40 merc/ford rear brakes

[Guest 40mercFlathead]

Here are a few pics of my rear brakes and cylinders I just rebuilt. How do they look? Also, do the bottom bolts on the brake shoes act as any type of adjusters? Or can I just snug them up good? I was wondering if I could over tighten them and prevent the shoes from pivoting.

[19tom40]

The bottom anchors are adjustable to allow full contact of the shoes with the drums. The brass cams must be fully in the shoes or they will be damaged when you tighten the anchor bolts.

The bolts have a depression on one side of the threaded end. These must face each other before starting the adjustment.

Adjust the cams so that the shoes are fully retracted and the anchor bolt dots are facing the center.

Clean the axle shafts and the hubs.

Repack the wheel bearings with Sta-lube sl-3131 heavy duty drum brake wheel bearing grease and new grease seals.

Install the drums and tighten as much as you can (about 200ft lbs)

With light pressure (25-35 lbs) on the brake pedal, loosen the anchor lock nut for the forward shoe and use a small wrench to turn the mark on the anchor down until you feel the shoe touch the drum. Tighten the lock nut without moving the anchor bolt. Repeat for the rear shoe.

Adjust the shoes to have minimal clearance to the drum by turning the cams until the forward shoe is tight against the drum and then back off slightly until the wheel turns freely. Repeat the operation on the rear shoe.