give it a whack with a rubber mallet. If this still doesn't work, do remove the centre nut for move leverage but do be aware if you do this, the wheel bearing will undo itself in your hand if you don't take your time and remove the lot. Just a little note from experiance.
 
Excellent, cheers for that, I'd have removed the centre nut without even really looking at the drums!!
So the outer part of the drum is just bolted through to the inner part and will just pull (hopefully!!) off?
 
Hallsy200sx said:
So the outer part of the drum is just bolted through to the inner part and will just pull (hopefully!!) off?

Yup, the centre nuts are 'one shot' so would need replaced if removed. There should be cut outs in the hub to allow the shoes to be easily removed but aftermarket hubs seem to be complete, which makes it a bit more difficult.

Read the sticky about rear brakes, it all makes perfect sense

Cheers

D
 
Well, just wipped the wheel off and can't see the screws that have been mentioned?? The only fixings I can see are the four wheel studs and the centre hub nut???
Can anyone help me out a little, where should I be seeing the fixing screws? At the moment it looks like you would undo the hubnut and lever the front of the drum off, but I've been told that's not the right way to do it and I would disturb wheel bearing??
 
The small bolts are 12mm head ones, you'll see the holes in the drums where they are supposed to be if they've been taken out - they often are for fitting aftermarket wheels.

To get the drum off, bat them with a rubber mallet (or hammer and large lump of wood)to free the grip on the centre spigot, they do tend to stick on a bit.

Hope this is of some use,
 
if you are having trouble removing the drums cos of a lip stopping them sliding off the shoes, try slackening the handbrake cable right off. might give you that bit extra play. this will also ensure the rear brakes and handbrake are set up correctly.
 
I had to replace the shoes on my Sei last week and had some excellent advice from an ex-Fiat techie at my local dealer - here goes......
1. Having removed the wheel, remove the shouldered bolt and pronged stud (12mm) holding the drum to the hub.
2. Gently tap the drum on its face to break any corrosion seal with the hub.
3. Make sure that the handbrake cable is slack - if the adjusting lever that goes into the back of the hub is seized, you may have to lever it back to allow the drum to clear the shoes.
4. Remove the hub... this may not be necessary but I could not see how to remove the shoes & return springs any other way as the friction adjusters are mounted on a pivot. If you do remove the hub, be carefull not to lose the inner wheel bearings as they are only partially caged. To remove the hub you will need a 30mm socket and you are supposed to replace the "use once only" nut. I fitted the wheel back onto the hub with a couple of wheel studs to help pull the hub off the stub axle.
5.With the hub off it is fairly easy to replace the shoes (don't forget to remove the locating pin and spring-clip on each shoe). Use a flat bar (or a broad spanner) to lever the new shoes home against the friction adjuster for minimum adjustment.
6. Fitting the bottom spring is a sod. Use a steel spike to lever one end of the spring over its locating hole then use a screwdriver to push the end fully home.
The rest is easy....good luck!
 
Righ5t, these 12mm bolt's (opr at least the head) are they meant to be on the drum face, or one the side of he drum? There is a hole (maybe 2) on the face of the drum where possibly a bolt has been before.
If people remove these, how does the drum cover stay on?
Looks like my wheels studs are fastened to the front of the drum, so if this came loose the wheel would come off?
I reckpn the fixings on gf's have been removed, I'll try nocking the front of the drum off.
 
The two holes would be for the 12mm headed bolts. Standard wheels have a cut out in the back of them to accomodate the bolt heads, aftermarket ones do not.

The drums are then held on with the wheel bolts, which they would be anyway. The small bolts are to locate the drum so that the hub does not turn independantly inside the drum. The lack of bolts can make lining the wheel up a bit of a sod if the hub moves, but its not insurmountable. If it does cause a problem it can be worth getting two bits of round bar about 4 inches long threaded at one end so that they can be screwed into the hub, the wheel lifted over them and aligned, then attached with two bolts before removing the rods and fitting the other two bolts.

Cheers

D
 
another tip if you are taking the hubs off for whatever reason
swap the 'use once only' hub nuts side to side, that way you get a second use out of them as they will tighten in a different spot to the locking groove.
saves 10 quid on nuts! :D
 
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