Actual car content

The rear brake shoes on my 106 have started grinding.

It's snowing, and I am not taking the MX-5 to work tomorrow because I don't want to be killed horribly.

Bought new shoes today.

There's a little Kia or something similarly far eastern at the top of my road on its roof.

I have quite enjoyed the last few days at work. The weather adds some variety.

Douglas Payne gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Now go back and buy new hubnuts. They're peened, so should be replaced every time. But, of course, you won't find that out until you've destroyed the dust caps to get in to 'em. Oh, and new wheel bearings, because they'll almost certainly fall apart when you take the drums off. Still, you get the hubnuts and dust caps in the wheel bearing kit. Probably. I got three bearing kits and all contained subtly different combinations of contents - just about enough to make one full kit.

And don't forget wheel cylinders, because they're probably leaking. Then that'll make you look more closely at the pipes, since the unions won't undo because they're rotting.

Except you'll want to take the shoes & cylinders back to swap them for the other alternative - the two designs aren't interchangeable, y'know.

Oh - yes - and the handbrake cables. Don't forget the handbrake cables. They're probably seized.

Seriously - small-medium '80s-90s PSA rear drum brakes. Nightmare.

Is it starting to look like an attractive option yet?

Surely the MX-5 can't be that bad, if you take it easy, or do you have that V12 one?

My MK1 was fine in the snow, better than FWD Puma I had. You had to be a bit careful with the loud pedal, but easy enough to catch it if it did start to go. I had loads of fun in an empty ASDA car park with it in the snow :-)

Mike P

The battery in my Mum's MX-5 died (original Panasonic, 6 years old!). I will be putting the new AGM Westco battery in at some point over the next few days.

I completed an essential job on my terrible unreliable Exploder - replacing the handbrake shoes. Still they have been in there for over

200,000 miles, so I suppose by your standards that was a premature failure.

Did you have to go to Asda to get another packet?

Been there with a 206.

The cylinder leaked, de bonded the brake lining which jammed between other shoe and drum. It was a right pig to get off.

It's impossible to find aftermarket shoes with ratchet snails that match the OEM ones. It's critical they do, 1,2,3,4,5,6 ping the handbrake lets go and the cable goes slack, take the hub off and re-assemble brake shoes do over 3x, go buy whole assembly.

The battery in mine is original and now more than 6 and a half years old. Not sure of its condition but it still starts the car reliably.

A Westco will be the order of the day when that goes.

Summer tyres, 205/45 profile and a Torsen which goes a bit weird when its slippy. Sometimes I can't get it out of my (flat) driveway in the snow. Everyone says 'learn to drive' but I just bought a Peugeot instead. (c:

The roads here are in a rather unredictable condition when I start the

17 mile drive to work at 04:30. On snow and ice the MX-5 will change ends without much if any provocation and will slither backwards down embarassingly shallow inclines.

At least 1 of the 106s tyres is M+S marked and made in Yugoslavia.

I've had the dust caps off without damaging them. It takes patience. Point taken on the hub nuts.

Well perhaps that's the case. I've had 1 side off to adjust the "self adjuster" a month or 2 ago. It looked OK in there but the car's only 10 years and 60k old.

I bought both shoe designs and will take the other one back when it doesn't fit. Well, it's a plan anyway.

BTDTGTT, I've owned a 1991 205. And an early rear drummed 306 Estate which doesn't use any of the rear brake components listed by any known dealer or motor factor.

No, I'd still just rather live with the grinding. (c:

I had fun with my Carlton in empty car parks. That car was pretty well behaved in the snow if you weren't hooliganing and I never had any problems with control or getting stuck.

I have thought I was enjoying my MX-5 in the snow in the past. More than once I have suddenly realised that I am not. Mostly it's the massive sideways on the downchange on the approach to a roundabout, the travelling uphill at oblique angles with no steering at 2mph (if it will go up the hill at all) and breaking traction at low throttle for no apparent reason, usually on a narrow bridge or where there is traffic coming the other way.

I live in a place where it snows regularly in the winter. I've never had a problem getting where I am going before in other cars. I can drive in the snow, I refuse to believe that I am the only contributing factor. My MX-5 is not good in the snow. (c:

Stick snow tyres on it and put a bag of sand in the boot.

I've never had a problem with any of my 90s PSA rear brake setups (apart from the array of different part options of course). In fact after a bit of practice I became a bit of an expert at getting 205s set up perfectly so the handbrake worked well in rally situations and the pedal felt spot. I suggest you need some more practice ;)

Douglas Payne gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Mmm. I've seen 'em at about 4-5yo needing a complete rear brake rebuild. Because the fuckwits at the dealer never changed the fluid.

Sounds about right.

We'll ask again tomorrow lunchtime, if that's OK with you?

"Carl Gibbs" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Thanks. No, thanks.

I should be grinding my way home from work around then. Might nip into town and buy this year's christmas presents.

"Douglas Payne" spluttered forthwith:

These aren't ordinary tyres. These are M+S tyres.

Did the brakes on a mates N reg 405 back in 2005. They were obnoxious. I only volunteered to do them because he was skint and I'd just replaced all the disks, pads and front calipers on the Xantia in a morning, so I thought it would be as easy. It wasn't.

Mike P