[Sunbeam Talbot Email List] brakes, progress today

[Wes Stewart]

David Reina wrote:
> Hi Wes,
>
> One more thought regarding the brakes.  If the shoes look old you may 
> want to try fresh ones.  My friend Ed Esslinger compared braking of 
> our two cars.  His had old shoes and stopped poorly.  My car had new 
> brakes and I am really  happy with the stopping power.  I think the 
> old shoes harden up over time and use.  They are very easy brakes to 
> adjust.
>
> Regards,
> Dave
>
> Dave,

I will be looking at those shoes, certainly. I noticed the adjustment 
hole on the drum. I'll be checking for leaks and doing a bleed, too. 
Need to get that service guide to be sure I'm not damaging anything as I 
take stuff apart.

Working on the inside service panel to do clutch work. The previous 
owner covered the whole floor with some sticky foam kind like dynamat. 
Not easy to get up and a one way job, sticky, too. It will never go 
back. I'll be using thick felt to replace it.

Odd transmission. The conversion done on this car puts the dipstick on 
the left. Nasty metal construction out of sheet alloy fits (or tries to) 
over the obvious cut-away flooring. While I have the panel out, I'll 
paint it and fabricate a better, nicer "hump" panel. Bolts used to hold 
in the panel are not right, not the right thread spec. so they are very 
difficult to remove. One broke off! (so far)

After I got the tires home, I notice that the shop ignored my request to 
put the smooth side out. Lovely, back to the shop next week and I should 
be able to make them redo it for free.

Thanks,
Wes