Drum brake problem - no starwheel

[rickl750]

Hi Guys,

My rear brakes are grinding really bad and after ordering all the parts required to do a complete overhaul I ran into a problem. Today I started to take things apart and I can't remove the old drums, it appears there's no starwheel. I have looked at both sides and had a friend take a look and we can't find one. Could the previous owner have left them out? If so how do I remove the drums?

Thanks, for your help.

Rick

[rxsleeper]

Hey Rick, good luck and here are some tips. All of this assumes you have OEM style aluminum drums. If you do not have a FSM, you can find a copy online, but you have to align the hole on the face of the drum to access the star wheel. The hole may or may not have a plug that you would have to remove.

You may be able to activate your parking brake while peering into the hole to locate the wheel. They are hard to see sometimes. Did your parking brake work correctly?

Otherwise, sort of like spindle pins, removing drums can be tough. If the shoes have ground a groove in the drum, you will have to back the shoe away from teh drum a long way to remove it. Some fellow racers have had to cut the drum off with a die grinder/cutting wheel. You might try GENTLE application of a dead blow hammer to the rear of the fins using a block of wood agains the fins if you can locate the star wheel and back the shoe away.

Two things generally cause this to be a hard problem, one the groove that shoes might have cut into the drum and corrosion/galvanic type bonding that occurs between the aluminum of the drum and the steel axle.

You might try a light application of anti-seize when you re-install the drums.

Good luck,

Paul

eDIT: Forgot to add, you might be able to get away with cutting a hole in the drum face that allows access to the wheel cylinder/mechanism and back the shoe away from the drum

Edited September 26, 2009 by rxsleeper
additional info

[JimmyZ]

I feel your pain! I've had trouble in the past with the Z's starwheel. Have you used a flashlight to try and find it? The starwheel isn't at 6'oclock. It's at 4:45-5:15 or so. The access is from the front after removing the rubber plug. Remember you want to turn it against the direction that the sawtooth design grabs best.

On another vehicle I got pissed because the starwheel was seized. I unbolted/disconnected the wheel cylinder then ground the backs off the retaining pins. The drum came right off but I had to get a hardware kit. It's either a lip worn on the drum ID (as Rxsleeper said) or the hub post had rusted/expanded which is making it difficult to remove. If it's the hub post then a few whacks with a hammer on the outside edges of the drum will ususally free it. PB blaster helps too.

Good luck

Jim

Edited September 26, 2009 by JimmyZ

[rickl750]

Hi Guys,

Thank you for all your suggestions. Btw, I should have mentioned that I have a 1978 280Z and I think it might be slightly different than older Zs. The pictures in the manuals don't resemble what I have. I was able to remove the driver's side drum and have attached a couple of pictures. The first pic shows the piston but no starwheel and the 2nd pic has a wheel behind the piston (circled in red) and that's for adjusting the hand brake and can't be accessed thru the front, it does have an access hole in the back but very difficult to reach the wheel. Anyway, I worked on the passenger’s side without luck, I guess I'll try again tomorrow I ran out of light.

Thanks again,

Rick

[rxsleeper]

Glad you managed to get one removed. FWIW, I didn't realize that the brakes changed in '76 until I looked it up on the club parts fiche.

Does this resemble how your brakes are set up?

[Walter Moore]

So in other words the 76 and later drum brakes are more "normal" drum systems with double sided wheel cylinders.

I swear that I don't understand why the early car's single sided, sliding wheel cylinder works at all.

[rickl750]

rxsleeper,

That's it! That’s what I have. I just realize that the drum does not want to go on because the pads are too spread out. It looks like the parking brake needs to be adjusted, this should turn assembled, but I'm having issues. I may have to take it apart again. Btw, I already broke the lower tension spring and have to get another one. I might be doing something wrong in the assembly. I'm putting the springs on both shoes and then I'm spreading them to fit. I have not been able to put the springs on when the shoes are in place. If you guys have a better way of doing this please let me know.

Thanks,

Rick