Berlingo battles and DRKpers

[Northern_Mike]

I have an eezibleed Malcolm, but the weird cap size from an ancient Renault 6 is different to any supplied with the kit, so I have a one-way valve that goes into a bottle like Jim has. I also find that I can't use my brake spring pliers because of the massive flange in the way, so it was a bit of a struggle to get it all back together using brute force, a long bar and a screwdriver.

First of all we had to get it up in the air. It's sat on the pathway outside.



Got the drum off, to find this mess. The round retaining spring has broken which was allowing the shoe to move "outwards", slip off the adjuster and contact the drum. You can see on the edge of the shoe where it has a groove machined into it. The grot is just old brake dust, the old shoes clearly weren't great quality as I cleaned this out about 3 months ago for the MOT.



Finally hoiked the new shoes into place after a bit of a clean up..




The shoes on the left are the ones from the left wheel, the shoes on the right are from the right wheel. The pair from the left were really manky and had all sorts of surface damage that I've never seen before!



Annoyingly, It's still on the jack as I need to bleed it. I also need to fix the electrics as I knocked something when I was fixing the throttle cable the other day.

It does, however, go like stink now. My unscientific tests show it accelerates quicker than the Puma 1.7 I had did, which isn't bad for a 1108cc pushrod lump..

[CitroJim]

Last time I used an Eazibleed I didn't quite get the cap on correctly and brake fluid sprayed everywhere

Never used one since...

I can see how that flange makes the job a heck of a lot more trying Mike...

[Hell Razor5543]

I am available if you need a hand.

[Northern_Mike]

I'm not actually going to do anything more to it until Monday, thanks James. I'm working 12 hour days until then. I might take 10 mins to bleed it if it's still light enough when I get home later then I can at least drop it off the jack.

I think it's going to become even more French. I'm filled with hatred at the Lucas BL type indicator stalk and headlight switch. I think I'm going to get a 2CV unit for it as they're pretty sturdy and all enclosed.

[citronut]

the picy with the drum off and all that crap on top of the wheel cylinder, would lead me to peel the cylinder dust covers back a touch to see if there is any dot4 under them

and the chunks out of that shoe face will almost certainly have been caused by the shoe retaining spring making a bid for freedom,

I think I'm going to get a 2CV unit for it as they're pretty sturdy and all enclosed.

they are enclosed Mike but i think far from being water tight, in answer to your pm. to me im sure i can find some if you wish

[Northern_Mike]

the picy with the drum off and all that crap on top of the wheel cylinder, would lead me to peel the cylinder dust covers back a touch to see if there is any dot4 under them

and the chunks out of that shoe face will almost certainly have been caused by the shoe retaining spring making a bid for freedom,

I think I'm going to get a 2CV unit for it as they're pretty sturdy and all enclosed.

they are enclosed Mike but i think far from being water tight, in answer to your pm. to me im sure i can find some if you wish

They don't need to be watertight Malcolm, just enclosed. I've got one of those old lucas/BL switch stalks on at the moment, and no cowling for it, so it's all exposed. They're crap too, so it's worth replacing with a 2CV unit. I might have a trundle down in it next Thursday if you're about and see what's what..

[Northern_Mike]

the picy with the drum off and all that crap on top of the wheel cylinder, would lead me to peel the cylinder dust covers back a touch to see if there is any dot4 under them

Yeah, they're a little weepy. These were new-old-stock ones that were put on only in June too. I've cleaned it up. I've ordered some new ones.

[myglaren]

A bit late in the day Mike, sorry, but this came up on autoshite yesterday and they seem to be highly recommended for stock, service and general helpfulness - no personal experience mind.

Brake Engineering





(someone posted the name "autoshite" on another forum and the spellchecker changed it to autoexcrement)

[citronut]

Yeah, they're a little weepy. These were new-old-stock ones that were put on only in June too. I've cleaned it up. I've ordered some new ones.

have you spoken to

http://www.biggred.co.uk/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Northern_Mike]

Thanks both - I got my shoes from brakeparts.co.uk who had them next day once I'd given him some identifying numbers off them.

The issue with the cylinders is that no one is sure exactly what they're supposed to be. I think it's got the wrong ones on at the moment...

[citronut]

do you still have the original cylinders that came off Mike, if you do im 99% sure Big Red will be able to match them up if you send them one as a pattern

[Hell Razor5543]

Just a thought. Now that 'Jessica' has a new level of performance, shouldn't she get those disk brakes that are currently up North?

[Northern_Mike]

I've been told by those that know that the drums are actually more suited to this car. The pedal feel is better and they're less prone to being rubbish than the Renault 4 discs

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Northern_Mike]

do you still have the original cylinders that came off Mike, if you do im 99% sure Big Red will be able to match them up if you send them one as a pattern

I do not, sadly. They were really knackered. I got what we presumed were the right replacements but I'm not sure.. I can get the pedal rock hard easily, but there's still a lot of travel on the first push. I think the volume of the cylinders isn't quite right. The brakes work absolutely fine, I just don't like the pedal travel.

[citronut]

I can get the pedal rock hard easily, but there's still a lot of travel on the first push. I think the volume of the cylinders isn't quite right. The brakes work absolutely fine, I just don't like the pedal travel.

this us usually down to the shoes requiring a bit more adjusting up,

is there a lip on the inside outer edge of the drums, if so machine it away then this will alow you to adjust the shoes up a bit more manually before fitting the drums back on