I thought it'd be a quick job fixing the rear brake. But that proved to be a bit too much wishful thinking. Removing the rear wheel was EZ with my new wheel nut wrench, but then came the hard part. Getting rid of the cotter pin that secures the clevis bolt (which connects the handbrake cable to the brake cylinder actuating lever) was also pretty straight forward. And then I was supposed to tap the pin out with a few taps.
Not. I ended up hammering for almost half an hour before it finally started to move out. Phew. Once the handbrake cable was released, it was possible to rotate the wheel freely. I then tried to "lightly tap the brake drum outward" as the manual suggested. Of course that didn't work. The taps turned into blows, but it just didn't wanna move. Not after ten minutes, not after an hour. The drum was simply corroded tight to the steel bolts and rear shaft axle assy.
I figured that a 2 or 3 jaw puller could do the trick but then I'd need a 10"er. Simply impossible to find an affordable one over here :/ So I decided to design and eventually devise my own special tool which I can do at the workshop at work.
But fixing the rear brake(s) doesn't have the highest prio right now. The most important thing is that the RH rear wheel runs freely now. In the meantime I've also decided to install a disk brake conversion kit rather than restoring the old drum brakes. There's quite a few options, from cheap (which require you to do some milling and work on a lathe) to very expensive. Now, I did learn to do some pretty complex milling and lathing at school, and I'd probably be allowed to use the machines at work, but the instructions I found were a bit vague. Which also counts for the various types of brackets and calipers and stuff. Everything was based on US Nissan model types rather than European ones. So i could either purchase a bolt-on kit from Modern Motorsports for around $435, which includes a pair of brackets, Brembo disks, brake pads, SS brake lines and handbrake adapter kit. I'd only need to source a pair of 1989-1994 Nissan 240SX rear calipers from a junk yard. Unfortunately, the 240SX is a US model. According to some sources, in Europe it was marketed as 200SX. I did find a pair of used calipers from a '91 200SX for 50euros each, but I asked the people at Modern Motorsports first to see if these were the same as the 240SX's.
Hmm, maybe I'll just use a set of VW disk brakes and make my own bracket to install it :) Gonna check with Sierk first if he's every done a disk brake conversion on a VW Golf.
What else...i'm kinda stuck. Wanna do engine work first, but I need some more tools to do so. No money left, and December's gonna be another expensive month :/ Ah well, but at least I've got my new set of socket wrenches :)
