Non-Rally: 59 AMC Rambler American Issue

I'm visiting my other son in Menlo Park and we're tinkering on his Rambler. Bled the brakes OK (interesting location for the MC). But we can't figure out how to adjust the drum brakes. The service manual shows traditional star adjusters accessible from behind the brake plates but this car does not seem to have any star adjusters. The front left brakes activate way earlier than the other three resulting in a vicious pull to the left when braking.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Simon

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Simon Wright
Owner/Driver USUK Racing - Home of the USUK Racing LED Light Bars!

North America Rally Map

Any way you can pull the drums so you can orient yourself and see what things look like before FEELING around in the little slot to lever up the little slut.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

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The manual shows there should be a slot covered with a rubber plug - but there is no slot on our brakes. Just a couple of large bumps that look like giant rivet heads.

And yes we can pull the drums (the rears slide right off - the fronts would need us to remove the hub nut I think). Looked closely at the hardware in the rears - don't see where there might even be an adjusting star.

Simon

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Simon Wright
Owner/Driver USUK Racing - Home of the USUK Racing LED Light Bars!

North America Rally Map

You sure that "rivet head" ain't just a hardened rubber plug? Didjer "poke it" wit' a screwdriver or sumptin'?

Just throwin' out suggestions, I've seen weirder than that.

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Parfois, on fait pas semblant!

I am:
I know:
I am from:

Nobody.
Nothing.
Nowhere.

Menlo Park, CA or Menlo Park, NJ?

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Self-righteous douche canoe

California.

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Simon Wright
Owner/Driver USUK Racing - Home of the USUK Racing LED Light Bars!

North America Rally Map

Oh. We should have beers or something.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

Ok, long day and I finally got to this. 1959 American had optional self adjusting brakes (seriously?). If not self adjusting then there was a conventional star adjuster across the bottom of the shoes. BUT the start adjuster wasn't used until 1958 so the axles may be from an earlier year. If that is the case there should be two eccentrics located about mid drum.

Turn the front eccentric in the normal direction of the wheel rotation until the whole shoe contacts the drum (X-Ray vision needed??).
Back off the eccentric until the drum is just free and not touching.
Repeat procedure with the rerar eccentric but it turns in the opposite direction.
Repeat procedure on the other wheels.

Now if a drum is too far out of spec it can make a wheel pull. Bad hoses can do the same. Rock hard shoes or frozen,sticky wheel cylinders can also fark things up. The single most amazing thing abbout front drum brakes is than any of us old guys survived them as kids....

I have kept all my old Motor Manuals over the years and have the 1957 and 59 books so if you want anything scanned let me know.

Gene for President 2016!

He even knows how to work on a Romneymobile!

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

Gene,

Thanks for that info. I'm pretty certain that's what we were looking at. Arun (my son) will have a go at it in the next couple of days and I'll report back. I'm heading home to Raleigh tomorrow so won't be there to assist. I think liberal amounts of PB Blaster is needed to free up those eccentrics. I was feeling behind the drums and found two "things" at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions that I suggested to Arun might be what we need to adjust. They seemed to be square posts with four flanges or tabs?

Simon

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Simon Wright
Owner/Driver USUK Racing - Home of the USUK Racing LED Light Bars!

North America Rally Map

Sounds like the eccentric version (snicker). I use PB Blaster all the time. Very good stuff.

News from the western front (now that I'm back east): Gene is the man! Arun says that those square bolt eccentrics are doing the trick - still not perfectly balanced but a heck of a lot better than the oh-god-we're-all-gonna-die setting he had before.

Simon

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Simon Wright
Owner/Driver USUK Racing - Home of the USUK Racing LED Light Bars!

North America Rally Map