Technical Best method to adjust new brake shoes and handbrake ?

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Technical Best method to adjust new brake shoes and handbrake ?

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Hi all

My 112 has the same rear brake arrangement as the 127 and the 128 .
I have changed both rear wheel cylinders , fixing springs and shoes .

What the best way to reset the shoe adjusters and handbrake adjustment .

Thanks
Alex
 
Hi all

My 112 has the same rear brake arrangement as the 127 and the 128 .
I have changed both rear wheel cylinders , fixing springs and shoes .

What the best way to reset the shoe adjusters and handbrake adjustment .

Thanks
Alex
Others may have different ideas, but for me where you have the friction pads with the strong spring type adjuster, you often find pattern brake shoes give a poor foot and handbrake as they can't compete with the brake return springs.
With the handbrake adjustment backed off and the shoes all correctly fitted I use a screwdriver to ease the shoes out slightly so that I can just get the brake drum on, tighten the securing bolt and then give the drum a tap with a copper mallet this allows the shoes to square up in the drum, but still takes up most of the slack, then I operate the hand and foot brake a few times and if the foot brake is acceptable I manually adjust the handbrake cable to feel right then check that the brake drums will spin easily. Finally I roadtest and check again to make sure spinning and not dragging.
If you can only obtain cheap pattern brake shoes with those weak adjusters then a possible fix is to weaken the tension on the return spring near the wheel cylinder slightly. This is a last resort to get a decent pedal and handbrake and not the recommended option.
 
Others may have different ideas, but for me where you have the friction pads with the strong spring type adjuster, you often find pattern brake shoes give a poor foot and handbrake as they can't compete with the brake return springs.
With the handbrake adjustment backed off and the shoes all correctly fitted I use a screwdriver to ease the shoes out slightly so that I can just get the brake drum on, tighten the securing bolt and then give the drum a tap with a copper mallet this allows the shoes to square up in the drum, but still takes up most of the slack, then I operate the hand and foot brake a few times and if the foot brake is acceptable I manually adjust the handbrake cable to feel right then check that the brake drums will spin easily. Finally I roadtest and check again to make sure spinning and not dragging.
If you can only obtain cheap pattern brake shoes with those weak adjusters then a possible fix is to weaken the tension on the return spring near the wheel cylinder slightly. This is a last resort to get a decent pedal and handbrake and not the recommended option.
Well, seem to have a good pedal I need to adjust nthe handbrake lever down to 3 from 6!
 
Well, seem to have a good pedal I need to adjust nthe handbrake lever down to 3 from 6!
Should be all good then, always best to check after roadtest in case any binding from over adjustment.
Depending on car but I always liked to have the wheels spinning free, then one click on handbrake you can start to feel it slight drag but by the time I got to three clicks I could undo or tighten the wheel nuts with car off the ground, but that is my preference.
 
126’s were the best,drums front and rear,we had to loosen/unwind hand brake cables,drive forward and backwards slamming the brakes on till we had a foot brake,then adjust the handbrake manually.This adjusted the friction pads on the shoes.
 
126’s were the best,drums front and rear,we had to loosen/unwind hand brake cables,drive forward and backwards slamming the brakes on till we had a foot brake,then adjust the handbrake manually.This adjusted the friction pads on the shoes.
Yes, exactly the same and do the same backwards and forwards fit the handbrake…we used this for 127/128 and early stradas…we carried on using this technique for the MK1 panda, as it worked wonders for centralising everything up and getting ‘full contact’ on shoes/drums.
Some may say that it’s a short cut to doing it ‘properly’, on the car, on a ramp and manually, and, in my apprentice days, ‘we’ would check we weren’t being taken for a ride by the experienced spanners. Actually working the brakes on the car did work better for longer!
 
PS…jealous you have an A122, often fancied one
Think I’ve only ever worked on four in my entire Fiat/Lancia/Alfa career.
My g’dads neighbours son had a beautiful metallic gunmetal Abarth, LHD
 
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