Ok -- so I'm going to need money to get the MGB on the road and my old Buick (clever -- no?) is going to need to be out the door one of these days. I had started on the brakes on the old girl last year, but got sidetracked along the way . . . 100+ degree days with 1000% humidity will do that to you. When it was all said and done, it was just easier to roll it out of the way rather than spend time working on it. This spring/summer was the waverunner and boat stuff . . . so now I'm finally able to get some time to work on the car. I had one side back together and the other apart, so getting everything together and remembering how it went was a bit of a stretch. Luckily I had bought a 1961 Buick Special Deluxe shop manual and could reference it for the brakes. While working I found an interesting bit . . . the brake shoe snafu of the primary one being the short one, not the long one like you'd think. The primary shoe is the one on the front of the wheel and for some reason, it's the short one. I knew I had the passenger side wrong . . . afterall, I didn't read the manual and didn't take pics of how it came apart.
Let me tell you, my memory hadn't faded on how much of a pain the little springs are on those PITA things. The springs to hold the shoes on can be really fun. Here I'm using the tool for the springs to go chasing after the one retainer spring that has tried to fly the coup by bouncing off my head and then rolling to the middle of the car. (Tip: Always wear safety goggles for anything that could have objects hurtling at high speeds towards your eyeballs . . . there's enough ways to go blind without something silly like a spring sticking out of them.)
So after some extreme cursing fits, some creative tool usage, and my more than my fair share of cuts/bruises . . . I ended up getting the brakes back together on both sides . . . on just the front. I still have to do the rear. Ugh. After this much practice, maybe the back drums will be a lot easier. Yea right . . . I'm having some landing lights installed to guide the flying primates forming a squadron out of my a**.
Ok -- so I'm going to need money to get the MGB on the road and my old Buick (clever -- no?) is going to need to be out the door one of these days. I had started on the brakes on the old girl last year, but got sidetracked along the way . . . 100+ degree days with 1000% humidity will do that to you. When it was all said and done, it was just easier to roll it out of the way rather than spend time working on it. This spring/summer was the waverunner and boat stuff . . . so now I'm finally able to get some time to work on the car. I had one side back together and the other apart, so getting everything together and remembering how it went was a bit of a stretch. Luckily I had bought a 1961 Buick Special Deluxe shop manual and could reference it for the brakes. While working I found an interesting bit . . . the brake shoe snafu of the primary one being the short one, not the long one like you'd think. The primary shoe is the one on the front of the wheel and for some reason, it's the short one. I knew I had the passenger side wrong . . . afterall, I didn't read the manual and didn't take pics of how it came apart. 
Let me tell you, my memory hadn't faded on how much of a pain the little springs are on those PITA things. The springs to hold the shoes on can be really fun. Here I'm using the tool for the springs to go chasing after the one retainer spring that has tried to fly the coup by bouncing off my head and then rolling to the middle of the car. (Tip: Always wear safety goggles for anything that could have objects hurtling at high speeds towards your eyeballs . . . there's enough ways to go blind without something silly like a spring sticking out of them.) 
So after some extreme cursing fits, some creative tool usage, and my more than my fair share of cuts/bruises . . . I ended up getting the brakes back together on both sides . . . on just the front. I still have to do the rear. Ugh. After this much practice, maybe the back drums will be a lot easier. Yea right . . . I'm having some landing lights installed to guide the flying primates forming a squadron out of my a**.
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