Brake drum removal on wire wheel hub

[Ritchie6]

At the risk of asking a stupid question I have a query regarding the removal of rear brake drums on a car with wire wheels. I'm familiar with the usual set up of a couple of countersunk screw holding the drum in place but with the wire wheel conversion when you take the wheel off there are four bolts with nuts fastened to them. Do I remove these to free the brake drum after having uncoupled the handbrake cable? I'm not familiar with the wire wheel set up and didn't want remove these nuts and end up removing the whole spline assembly. I have a factory workshop manual but it only deals with the ordinary disc wheels and makes no mention of wires.In the recent MOT test the near side rear brake was reading less than the off side so just wanted to take a look to make sure all is well

Richard

[SGN]

The 4 nuts would normally bolt your wheels on, the splined adapters are just bolted against the drums in place of an alloy or steel wheel. Remove the 4 nuts and splined adapter, you can then take the drum off as normal.

Cheers
Steve

[Ritchie6]

Many thanks Steve. I had a sneaking suspicion that might be the case but I just wanted another opinion for confirmation rather than cock it up, especially when there's a world of knowledge on this forum

Cheers
Richard

[SGN]

Many thanks Steve. I had a sneaking suspicion that might be the case but I just wanted another opinion for confirmation rather than cock it up, especially when there's a world of knowledge on this forum

Cheers
Richard

No problem, glad to help. I have them fitted on a MK3 Spitfire. Always worth asking if unsure.

Cheers
Steve

[Ritchie6]

The Chrome wires were fitted by the previous owner, who had the car for 27 years. They do look good but I have to say they are very labour intensive and need a lot of cleaning. To jack the car up,remove wheel and get cracking with the Solvol Autosol is approx. 45 minutes per corner. Had it been my choice I might have gone with a set of Wolfrace slots or something similar but each to their own

Richard

[malc4d]

There are two types of wires. Those that have the spline bolted to the drum, so caled knock off wheels, or the wheel bolts hold the wheel to the drum like a normal wheel, called bolt on....

[Ritchie6]

There are two types of wires. Those that have the spline bolted to the drum, so caled knock off wheels, or the wheel bolts hold the wheel to the drum like a normal wheel, called bolt on....

I'm not sure which of the two mine falls into but here's a picture of the N/S hub IMG_0168.JPG

[malc4d]

Spline type. You have to remove them to access the drum screws.

[Ritchie6]

Spline type. You have to remove them to access the drum screws.

Thanks for the info Malc. I'll have a look sometime and check the linings etc. I've heard that the self adjusting handbrake can be a bit of a pain. Any tips or hints?

Richard