First job of the week was to free up the pivot in the operating crank lever of the N/S/F brake. This necessitated removing the crank lever and pressing our the pivot abutment, which then needed to be cleaned thoroughly and turned in the lathe to remove the rust. After refitting the crank and greasing the pivot point for the brake servo operating rod from which passes through the pivot, I was able to refit the brake servo after reattaching its air intake cover. Next, cut the hex bar into two pieces in order to make two new brake adjusters. Some time was spent realigning my lathe before I started centre drilling the pieces. The first I ruined by forgetting to check the drill size before centre drilling. The second was fine and I installed it, so the front brakes are now complete. Attention to greasing and brake hoses now required before I can refit the front wheels.
17/5/2026
The hex bar for the new brake adjuster arrived at the start of the week. First job was to finish cleaning and paint the outside of the N/S front brake servo. Whilst this was curing, I prepared the brake shoes for the N/S/F, filled the grease retaining bushes with copper grease and hung them on their pins, ready for the return spring to be installed I noted that the back plate seemed closer to the brake shoes, compared with the other side, so some adjustment may be necessary. After fitting the spring and aligning the N/S/F brake shoes, I set about cleaning the loose rust and dust from the both front brake drums and applying a couple of coats of warm Vactan to the rusty areas, ready for refitting. Once this was dry, atrial fitting of the O/S front brake drum revealed it was too tight on the shoes, so I chamfered the edge and sanded the surface of the shoes and removed the ridge of rust around the edge of the brake drum. I was then able to get it on to the stub axle, with assistance. Fitting the outer bearing brought the drum into the correct alignment and it was free to rotate. I then fitted the retaining nut, locked it up to ensure the bearings were correctly centred, then backed it off until the drum was free to turn again. The N/S/F brake drum went on a great deal more easily. I adjusted it up tight and backed the nut off, same as the O/S. I then took both outer bearings out and repacked the hubs with grease, in order to ensure the inner bearings were properly lubricated. I spent some time attempting to discover the source of a slight binding of the offside drum, but concluded it was likely to be a high spot on the brake shoes. I then proceeded to remove the brake operating lever for the offside as it was clearly set in the wrong position and fouling the steering linkage. I measured the height of the N/S lever and set the O/S lever to be as close to that as possible. Next, I installed the brake servo for the O/S, which was a bit fiddly; the rear right-hand corner nut needs to be fitted first due to clearance issues.
Next I turned my attention to the nearside brake servo, removing the end cap and addressing the broken screw by welding a nut on the end. Despite several attempts, the weld failed, so I replaced the end cap and drilled out the offending screw then retapped the hole. The final job of the week was to complete reassembly of the N/S/F brake servo, including lubricating the piston, greasing and straightening the operating rod and fitting a new gaiter. It is now ready to be installed.
3/5/2026
NStarted the week by collecting the front brake shoes from Auto and Industrial Friction in Arlesey, very pleased with their work. Next, I finished welding the N/S front brake backplate , then made a bracket which I could attach to a convenient stud and weld to the new backplate to to prevent the bottom half vibrating about. After that I prepared and primed the new backplate with red oxide. While that was curing, I refitted the O/S front brake shoes. Once the primer was fully cured, I applied two coats of silver Hammerite. Whilst waiting for each coat to dry, I started work on the N/S front brake servo, cleaning off years of filth and corrosion and removing the rusty air intake. I next removed the brass vacuum inlet pipe, which needed a lot of heat to undo the screws, and loosened the end cap screws two of which needed a fair amount of heat too. I snapped the head off one of them, which will require a nut welding on the end to remove.