4 hours I will never get back

[JimD]

I had high hopes of refreshing the brakes on the 124 yesterday. After spending 1.5 hours just trying to gently free the pucks on the right rear brake, I knew I was screwed. I have never seen a set of pucks rusted so solidly as this set. I could tap the caliper and it would move, so I knew that the pucks were cemented to the carrier. Much tapping, PB Blastering and swearing ensued. I finally got the pucks out and then spent quite a while wire brushing them clean.

The other three corners were not as bad, but all were stuck to some degree. The fronts looked like someone had worked on them, but the rears seemed like they had been in place a loooong time. All the rotors were shiny and smooth and the car stopped fine in the brief drives I have taken. When I would back up though, something was dragging. I need to get this car inspected so I figured I better get in there and see what's happening. All I managed to get done yesterday was to free, clean and regrease all the pucks. So a repeat of the job for new rotors, pads, etc is in my future.

 

[ianlawson]

How does that old saying go, Jim.....?

.......So a repeat of the job for new rotors, pads, etc is in my future. ....

Sumthin' like.......
...."there ain't no rest for the wicked!" :devil:
Have fun!!

cheers, Ian - NZ

 

[kmead]

Yeah but its four hours you had to spend to be able to get to the next stage of the repair :sun:

 

[JimD]

It sure seems that way Ian

Of course, I make my own trouble by continually bringing home another old Fiat. I am obviously un-trainable.

I got a folder of paperwork with the car. I found a receipt for the front brakes from 2004, so those have been untouched for 11 years. I can only imagine how long it's been since someone tackled the rears.

 

[JimD]

He'll be here all week

Funny and true Karl. If I didn't have a prior engagement last night, I might have kept at it. I just ran out of time. And today my whole body aches for some reason.

I should have taken some pictures Karl. The rear hubs had one stock spacer on and that one spacer was consuming all of the "hub centric" lip of the hub. There was nothing sticking out for the wheel to ride on. Is that typical on a 124 in the rear? The fronts also had one spacer, but there was still some lip for the wheel.

 

[ianlawson]

This "old tale" must be about you, Jim......!

.....Of course, I make my own trouble by continually bringing home another old Fiat....

It kinda goes like this........
"a guy wanders into his next-door neighbour's (Jim's) garage/workshop to see Jim standing at his workbench, hitting himself on his thumbnail with a BF hammer! The neighbour says "what the hell are you doing that to yourself for?".
Jim replies "because it feels so bloody good when I stop!"

This Jim musta been you, Jim! :nuts:

cheers, Ian - NZ

 

[kmead]

The rear hubs had one stock spacer on and that one spacer was consuming all of the "hub centric" lip of the hub. There was nothing sticking out for the wheel to ride on. Is that typical on a 124 in the rear? The fronts also had one spacer, but there was still some lip for the wheel.

The early rear axle hubs had a very minimal lip thus making hub centric wheels somewhat moot. I believe the later axles had a more pronounced lip.

Either way, your car is typical, making the use of conical seat wheels and bolts pretty important to ensure the wheels are concentric with the axle. I have a set of old style mag wheels on my 124 Coupe with US style shouldered bolts, mine work well as they are drilled for 98mm but I have seen some that are drilled with "obround" holes to accommodate 98-100mm and one needs to be careful with those as you can mount a wheel offset if you aren't careful.

Like anything its all part of a journey, to get where you are going you need to make the trip, sometimes the trip isn't as enjoyable as one might hope :blackeye: