The seller had already told me that the brakes were not very good, in fact, when ever he drove the car he used the handbrake to stop the car.
As soon as we had the car home I put in an order for new front discs, pads and bearings along with new rear drums and brake shoes.
I had an issue with one disc as it cracked as I started to install the bearing race. The first disc was fine, the races went in with no problems. This disc, just as I started to tap the race to get it started, let off a loud crack and cracked down through the hub. It has been returned to the supplier whom I'm hoping will refund my money. I had to order another disc to carry on with the work.
The front discs were changed along with new bearings and brake pads. It looks as though the caliper and flexible hose has been changed in the not too distant past. I then moved to the rear wheels.
After raising the rear of the car I then removed the wheels. The center spinners were corroded in place and the retaining rings had to be destroyed to remove them. There was no way I could break free the drum retaining nut with the wheels off and the spinners obstructed the socket. They had to go.
I then removed the rear drums and shoes and examined them. After comparing them with the new items I had, it quickly became apparent that what was on the car was also fairly new. There was hardly any wear on the shoes and no ridge on the drum. The only thing that was wrong was the shoe adjusters, they were seized.
I removed the adjusters from both sides, soaked them in brake cleaner and used some very fine sand paper to clean up the bores and the star wheel shaft. I then dried and re-fitted everything lubricating the mating surfaces with a little copper ease grease.
The shoes were then adjusted so the drum dragged a little then backed off 3 clicks. It was all reassembled and tested, all working like a charm!