Hi guys, I really need some help here.

My wife's father passed away and left us a K reg Polo Calypso (132000 miles and still starts first time). The problem is I would like to check the brakes out and can't for the life of me see how to get the drums off to inspect the shoes.

Any tips/advice would be very gratefully received,

Many thanks

Al

i assume you've got as far as taking the split pin and bearing nut off? You need to un-adjust the shoes so they move away from the drum to get the drum off. There is a wedge shaped adjuster inside the drum, it's at the front of the drum (i.e. the part closest the front of the car). If you shine a torch through a wheelbolt hole and slowly move the drum around you'll just about be able to see inside. The adjuster is a wedge shaped piece of metal with a spring hooked onto the bottom of it. Get an old flat blade screwdriver and grind the end to a point, poke this through the wheel bolt hole and into the hole in the bottom of the wedge where the spring hooks. Now move the wedge upwards, it'll probably be fairly seized so requires some effort. Once it moves the drum should become loose and pull off.

If you are re-using the drum, get an angle grinder and grind the lip off the outer edge of the drum so it fits back on easier.

Once you've put it back together, you'll need to move the wedge down again so the shoes are just in contact with the drum. They are supposed to auto-adjust but they never work.

Many thanks hayesy,

I'm sure that years ago my old Vauxhall cavalier mk1 was easier than this!