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Hunter=> my rear drum brake pads seem to be frozen. ... the adjusting
=> stars would barely move.
Assuming that your brakes are working, the simplest and therefore most
likely answer is that the adjusters are jammed with crud. I've seen this
frequently when people neglect to keep plugs in the adjusting holes. It
indicates that you really need to get in there and clean things up
anyway, so you might just as well pull the hubs (arrgh!) and do it
right. I've found I can usually free up stuck adjusters with a pair of
channellocks and a few squirts of Liquid Wrench. Just keep the lubricant
off the pads and drum. Oh yeah, and be sure to get some adjustment
plugs.
=> If you could tell me how to do this and give me some directions
=> (remember I am mechanically incompetent) I would greatly appreciate
=> it.
Pulling the hub is the hard part, and it's laid out well in the Muir
manual. Assuming you don't have air tools and a huge compressor, you'll
need a 36mm socket or the flat iron hub tool sold in every competent VW
parts shop, a serious breaker bar and a six-foot pipe.
With the car on the ground, put it in gear, set the handbrake and block
the wheel really well in both directions. Remove hub cap. Remove cotter
pin in castle nut. Apply penetrating oil to castle nut. Apply socket/hub
tool to castle nut, insert breaker bar so that you'll push down to get
the nut off (counterclockwise on both sides), and put the pipe on the
breaker bar. Make *sure* everything's really solid, otherwise you get
hurt. Stand on end of pipe and jump up and down until it gives.
Jack up the wheel, put the axle on a jackstand, and remove the castle
nut. The wheel and hub will then slide off together, although if your
car is really funky it might be a struggle. With the hub off the brake
is in front of you and defenseles against your tender ministrations.
=> the hoses that go from the brake fluid resevoir to the master
=> cylinder are very dry rotted.
Except for a couple of short connector hoses, your car came with
hardlines from the reservoir to the master, and that's what you should
put back in. Jim Adney will be able to give you detailed instructions and
parts when he gets back; someone else here might also be able to help.
Be advised, brakes are *really important*, not to be messed around with,
and you'll at least need a good manual and a clear understanding of it.
Steven Ayres, Prescott AZ
'66 KGhia 1600