A While back I installed the Volvo calipers and 320 hubs and rotors on the front of the car. Now is the time to balance the brakes out. The increased braking power is nice in the front, but I can feel the rears being overpowered. It seems that almost all of my stopping power is in the front. So I got a set of 320 rear brakes from a member of the BMW2002 Faq. They are in very good shape and I could probably slap them on as they are but I decided to replace the inner bits for a basically NEW brake setup!
This is a partial parts list for the upgrade:
BMW 320 backing plates
19mm Wheel cylinders (optional but recommended)
320 brake shoes
320 brake drums
BMW 2002 Turbo e-brake cables
brake fluid
large screwdriver you dont care about
Hub puller
36mm Socket for Axle Nut
This was the first time I have ever done drum brakes. Disc brakes are a snap and I was VERY intimidated about drums. Its not hard at all, just make sure you have everything you need!
First before you do anything get the back of the car up and the wheels off. Pull the drums off the car. If they dont come off easily you may have to adjust the tensioners on the backing plates. Make sure the e-brake is not engaged and the e-brake cable tension is completely slacked. With the drums off you can see the brakes. I popped the springs off and unbolted the four bolts that hold the backing plates to the hub and pulled the backing plate free. Loosened the brake lines and popped of the ebrake cable from the shoe and the old brakes came off! New brakes go on in the reverse. I had the new brakes on and I couldnt get the shoes on…hmmm…turns out that I needed the 2002 Turbo brake cables. Ireland Engineering had 2 in stock and that they were using for one of their cars yet they let me have them anyway…great guys. I had the e-brake cables in the next day. It was a good thing as one of mine was broken and the other didnt look great.
Tricks to this upgrade:
1. To get the springs back onto the brake shoes, I put a notch in a big screwdriver. This allowed me to easily put the springs back on.
2. So brake fluid doesnt go EVERYWHERE open up the brake fluid cap and put a sheet of plastic over the top then close the cap. This puts a seal on the system and fluid doesnt go everywhere when you unbolt the brake lines from the backing plates.
3. If you get stuck…have a local shop ready to step in! One side of my car was pretty easy…the passenger side though wouldnt budge. I drove it to the shop so they could finish with one new brake system and one old brake system. They said they worked pretty hard to get the hub off the car so the backing plate and new brakes could go on.