Amazon: New (to me) 1963 Volvo 122

[dgbalfour]

One of the things I'd forgotten to tell you was when I'd last changed the brake fluid - which was March 2015 (same time as the rear suspension). I had an MOT advisory many years ago (early on during my ownership, so 10+ years ago) saying there was fluid visible near the rear drum back plate. I suspected a leaking cylinder and kept an eye on it, but saw nothing more and I have always been amazed that I've seldom needed to top up the brake fluid.

I have never changed the rear cylinders, but seeing as I had to change both front calipers and both sets of clutch cylinders during my ownership, I'm sure the rears are close to expiry. I also meant to look inside the drums - the brake pedal has always had a long initial travel. This (I think) was it taking up the slack in the rear shoes - if you gently pulled the hand brake on a couple of clicks while driving you'd get a lovely solid pedal feel.

I initially used to take this out on the rear adjusters, but despite following the recommended techniques in Haynes it would always fail the MOT on rear imbalance/bind. I gave up in the end and accepted there would be some initial travel! I bought the hub puller but that's as far as I got.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by dgbalfour

One of the things I'd forgotten to tell you was when I'd last changed the brake fluid - which was March 2015 (same time as the rear suspension). I had an MOT advisory many years ago (early on during my ownership, so 10+ years ago) saying there was fluid visible near the rear drum back plate. I suspected a leaking cylinder and kept an eye on it, but saw nothing more and I have always been amazed that I've seldom needed to top up the brake fluid.

I have never changed the rear cylinders, but seeing as I had to change both front calipers and both sets of clutch cylinders during my ownership, I'm sure the rears are close to expiry. I also meant to look inside the drums - the brake pedal has always had a long initial travel. This (I think) was it taking up the slack in the rear shoes - if you gently pulled the hand brake on a couple of clicks while driving you'd get a lovely solid pedal feel.

I initially used to take this out on the rear adjusters, but despite following the recommended techniques in Haynes it would always fail the MOT on rear imbalance/bind. I gave up in the end and accepted there would be some initial travel! I bought the hub puller but that's as far as I got.

Thank you for that David,

I'm pretty sure the NSR wheel cylinder is leaking - there was a drip of oil from the bottom of the drum or back plate. That is not a particular problem, I'll pull the drum off, find out what I need and get either new cylinders or a refurbishing kit is such is available.

I thought those rear drums had automatic adjusters, but it looks like there is a manual adjuster on the back plate (which I would prefer - simpler and more reliable in the long run).

I'm enjoying the motor car - I expected a few issues and am working my way through them.

Best wishes,

Alan

[Othen]

I continue to work my way through GAM's issues, often finding new ones as I fix existing problems. This morn I pulled off the NSR drum, which I suspected was leaking, it was an easy enough job with the correct puller (but would have been difficult without it):



... to find that wheel cylinder has been leaking for quite some time, and so the shoes are contaminated (new shoes as well then):



It looks like one side of the wheel cylinder has been leaking and has not moved for quite a while:



Everything came apart easily apart from this brake line, which is probably 59 years old:



Not to worry, Brookhouse Volvo seems to have everything in stock:

a. BRAKE PIPE FROM REAR AXLE THREE WAY UNION TO LEFT REAR WHEEL CYLINDER. FITS ALL B18 MODELS SINGLE AND SPILT CIRCUIT BRAKE SYSTEMS. NB: NOT B20 DUAL CIRCUIT.

b. BRAKE PIPE FROM REAR AXLE THREE WAY UNION TO RIGHT REAR WHEEL CYLINDER. FITS ALL B18 SINGLE AND SPILT BRAKE SYSTEMS. NB: NOT B20 DUAL CIRCUIT (I'm assuming the right side pipe may well fracture on removal as well)

c. REAR BRAKE SHOE SET. FITS ALL SINGLE CIRCUIT MODELS WITH FRONT DISCS. FITS ALL TWIN CIRCUIT MODELS.

d. 2 x REAR WHEEL CYLINDER. 1" BORE FITS ALL SINGLE MODELS WITH FRONT DISCS & NO SERVO FITTTED.

e. REAR BRAKE SHOE FIXING KIT. FITS ALL SINGLE CIRCUIT MODELS WITH FRONT DISCS. AMAZON B18 MODELS 1962 TO 1968. KIT MOUNTS BOTH REAR WHEELS, ONE KIT PER CAR.

