New car thread

[Guest kaycee]

Something different from an old car owner: My late wife bought a used 2000 Plymouth Neon in Texas when staying with our daughter threre. After my wife passed away, our children gave me the car and it's been a good little car and easy on gas ( for a Buick man with several Rivieras under his belt). I ran into a problem that I have'nt faced in my 60 years in working on cars new or old (not the problem, but the temporary cure). I was backing the car from my drive and the left rear wheel locked up.( Front discs, rear drums)

In spite of snow and COLD weather, I was able to pull the left rear drum and was shocked. The front lining (bonded) was off the shoe and locking the drum up. My old cars and Riviera were nice and snug in my buildings and a dumb OLD guy is freezing outside on a driveway!

With the shoe still on the car, and everyhing else looking o.k., I brought the lining in on my kitchen table and "smeared" a light coat of J B Weld on the lining and reinstalled it on the shoe which had several "locating holes for the lining), slipped the drum back on and "locked " the parking brake on.

A day later I went out and everything was secure and the brakes worked well.

It was a holiday weekend and afterwards I picked up a set of shoes, and guess what ? The new shoes are in a box on the kitchen table and the brakes are working well.(And YES it's still freezing outside

This is the" Please do'nt do this at home segment"? All of those years working on cars and I guess I fixed a few cars but have'nt learned much other than the fact that J B Weld works!, (and YES I'll put the new shoes on)! Is this the way they repaired things on my '20s and the early cars???

kaycee

[nickelroadster]

If you get those brake shoes very hot, they will soften the epoxy and separate. They did not have J B weld in the twenties or thirties and had nothing comparable. If you could get the proper high temp adhesive you could probably fix those brake shoes but it is so cheap to buy shoes that it isn't worth it. In the twenties and thirties they used rivets. I am not sure when they developed bonded adhesives for brake shoes.

[Rusty_OToole]

Before Chrysler invented Cyclobond in 1950 brake shoes were rivetted on. But yes, your repair would not have surprised many people in the twenties and thirties. Parts were expensive back then and usually repaired not replaced. For example spark plugs would be sandblasted, cleaned and regapped several times before being replaced.

[Rusty_OToole]

Only on the AACA forums would a 14 year old Neon be considered a "new car".

[mastertech]

common problem on both the neon and status and Plymouth breeze. have even seen it on a few mini vans

[c49er]

I leave my old shoes hanging outside for six months and the linings are laying on the ground.

Moisture can de-laminate old shoe linings

[Guest kaycee]

Hi, And thanks for your comments. Yes, the new shoes are stilll on the table, but we may be getting a little warmer temps the next few days, so maybe I'll crawl out and replace the shoes. Have a ? comfortable? winter!

kaycee

[TerryB]

Great story and fix! I repaired my wife's new shoe sole once with stuff called Shoe Goo II. It worked great and lasted for a long time. Adhesives have come a long way. I don't think Shoo Goo II will work on brake shoes, but hey you never know

Terry