floors welded and repaired, now onto brakes but cant get front drum off

jrenda

well in between my daughter's 8th birthday WEEK lol (i used to get a cake and a couple gifts, kids now have a family party, a fiends party and we took her dinner.  She's an awesome little girl and I love her dearly so it's worth it but man it's a lot of work!) I managed to patch the floors, put some seam sealer on, paint them with a POR 15 type product and lay over some self adhesive fake dynamat stuff.  Its not a resto or show car but for under 100$ so far ive managed to cobble the floor together and get it so that the wiring can get started.

i started in on the front brakes today and cannot get the drum off.  I researched and saw that I need a puller for the rear drums anyway.  Do I need one for the front?  I want to be careful to not damage them.  It also appears as tho someone may have been in there not too long ago as the bearing, seal and cotter pin etc all have fresh grease.  Hoping the shoes etc are good but I got some from Kanter anyway and all new wheel cylinders etc. 

is there a trick to get the front drums off?  do i need a puller?  or perhaps something is stuck (shoes ?)  The drum sins freely with no tight spots.

thanks agaian all. so far i am having fun!

- jason

bob ward

The drums are spinning freely so they should come off easily, no puller required.

If the drums are badly worn there could be a ridge binding on the shoes, try backing the adjusters right off.

jrenda

thanks Bob.  ill try and back the adjuster off through the slot once i find a screwdriver that will fit!

- jason

PaulButler

I found on my '39 that I did need the puller just to persuade the drum off. I couldn't get the adjuster to move at all so it just needed that little bit of extra "grunt" to get it off. Once off and cleaned up it slips off real nice now!

jrenda

i needed it for the rear anyway so it will be here tuesday.  Plenty i can do in a night to get prepped and all so no time lost.  Ill try adjusting the star hub anyway since its good for me to learn.  

2 more quick questions:

- is the front drum and bearing sleeve(?) 1 unit?  when i try and remove the drum the entirety of the unit wants to come out.  that is the drum and the piece that sticks out in which the bearing and race sits in.

- how do get the brake hose off the rear of the backing plate.  i cant for the life of me get a wrench on it - open ended, brake line type wrench, nada.

RichardD

Cut the brake hose and then remove from backing plate when off~~~

Jon B

Buy  a brake spoon to adjust the star wheel, easier to use than a screwdriver and you will use it in the future as well.