Kiwi decided to pee down her leg the other day . A wheel cylinder gave up the ghost. I ordered two rear cylinders and a set of shoes from Seven and got to work.

The cylinders aren't hard to do at all . I put the shoes on and the drums won't go back over them. The adjusters are all the way in, the shoes are seated where they should be, but the drums ain't going on.The cylinders are the same as the originals - 3/4". I've even taken some emery cloth to the shoes trying to reduce the diameter and it still doesn't work.

Seven is off today - would this august group have any ideas?

 

Are the shoes installed the right way? - common mistake. Look at your install and check against the book photos - note orientation of shoes below for right rear brakes....note the rear shoe @ bottom has large hole, while the front shoe has the slot down...


Are the cylinders (#11) all the way in?
Is the emegency brake (#7) cable loose, or putting pressure on the shoes?
Are the adjuster wedges (#10) inserted properly?

 

Thanks.

The shoes are oriented in the same way as the old ones. Wedges are adjusted all the way in. The E-brake seems OK, however I can't answer the cylinder question. That's the next step...

 

Check the outside edge of the inside of the drum. It may have a buildup of rust that is stopping you from getting it back on. It is always a good practice to get the drums turned at a local automove machine shop when you replace the shoes.

 

I heard back from Seven today. It seems there was a batch of Unipart brake shoes "out of tolerance". They said they thought they had all of them pulled from the shelf. New shoes being sent out soon, bless 'em. Murphy is alive and well...

 

Hey Madoc,

Nice to have the puzzle solved. Granted, I'm still a newbie to classic minis, but my impression is that there are plenty of poorly-made parts out there that either don't fit properly or don't wear as well as OEM. I hope it's just a few misc. parts here and there--not the norm.

Anyone else experience non-functional, poorly made parts?

 

-Chrome wiper arms
-Thermostat housing gasket
-Choke cable

Everything else has been good.

Also, just for giggles, the Minfinity board has a really good picture of how each side of the rear brakes is supposed to be assembled. I just recently saved the pic to my hard drive for future reference.

I hope the new shoes get you squared away and back on the road!

 

Thanks for the info regarding the Minifinity site. I've printed off the pic for reference even though I THOUGHT I was careful about re-assembling the shoes as they were originally. Can't be too sure!

 

It is easy for even an experienced Mini guy to flip the front shoe over. Since the linings aren't centered on the shoe, it makes installation of the drum impossible. BTDT :impatient

 

Update: Got the new shoes form Seven and they went on in a jiffy. Big difference in thickness of the friction material. Bled the system and then installed the new fuel pump. Turns out that the old one had a leak at the inlet hose barb. Drove her all weekend.Thanks for the advice everyone!