I will be doing a few projects soon and was wondering if anyone had any
addvise. First I will be installing my winshield soon and have desided
to use the gasket with the corners and white stripe molded in. I have
the old style gasket if anyone is interested mske me an offier. What can
you guys tell me about doing brakes on an amphicar? I've never evan had
the wheels off this car. Just wondering what I might run into. I'm going
to pull the engine to replace the motor mounts. If I'm that deep into
the car is there anything I should look at while I'm there?
Thanks...
Craig in Alaska


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GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.

Brakes:

Since you've never removed the wheels, it is likely that your brake drums
will be stuck on the hub. Hopefully they will come loose if you tap on them
with a hammer and pry LIGHTLY between the backing plate and the drum. If you
pry hard, you will bend the backing plate (make sure the parking brake is off
before you try to remove the rear brake drums )

It is very difficult to get the springs reconnected to the rear brake shoes
if the hub is still on the axle. I recommend that you remove the hub (the
part with the 5 wheel studs in it) before doing the rear brakes. Since the
hub has a taper fit, it doesn't just slide off. To remove it, you will need
a good size wheel puller.


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GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.

John,

While I did manage to do my rear brake shoes without removing the hub, I too
follow the "Work smarter, not harder" philosophy. For me, pulling the hub
was the easier way, but if you don't have a good wheel puller, then this
would not be the case.

As for your instructions, I have one question. Do you have the "Slide the
emergency brake bar in behind the hub..." step the correct location in the
sequence of steps? I put this bar (part 6-23-26) in place before the "Rotate
the shoes upward using them as a lever to stretch the spring." step. In
fact, this bar was what I levered the shoes against.

One last comment: The rear brakes on an Amphi are correctly installed with
the brake cylinders at the BOTTOM. This is how John wrote his instructions.
Sometimes (like on my car), someone has installed the backing plates on the
wrong sides. When this is done, the brake cylinders will be at the TOP.
This doesn't seem to cause any big problems, but it does make it harder to
get a hose on the bleeder screw.





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GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.

> It is very difficult to get the springs reconnected to the rear
brake shoes
> if the hub is still on the axle. I recommend that you remove the
hub (the
> part with the 5 wheel studs in it) before doing the rear brakes.
Since the
> hub has a taper fit, it doesn't just slide off. To remove it, you
will need
> a good size wheel puller.


No need to remove the hub! I was always told "Work smarter, not
harder" Of course, these are things you figure out after you leave
your knuckles hanging from a bolt. ;O With the following process,
I can install new shoes in about 10 minutes per wheel.

To install the springs;

- With one shoe in each hand, attach the bottom spring between the 2
shoes in the correct orientation.
- Holding the 2 shoes/spring assembly like a "V", Place the assembly
in it's correct position at the bottom of the backing plate.
- CAREFULLY Rotate the shoes upward using them as a lever to stretch
the spring and hold the shoes in place.
- Check that the the brake cylinder has engaged on both shoes
properly.
- Slide the emergency brake bar in behind the hub, be sure to install
it in the correct orientation.
- Install the upperr spring.
- Repeat

If this is not descriptive enough, or if I left something out, let me
know and I can snap a couple of pictures of the process to make it
clearer.

John




        
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GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.

> While I did manage to do my rear brake shoes without removing the
hub, I too
> follow the "Work smarter, not harder" philosophy. For me, pulling
the hub
> was the easier way, but if you don't have a good wheel puller, then
this
> would not be the case.

Of couse what works for me may not work for the next guy. Heck,
sometime I can't make things work at all! Don't take any of these
suggestions as gospel, use them as an alternate method depending on
what skills and tools are available. The #1 thing that you must do is
to always hold your tongue correctly to induce the proper level of
concentration when working

> As for your instructions, I have one question. Do you have
the "Slide the
> emergency brake bar in behind the hub..." step the correct location
in the
> sequence of steps? I put this bar (part 6-23-26) in place before
the "Rotate
> the shoes upward using them as a lever to stretch the spring."
step. In
> fact, this bar was what I levered the shoes against.

Good catch! You are correct, now that I think about it that is
exactly how I did it as well. DOH!

John "DOH!"




        
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.

> While I did manage to do my rear brake shoes without removing the
hub, I too
> follow the "Work smarter, not harder" philosophy. For me, pulling
the hub
> was the easier way, but if you don't have a good wheel puller, then
this
> would not be the case.

Of couse what works for me may not work for the next guy. Heck,
sometime I can't make things work at all! Don't take any of these
suggestions as gospel, use them as an alternate method depending on
what skills and tools are available. The #1 thing that you must do is
to always hold your tongue correctly to induce the proper level of
concentration when working

> As for your instructions, I have one question. Do you have
the "Slide the
> emergency brake bar in behind the hub..." step the correct location
in the
> sequence of steps? I put this bar (part 6-23-26) in place before
the "Rotate
> the shoes upward using them as a lever to stretch the spring."
step. In
> fact, this bar was what I levered the shoes against.

Good catch! You are correct, now that I think about it that is
exactly how I did it as well. DOH!

John "DOH!"




        
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.