Itinerant Air-Cooled

If you can see the shoes thru the inspection hole, you can hit the lining with a drift and hammer, often they will knock free if rusted to the drum.
This once worked for me.

I'm close to finishing the brakes on my 71 bus. My rear star brake adjusters were frozen solid. Would not budge. Heated them throughly with propane torch and they eventually worked free. Used a kind of wire cutting pliers which I was able to open enough to go around the stars and did not damage them. When stars and adjusters came out, it looked like dried out white lithium grease.

My 1st brake job ever. Replaced all the hard/soft lines, shoes, pads, springs. Should be ready to bleed soon. I'll have Colin inspect my work when he arrives in June.

EskimoTom wrote:I'm close to finishing the brakes on my 71 bus. My rear star brake adjusters were frozen solid. Would not budge. Heated them throughly with propane torch and they eventually worked free. Used a kind of wire cutting pliers which I was able to open enough to go around the stars and did not damage them. When stars and adjusters came out, it looked like dried out white lithium grease.

My 1st brake job ever. Replaced all the hard/soft lines, shoes, pads, springs. Should be ready to bleed soon. I'll have Colin inspect my work when he arrives in June.

Good job. I think you know about my emergency braking tests . . . coming to a street near you.
"Hey TOM, was that YOU locking up the tires last week on Main Street?"
"No, although it was my bus, it was actually this Itinerant guy, see, he was tes . . . "
"TOM, Tom, please, enough, don't do that again."
"But it w . . . "
"Tom."

I adjusted my stars.... and my e-brake initally produces clean braking and release on both rear wheels. But after afew days, initial pull-away of vehicle is restricted and then a 'twang' and release allowing forward motion...so is it in the stars or the brake-cable adjust?

dingo wrote:I adjusted my stars.... and my e-brake initally produces clean braking and release on both rear wheels. But after afew days, initial pull-away of vehicle is restricted and then a 'twang' and release allowing forward motion...so is it in the stars or the brake-cable adjust?

You will have to tell us. Stars do not cause momentary drag. Rusted cables, rusted pivot arms, a cross bar dropping out of its slot then getting clanked back into the slot by the return springs, they might.
Colin