| Joe, is it possible the hydraulic wheel cylinder pistons are extended too much? Just thinking, Dave. Dave; Thanks for the suggestion. The wheel cylinders are not presently even connected to the brake lines (they have air in them) and are fully retracted. Joe Subject: Beating on the drums is a no-no, unless you live in South Africa :>) 1. Verify that the adjusters are showing no thread at all. If so, they are set to the minimum length they can achieve. Dick; On these "Total Contact Brakes" the adjusters never have any exposed threads visible. They use cams that are enclosed between two steel support plates. I have adjusted the cams to the minimum position. Joe 2. Next, look at the tops of the shoes, where they fit up against the top pin - they must be tight up against the pin. If they are not, the wheel cylinders or some mechanical obstruction are holding the brakes in the partly applied position. Yes, the shoes are in the fully retracted position and the three platforms they ride on have been lubricated lightly to aid in shoe retraction. Also the shoe return springs are new. The shoes are against the wheel cylinder pins tightly. Joe 3. Pull out on the shoes, compressing the hold down springs and then wiggle the shoes left and right to make sure they are not hung up in the structure of the backing plate. That was done and I even have tapped on the shoes with hammers to verify that they are in a fully retracted position. Joe 4. If they still won't snuggle up against the top pin, open the bleeder valve on the back of the wheel cylinder and let the pressure off (fluid will squirt out). As noted previously the wheel cylinders are not even connected to the brake lines yet and are fully open to the air. Joe 5. If you've done all that, and still the drum won't slide on easily, there is too much lining thickness on the shoes, they will have to come off and be ground to fit your drums. Dick Benjamin Brooks Harkey came by and we looked at the situation again and tried some ideas. Right now I am leaning to the idea that the shoes need to be arced. I do not know of anyone who still does that. I do have the capability to grind some off with a sander and if it comes to that I will do it outside in a good breeze. Joe I would have the drums turned if they have never been done before or they are still within tolerance for thickness. If this doesn't solve the problem, then have the shoes arced. I hesitate to have the drums turned unless they prove to have been warped by the previous smoking of the shoes years ago. The drums for these models are rare as hen's teeth now. I would be more willing to sacrifice some shoe lining. If I have to put up with some vibration or chatter until the shoes seat properly, so be it. I spoke with my friend Jim Payne, who has a '61, and he said that it would take years for the replacement shoes to be worn enough to warrant replacement again unless the car was being used as a daily driver. My '62 will not be a daily driver. It might take me 10 years to put 10K miles on the car. Joe Steve Restelli Hi Joe; Make sure the emergency brake cable isn't hanging up and forcing the shoes outward. Both shoes should be right up against upper anchor (where the return springs attach) tight. If they aren't you'll have a tough time getting the drums on. Stevan Miner As someone else noted, the '62 models have the parking brake mounted behind the transmission on an extension of the drive shaft with it's own drum and shoes. Joe The shoes need to be arced anyway in order for the brakes to work correctly. That should be done first. If the drum will then barely fit over the shoes, it may be possible to bring it home with the axle nut. The threaded end of the axle shaft was not even visible when I encountered the major resistance to installing the drum. The only way I could get enough thread visible to put the castle nut back on was to force the drums over the shoes with a 13 lb. sledge hammer. That resulted in shaving off some of the heel and toe of each shoe as it went on. (This was after I had verified several times that the shoes were retracted as fully as possible and adjusters set to minimum). Joe It is possible that the shoes were over size in anticipation of the drums being turned. I prefer not to turn drums unless I have to. That said, you may have to. Paul W. I believe you are right. After Brooks and I looked at the situation last night, I plan to measure the thickness of the lining material and see how it compares to the statements in the service manual about dealer installed bonded linings. Joe Funny that you guys are talking about arcing the brakes shoes. I haven't heard or done that for years. Used to be a thing that you did as a matter of course. I have worked as a mechanic off and on for years. Even used to bond shoes to the metal . Don't know if any one even does that anymore or if anyone around here had a way to arc shoes. They really need to make sure that the wheel cylinder rods are fully in the wheel cylinder. Make sure that springs are on correct. and not hanging up on anything. Randal Park That was the process on these older Imperials ('62 and earlier). The '63 and up models have Bendix brake systems for the rear drums and are much different in design and adjustment procedures. And yes, no one that I know either does the arcing of the shoes anymore. OSHA and the EPA got involved and all dealerships got rid of the equipment. No one wanted the Feds on their case about asbestos dust. As someone else noted before, a dealer today has no desire to have his younger mechanics learn how to service anything older than 10 years. They can't make any money on them because of lost time and parts availability issues. There do not appear to be any hang-ups that we can find. Brooks took some pictures with his digital camera and we will have more information to report on this after I take thickness measurements with a dial caliper of the shoe lining material. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I welcome any help I can get. This club and its members are a very valuable resource for anyone who it restoring or maintaining an Imperial. Joe Joseph W. Strickland 1021 Vaughan Lane Tioga, TX 76271-2937 ________________________________________ PeoplePC Online A better way to Internet http://www.peoplepc.com----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. 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