I was under the back of the car finishing up putting a new muffler on the 91 Grand Am when I happened to glance at the left wheel and noticed a few drops of fluid on the inside of the rim. Brake fluid. Took the drum off to see the wheel cylinder leaking. Get online and see whats available and it looks like Advance Auto has the right one on some clearance special, and using a discount code, orded it for pickup at under $8.
That was too easy. So I go to remove the brake hardware and shoes to access the wheel cylinder, then try unscrewing the brake line fitting. It cracks loose from the cylinder but not from the line. I pretty much knew where this was heading, but for grins and giggles, I put some heat and Kroil on it while working it back and forth. No luck, so I just cut it off. The rest of the line is still decent but has a bunch of bends and curves and I didn't want to try and duplicate that, so I patched in a 6 inch section of new tube with a coupler and fittings. Glad I have the Mastercool hydraulic brake line kit, but it was still a pretty tight space to work in.
Got that fabbed up and put everything back together, but the shoes wouldn't go all the way back in to be able to put the drum on. Looks like the parking brake lever is sticking so I pry it back with a screwdriver so now the the drum goes on ok. So I pull on the parking brake, it holds fine but when released, the drum won't move. Turns out the left parking brake cable is binding. So I remove the brake hardware and shoes a second time to get at the cable to remove it. Sure enough, it barely moves. Nothing available locally, so order one from Ebay and will have to wait until next week to put it back together. The joys of old cars. What surprised me were the E-torx bolts holding the wheel cylinder. Didn't think they were around back then.
That was too easy. So I go to remove the brake hardware and shoes to access the wheel cylinder, then try unscrewing the brake line fitting. It cracks loose from the cylinder but not from the line. I pretty much knew where this was heading, but for grins and giggles, I put some heat and Kroil on it while working it back and forth. No luck, so I just cut it off. The rest of the line is still decent but has a bunch of bends and curves and I didn't want to try and duplicate that, so I patched in a 6 inch section of new tube with a coupler and fittings. Glad I have the Mastercool hydraulic brake line kit, but it was still a pretty tight space to work in.
Got that fabbed up and put everything back together, but the shoes wouldn't go all the way back in to be able to put the drum on. Looks like the parking brake lever is sticking so I pry it back with a screwdriver so now the the drum goes on ok. So I pull on the parking brake, it holds fine but when released, the drum won't move. Turns out the left parking brake cable is binding. So I remove the brake hardware and shoes a second time to get at the cable to remove it. Sure enough, it barely moves. Nothing available locally, so order one from Ebay and will have to wait until next week to put it back together. The joys of old cars. What surprised me were the E-torx bolts holding the wheel cylinder. Didn't think they were around back then.
