With my Duster I just have to turn the adjuster screw at the bottom to get the brakes adjusted the way I want and off I go.

Working on the 67 Valiant seems to be a different story. It has the Bendix/Wagner self adjuster cable deal similar to the one shown on this site.

http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/Article ... vices.aspx

I've never messed with anything other than my Duster and I can't seem to get any kind of adjustment out of these brakes. My FSM is a 72 and doesn't really have the self adjusters in there. I could hardly even get two of the drums off the car (first time messing with brakes, have yet to drive the car on the road). They were so tight that it was pulling the shoes out with them. After working at each one for about 5 mintues I got them off. Now I can't even seem to turn the self adjuster at the bottom and they arent corroded or anything because when I take them off they turn freely. Is there some kind of trick to it?

It seems like I have to have the adjustment screw at the bottom of the brake almost completely screwed in to be able to get the drum back on. It's so loose that it almost wants to fall out but thats the only way I can get the drums back on. Plus the only way I can screw it in is to remove it from the brake, screw it in and then kind of pry the shoes apart to get it back on. Every one of them was like this except for the driver front which adjusted ok and felt good when I put the drum back on. I don't have the e-brake on or anything either. Am I missing some kind of common sense thing here?

Also on a side note, the front drums have some sort of weird metal coil thing wrapped all the way around them. Whats the point of this?

Your '72 FSM should cover the self adjusting mechanism. My 1966 Dart and Coronet FSM does!

If the drum is hard to remove then the adjusters are probably working. The shoes will be very close to the drums and if there is a less-worn and maybe rusty lip inboard of the shoes it will be tough to remove the drum. You can often sand down the lip to make drum installation and removal easier.

If the adjuster turns freely by itself them look for whatever else in the brake hardware is binding the adjuster. The adjusting lever will normally bear on the adjuster wheel and allow it to rotate in only one direction. Make sure everything in the FSM is present and functioning correctly.

The spring around the drum is supposed to reduce noise and vibration.

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Joshua

The self-adjustor was redesigned for '69; the newer setup has the self-adjust lever below the starwheel. The '68 and earlier setup has the self-adjust lever above the starwheel. Most of the parts are different between the two setups. The self-adjust mechanism is covered in all applicable FSMs.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Ok now I see why I was confused. My Duster doesn't have any kind of self adjuster on it. Looks like they were removed before I bought the car. Since the Duster is my first car, it's no wonder they were new to me when I started doing the Valiant's brakes.