Seized Brake Drum On 1960 Rover P4

Joined
15 Dec 2007
Messages
8,008
Reaction score
2,109
Location
Bristol
Country
United Kingdom

I've just dragged my old Rover P4 80 out of the garage after sitting in there unused for 8 years. The car was stored with the handbrake off. It was difficult to move, because one of the rear brake drums has seized.

I have backed off the manual shoe adjuster on the backplate, and whacked the drum with a soft faced hammer, but the drum won't turn at all.

Does anyone know how I should go about un-seizing and removing the drum. The drum has 3 screws holding it on. These are quite tight, so presumably an impact driver would be best for these?
 
Sponsored Links
Its a case of brute force and ignorance really.
May be able to drown the whole lot in WD-40 and beat the drum with a rubber mallet, maybe some heat with a blow lamp. Just bear in mind, if you go down the blow lamp route any rubbers seals on the hydraulics (presuming it's not cable braked) will probably get knackered!
 
Thanks for the answers. Will have a try.

I have pulled the car backwards out of the garage for about 10 feet, and its still seized.
Is there some kind of puller I can use on the drum?
 
Sponsored Links
Try heating the screws up before removing.

Once you have removed the screws, put the wheel back on, and use this extra weight to help pull the drum off.
Make sure the car is jacked up securely.

As regards an extractor, any chance of a picture of the drum....?
 
If you put the wheel back on you'll never get the drum off, not with that car.
 
I think that things have become slightly confused, I hope my description can make things a bit clearer.

Normally to gain access to the rear brake shoes, you first remove the 5 wheel nuts then the wheel. Now that you have access to the drum, there are 3 screws that are countersunk in the drum. These screws hold the drum onto the hub.

Hope this helps. Thanks for the advice.
 
I think that things have become slightly confused, I hope my description can make things a bit clearer.

Normally to gain access to the rear brake shoes, you first remove the 5 wheel nuts then the wheel. Now that you have access to the drum, there are 3 screws that are countersunk in the drum. These screws hold the drum onto the hub.

Hope this helps. Thanks for the advice.

So can you not put the wheel back on, once the cs'k screws have been removed, and use the wheel for leverage...?
 
I don't think so because the drum is just that, a drum. It doesn't form part of the hub. The drum and hub are separate things. The rear axle on the car will be the live axle and have half shafts.
 
I don't think so because the drum is just that, a drum. It doesn't form part of the hub. The drum and hub are separate things. The rear axle on the car will be the live axle and have half shafts.

I bow to your knowledge about this car, but if Whitespirit66 wants further help then a close up picture would be good, even if it just furthers my knowledge....... :D
 
I think that things have become slightly confused, I hope my description can make things a bit clearer.

Normally to gain access to the rear brake shoes, you first remove the 5 wheel nuts then the wheel. Now that you have access to the drum, there are 3 screws that are countersunk in the drum. These screws hold the drum onto the hub.

Hope this helps. Thanks for the advice.

So can you not put the wheel back on, once the cs'k screws have been removed, and use the wheel for leverage...?

No, I'm afraid this won't work as the wheel nut studs aren't attached to the drum, they just pass through holes in the drum. Levering on the wheel nut studs won't have any affect on the drum.
 
Yes, from memory, the drum is "sandwiched" between the wheel and the face of the halfshaft, with the wheel studs passing through. Have you looked closely at the outer face of the drum (after removing the three countersunk screws) to see if there are two, diametrically opposite, tapped holes, which allow two screws to be used to push the drum off? Some BL vehicles did have this feature but, I am not sure about the P series Rovers.
 
8 years is a long time! I expect there's a bit of rust holding the shoes. If the engine will start you could perhaps try dropping the clutch with a few revs on first forwards then reverse a few times. I've done this a few times successfully to release a bound brake. Unfortunately quite a lot of the torque will transfer away through the diff but it should still generate a lot more than you can by hand. Don't go at it too hard and break the transmission.

Impact driver for the screws should be no trouble as they don't really carry any load.

I had a Rover 100, same vintage. Fine old car.
 
As well as following the suggestions for releasing the brake linings from the drum (have you tried some good hard taps with a soft-faced hammer around the outside of the drum?), you could try attaching a slide hammer to the drum.

If you don't already have one, I suggest getting a good, heavy one to provide a lot of force: it sounds like you're going to need it.
 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top