From BLTN
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It all started when I noticed a little "brake fade" & a soft brake petal that would stiffen up when I pumped the brakes.
The first thing I did was to check the brake fluid level and noticed it was very low. If you are loosing brake fluid then your brake system has been compromised and is in need of immediate attention.
Upon further inspection I found the culprit .........
Looks like it is time for new wheel cylinders. Notice that I said "cylinders". Once one goes the others are usually not far behind.
Since I'm going in I will also be replacing the brake shoes.
First of all you want to make sure that your that your wheels are chocked. Since I will be jacking up the rear of the car I will be loosing all the benefits of leaving the car in gear and the parking brake on.
Jack up the car & lower it securely on jack stands. I like to give the car a good "nudge" just to make sure it is resting on the jack stands well.
Now the wheel can be removed. If I don't have the use of a impact wrench I like to loosen the lug nuts (just slightly) prior to jacking the car up. That way you can use the ground to prevent the wheel from spinning while trying to break the lug nuts loose.
A good thing to remember here is that if you have after market wheels with locking lug nuts you need to know where the key is. I keep mine in a leather pouch hanging off the jack in the trunk. I also keep a set of stock lug nuts there since I have a stock spare.
I'm doing this brake job on a 1973 Squareback. Type 3 drums are two pieces. If you remove the two screws (screws already removed in the pic below) you can remove the drum and leave the center lug in place. I find the with a "torque converter" it is easier to remove both pieces for better access to the brake components.
If yours is not a Type 3 you will have to remove the cotter pin & castle nut.
Here I am removing the castle nut with a torque "converter". If you do not have a "torque converter", get one..!!! It will make your life a whole lot easier. If you are unable to get a "torque converter" and have to do it the old fashion way ( with a breaker bar and six feet of pipe) back all the way up to before you jacked the car up. You really want the car on the ground while you muscle that castle nut off or you can knock the car off it's jack stands. Once again ( like the lug nuts) only loosen the castle nut slightly. Just enough so that when the car is raised the parking brake will keep the wheel from spinning while you loosen it the rest of the way.
With the castle nut off you should now be able to pull the drum straight off. Make sure that the parking brake is not on or the shoes will hold the drum on tight. If you are still having trouble try adjusting the brake shoes further away from the drums. Once the drum is off this is what you will be looking at. Yours may be slightly different since there were some changes made on the different years and models. Now is a good time to take plenty of pics to aid you in the re-assembly process. I also like to lay the different components down in the position that they were before I removed them to help me remember how they go on.
