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[oilstain]

I use my 11a most days, and it is parked in the road outside my house when not out and about,
This morning I went out and found this brake spring on the floor under the underseat fuel tank area,
The brakes seemed fine yesterday and I'm unsure how it could just fall out
I have standard 10" rear drums on my 88" and 11" ex 109 rear brakes on the front.
Its months since I've had the drums off, could the spring been resting on a chassis shelf and just droped off or is it a sign of doom

as seen the spring is very rusty, so could it just be a "spare"

[w3526602]

Ho Oilstain,

Unbelievable co-incidences DO happen. I was once driving an RAF Standard Vanguard, with a screen wiper that would not switch off. I asked everybody in the car to concentrate (eg pull a stern face) on stopping the wiper. They did. The wiper stopped immediately. Very worrying.

As for your spring ... Either it's a spring that you dropped recently, or a passing itinerant scrap metal dealer dropped it on the way out of your garage.

If I may ... one of my mates was an RAF Apprentice at RAF Halton. One day, on old Biddy demanded to see the CO. She presented him with a lump of  metal, which she claimed had fallen of one of his aeroplanes, and broken one of her windows, and what was he going to do about it?

He gave her a couple of quid (£2) and sent the item down to the technical bods.

Nobody could identify the part, so it was sent elsewhere, for identification. Months passed before it was identified, and the CO got a reply.

It was part of the steering mechanism off a Zeppelin.  Don't mess with British grandmothers.

602

[oilstain]

Just thinking but how is it possible for a brake spring to escape without the drum being removed, the gap is very small

[Wittsend]

It was, is, common for people to fit a brake pull-off spring to the clutch actuation arm 
This practice was quickly dropped by LR in the early days of Series 2s.

The clutch actuation system is near to the fuel tank

Or, could the spring have been rested/left on top of the chassis rail - and forgotten.

I once took mine for an MoT and Rod (the tester) came up out of the pit with a spanner I'd used to adjust the brake shoes - it was still hanging on the adjuster bolt  must have been there for some weeks.


 

[agg221]

I can't absolutely see from the photo angle, but there is no sign of a worn/bright spot at the contact points inside the hooks, or anywhere along the length. If these are just as rusty as the rest it suggests the spring has not been connected to anything for a fairly long time.

Alec

[oilstain]

^^^ just looked again, rust all over no bright spots so it seems it has not been inside the drum for a long time but just resting in/on the chassis, so no problems   

[Sunny Jim]

I managed to drive from Solihull to Tyseley to go to a car parts place. When I came out, there was a tea mug sat on the nearside wing!

As said above, a brake, clutch or handbrake return spring should have shiny bits on the ends where it has rubbed. A brake spring loose in a drum would make a nasty noise, and make its presence known anyway.

Anyone who still has a clutch return spring would probably be the mythical fan of CB master cylinders.

Sunny Jim

[agg221]

I managed to drive from Solihull to Tyseley to go to a car parts place. When I came out, there was a tea mug sat on the nearside wing!

Anyone who still has a clutch return spring would probably be the mythical fan of CB master cylinders.

Sunny Jim

I'd best fit one then!

[Sunny Jim]

I'd best fit one then!

I still had one (clutch return spring) fitted until I did the last major rebuild in 2006 when I worked out that there was no difference in principle of operation, so left it out. It just caused problems keeping the clutch adjusted, and I wish I had known I could have ditched it in 1978.

Sunny Jim

[autorover1]

I suspect it has been left over from a brake rebuilt. I  "lost" my 2BA open ended spanner for 4 yrs. Eventually found it sitting on top of the chassis under the battery frame , including a 2000 mile to Norway & back.

[oddjob]

I managed to drive from Solihull to Tyseley to go to a car parts place. When I came out, there was a tea mug sat on the nearside wing!

Sunny Jim

I take your cup of tea and I raise you…

[w3526602]

Hi,

Have we discounted the malicious prankster dropping the odd spare part here and there?

Tea pot on the wing? I once delivered a tea-pot, with matching milk jug, sugar bowl, all on a silver tray, complete with spoon, to the garage where my mate was working, in Notting Hill (North London). Nobody seemed interested ... buts that's London for you.

The fold flat windscreen on pre-war MG Midgets (1931 L-type Magna) makes an excellent trolley. I suppose the same applies to S2s?

602

[Sunny Jim]

I take your cup of tea and I raise you…

My cup was empty unfortunately - now if someone also had some milk............

The thing about going from Solihull to Tyseley was that there were some significant traffic islands to go round!

Sunny Jim