1956 VW Beetle - Just inherited from deceased Uncle

[Bub]

[Chainsaw Monday]

[67rustavenger]

Brake adjustments are done through the larger hole in the outside of the brake drum. You can see the hole in the pic you posted above.

I adjusted mine that way two days ago.
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I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[Chainsaw Monday]

[esde]

Those with the double lip drums are 58 to 64.
so it appears that you have a later (61-68 ) style transmission case, that is using early (up to 57) axle tubes, short axles, and 58-64 rear brakes and bearing retainers.
Just as I was about to post this, I scrolled back and see it looks like you have drums with the snout machined off. How wide are the shoes? I'm wondering if you don't have thing brakes or something larger than stock.
Definitely a nice car.
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[Busstom]

No, they didn't come without heat, so either the control unit and cylinder have been removed beside the shifter, or the flanges are hiding under the P-brake boot (which is easily pulled up for a peek). It looks like it's the former.

I find it absolutely mind-boggling that someone decided to rub out the VIN from the tunnel. I can't even imagine the rationale to do such a thing, I've never seen that. The only actual reason that makes sense is to try and hide the fact that if it (the pan) was stolen (not that that's the case here), so that if ever accused, someone could say, "Well ya can't prove it!" Aside from that, it does little more than raise questions and potentially create problems for somebody else down the road (and it definitely affects value if you ever try to sell it).

They could have just as easily swapped in a pan (which they did), and LEFT the old VIN there, and just not said anything to anybody and played dumb. To go out of their way to eliminate it seems like extra effort for zero benefit.

Nice car anyway, I'm just pointing out the bizarre nature of that aspect, no disrespect meant at all.

And by the way, if you were ever as curious as I am now, I'd be looking online at the methods people use with acid to try and reveal the VIN, that would just drive me nuts
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My name's Steve and it's pronounced "Bust 'em" (cuz people think I'm Tom) 😏

[splitjunkie]

[Chainsaw Monday]

[splitjunkie]

Can you rotate the drum that is stuck?

Also, wanted to say congrats on the car. It looks nice and will be a fun driver. Plenty of ovals out there on later pans and mixed and matched parts.
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Chris

You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld

[Chainsaw Monday]

[Chainsaw Monday]

Pic of rear passenger brake assembly with drum finally removed. The adjuster pin is adjusted all the way in on the left (rear) side of the assembly. I didn't adjust that one, does that indicate an issue, or just possible bad adjustment from the person who installed these?

[Busstom]

This side does look mal-adjusted. The adjusting screws (with the stars down at the bottom) typically look roughly equal, while your left side there is fully INWARD, which means little-to-no contact with the drum, so it wasn't adjusted at all.

Also, judging by the spring on the parking brake cable, the P-brake looks partially engaged, or poorly adjusted. And also, the wheel (slave) cylinder up top, those pistons look at least partially actuated (pushed outward), I'm judging that based on the stretched-out boots over the pistons.

Start by looking at the right-side parking brake cable, and backing it off. Then adjust the star to bring the front shoe (the one on the right) in a bit, and check what's going on with the pistons on the wheel cylinder, they may be frozen in that position.

Not sure what your experience level is, but in this scenario, with unfamiliarity with all the working parts, I'd be tempted to just clean everything up REAL good, re-set to a zero starting point, and reassemble/rebuild everything with the existing parts just to gain familiarity with everything and to verify/validate the state of everything. Of course, you will have to replace things (shoes look like they may be wet with oil, but they have very little wear, a ton of meat on them), but nothing like doing a dry-run to familiarize the heck out of yourself with everything first.
_________________
My name's Steve and it's pronounced "Bust 'em" (cuz people think I'm Tom) 😏

[Chainsaw Monday]

[Busstom]

[Eric&Barb]

[Chainsaw Monday]

[Eric&Barb]