MG T-ABC

Right then:

With all due respect and utter amazement, I salute those whose drums marched right onto the hubs, sans much bother, by giving them a tip of the bonnet (in this case my Tam'O'Shanter).

As previously written, I made a short ten mile jaunt, after fiddling with the drum and shoe relationship for over three hours previously, and on checking the temperature of the drum, I felt more heat than I hsd wished for, but not nearly the amount that almost seared the tips off my fingers yesterday.

Again though; I stand in awe and mystification of those who have had so little trouble managing this feat ! Good-on-yah !

As pointed out by others and having recently helped a mate of mine install his Alfins, I slacked off the HBrake lines, made sure that the adjusters, for all shoes, were turned in as far as possible (discovering that the aft adjuster on the nearside front brake backing plate was useless, turning 360 without any shoe movement discerned and to be seen to, long off in the future me thinks) but I still had little in the way of comfort. A few gentle taps with my Mark 1, rubber basher just to make certain of the fact that the shoes were in as far as they could be produced little in the way of joy !

So, here sit here and ogle those lovely, newly lined shoes and shake my head in disbelief as to these drums ever being married to the shoes. Conversely; I visualise the seizing of all four wheels ! Therefore; they shall be set aside until the time has come that they ruddy well must be fitted.

Thank you for your encouragement but I should know, by now, that when someone says that a thing is a "cake walk" I'm being taken the "piss" !

Cheers then; respectfully:
Jack Emdall

Jack
are you Ok with the brakes or not?/
Bob

Good day Robert:

Firtly mate, the problem is neither with your drums, other than the cleaning up of the stud holes which was a known situation, nor do I possess a set of your relined shoes.

Therefore; all is tickety-boo as far as your bits are concerned.

I hoped I had made those facts clear, in my TABC ramblings. And, I repeat, I used the break shoes that are in the car (ie: in situ).

The others that I referred to, as being relined, are: 1) four which I had relined, as spares many years back, and 2) four that I came across recently, in a forgoten box, in a local auto breaker.

These eight shoes were the ones I sought your help on, by asking your opinion on the best material to use all around.

I will post a copy of this reply, to the web, as I don't want any misconstruction or interpretation of what I have written.

All is well with the Grunau Alfin Drms and they do look quite spiffy if I say so myself !.

Respectfully:
Jack Emdall

Jack, Further to your first comment re stud holes, I have slightly enlarged the stud holes in the alfin drums on the last batch, so fitting drums should be much easier now. I was previously attempting to make the drum mounting holes fit all hubs by drilling the holes to the undersize of the diameters of a selection of studs. Turns out this was too tight a tolerance for some cars. Best regards, Bob  
Bob Grunau
150 Pinewood Trail
Mississauga, Ontario
Canada, L5G-2L1
905-274-4136
grunau.garage@sympatico.ca

Good day Robert:   Firtly mate, the problem is neither with your drums, other than the cleaning up of the stud holes which was a known situation, nor do I possess a set of your relined shoes.     All is well with the Grunau Alfin Drms and they do look quite spiffy if I say so myself !.   Respectfully: Jack Emdall

Greetings

Just to say that Jack helped me and in turn I helped Jack fit the Alfin drums on our cars, and I think I can speak for the both of us they look and perform great.
The problem we both had (and I used new shoes) was getting the drums to fit over the shoes not the studs. The adjustments to close the shoes were not quite enough to make an easy fit. Not sure if any one else has had the same problem but maybe the inside diameter of the drums could be enlarged just a smidgen? And, yes the hand /park brake was slacked off in both cases.

Rgds
Malcolm
TC 6944 ( Just back from an approx 900 mile trip around BC's wine country in 30º C ++ temperatures and no problems)

Better to have the shoes arc'ed to the drums.

John Seim
Irvine, CA

Greetings John,
Yes, I agree and in my case they were - but I guess in this little world of MG's nothing is symmetrically perfect !

Rgds
Malcolm

Money cannot buy happiness, but it's more comfortable to cry in an MG than on a bicycle.

Attachments : Re. The Brakes / Alfin Drum Issue

In addition to a TC and TD, I also have an SA. This past year I had to reline the rear brake shoes due to failed seals in the pistons. I had a local commercial re-liner do the work. Although I suggested he use 3/16 in. thick lining, he used ¼ in. lining. Obviously, the original steel drums, worn and all, did not fit over the shoes. So… Back we went to him and again requested 3/16 in lining. This time it was done correctly, all fit without any problems and brakes work fine.

Maybe our cars originally had lining less thick than what’s being provided now. Just a thought.

Ben Gilbert
’38 SA Tickford
’49 TC Exu
’52 TD

But wouldn't worn drums have a larger working diameter? If so, a thicker lining would be in order, arced to fit, of course.

-Rick, TC 7881

Hi All,
My alfin drums are machined to 9.00" exactly, the original inside diameter of the TC drums. The shoes I supply are also arced to 9.0 " . So everything should fit, and usually does, IF the drums fit the front hubs, with my new brake shoes, then they should fit the rears as everything is the same dimensionally.

HOWEVER, in every case where the rear drums do not appear to fit, the handbrake mechanism, cables, stops etc etc have been the problem.

So please slacken off the handbrake adjustment wing nut in front of the handbrake lever, slacked the two brass nuts which attach the brake cables to the handbrake mechanism just inside the inner frame rails, pull the cables into the drum area backwards, slacken off completely the shoe adjusters, make sure the weird scissor hand brake assembly is loose, and everything should fit.

Good luck and happy braking.
Best regards, Bob

Bob Grunau
150 Pinewood Trail
Mississauga, Ontario
Canada, L5G-2L1
905-274-4136
grunau.garage@sympatico.ca

I'm sorry, and I don't mean to sound snide, but . . Duh! Yeah, it helps to have all of the tension off of the moving parts.. . . .

Dennis NelsonTA3074

I had the same tight fit in the install of Bob's Alfins on my TC. BUT.. I found the answer in my case. The rear drum on one side did not want to fit over the new shoes. I had slacked off on the hand brake nut and still had a problem. What I finally discovered was the hand brake cable although slacked at the nut was not fully releasing the brake fittings. I re-lubed the cable, worked it fore and aft until it truly released the mechanism in the rear brakes and the drum slid on easy as can be.

This might be part of the problem, it worked for me.

Neil Nelson
Fleming Island, Florida

TC 0526