... which comes to a surprisingly reasonable £94.08 (well, about £120 with VAT and postage).

I'm not too displeased with that, this should sort GAM's braking problems.

One step forward, one pace back :-)

Alan

[john.wigley]

Originally Posted by Othen

... which comes to a surprisingly reasonable £94.08 (well, about £120 with VAT and postage).

I'm not too displeased with that, this should sort GAM's braking problems.

One step forward, one pace back :-)

Alan

And at that price, it won't break the bank, either, Alan! J. (Sorry)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

One step forward, one pace back :-)

Alan

Looking at those pics Alan, i'd say more like 3 steps forwards, half a step back.

The linings on the shoes are close to their lower limits so not only have you found the source of your lack of brakes but the remedy plus new shoes and new fluid all round.

This should vastly improve GAMs braking and also give you the opportunity to paint some Kurust or similar on all the back plates then paint them in your choice of colour, similar on the hubs and whatever else while you're at it and a general spruce up all round. That will preserve the various bits and pieces too so you've hit a target-rich environment with a cluster-bomb and neutralised many enemy agents all in the one job!

[Derek UK]

Pull the other drum as well. At best you will likely need new shoes. If you haven't ordered yet you'll save on the Brookhouse postage.

[Volvo_133]

Hi Alan,
Apart from the cylinder leak, I can see 3 other issues in your pictures to address when you rebuild the brakes.
The front and rear shoe are in the incorrect location in the drum and need swapping front to back.
The bottom spring is better the other way round (the straight bit without coils) to the rear. This prevents the H brake arm fouling on the spring when operating the H brake.
The long woodruff key on the halfshaft should be fitted with the tapered end facing down and also facing inwards towards the diff.
Have a look at various videos showing the correct assembly.
You are going to notice a vast difference in braking power with dry shoes fitted the correct way round.
Chris

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Derek UK

Pull the other drum as well. At best you will likely need new shoes. If you haven't ordered yet you'll save on the Brookhouse postage.

As Alan has ordered 2x rear wheel cylinders (see his shopping list further up) i strongly suspect he's planning on renewing both and also the shoes on both sides too. Would be a shame not to do that after going to the trouble of ordering them and refurbishing one side.

Originally Posted by Volvo_133

Hi Alan,

The front and rear shoe are in the incorrect location in the drum and need swapping front to back.

Chris

All good points and i can't comment on 12x brakes but certainly the shoes on my 760 are identical, i believe the OE Volvo shoes were slightly different though. As such i'd hazard a guess those are aftermarket shoes and are identical - might be wrong though.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Derek UK

Pull the other drum as well. At best you will likely need new shoes. If you haven't ordered yet you'll save on the Brookhouse postage.

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

As Alan has ordered 2x rear wheel cylinders (see his shopping list further up) i strongly suspect he's planning on renewing both and also the shoes on both sides too. Would be a shame not to do that after going to the trouble of ordering them and refurbishing one side.

Many thanks chaps. Dave is right Derek, I've ordered parts (wheel cylinders, shoes, fixings and brake lines) for both sides. There was not much to be gained by pulling the right hand side off today but I'll certainly do both sides before I bleed the brakes.

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Volvo_133

Hi Alan,
Apart from the cylinder leak, I can see 3 other issues in your pictures to address when you rebuild the brakes.
The front and rear shoe are in the incorrect location in the drum and need swapping front to back.
The bottom spring is better the other way round (the straight bit without coils) to the rear. This prevents the H brake arm fouling on the spring when operating the H brake.
The long woodruff key on the halfshaft should be fitted with the tapered end facing down and also facing inwards towards the diff.
Have a look at various videos showing the correct assembly.
You are going to notice a vast difference in braking power with dry shoes fitted the correct way round.
Chris

Excellent Chris - I had rather suspected the brakes had not been put together properly - particularly the woodruff key (the drum came off a bit too easily I thought). I have the Volvo green book for the 120 and was going to put the brakes back exactly as per the photo on pp 5-11.

Many thanks Chris - that was really helpful.

Alan