seized brakes

[murf]

I've recently been to look at a Fulvia which is advertised on Omicron's site and am interested in making an offer. The car has not run for three years and has been parked up in a very tight fitting garage with the handbrake on. As a result the brakes have locked up and nothing is moving at present.
It seems to me that the only way that the car can be moved out of the garage is by removing the pads or taking off the complete callipers. Its  a 1973 series two so I am wondering how easy/difficult this might be given the very cramped working conditions.

Can anyone advise? Murf.
                                                                                                                                                       

[Neil]

The handbrake is a separate mechanism in a S2 car, not part of the rear calipers, it is a small drum brake in the centre of the rear disk.  To remove the front pads, you will need to jack up each corner and remove the wheel to remove each caliper to slide them out, the rear pads you can remove via the rear opening of the caliper by removing the pins.  You will need some room around the car to do that sounds like it will be difficult.

I hope that helps.

[ncundy]

And to remove the rear shoes in the drum it is necessary to remove the hub. You may be able to free them by getting a screwdriver through the adjusting slot or hitting the drum with a mallet. As Neil said the rear pads do not work on the handbrake. Reconditioning the brakes on an S2 is not a particularly major job, although to do the handbrake you will need some special tools to get the hub off.

[fay66]

What's wrong with using a trolley Jack and a rope attached to a car, and pull it out to where you can get at it, or am I missing something
Alternatively jack up and dropped rear tyres onto wheeled dollies as used to move cars around in bodyshops, then drag out, even if the fronts are locked you're not going to do much damage to the tyres by dragging it out, some plastic sheeting behind the front wheels might make it slide easier.tyres are probably shot by now anyway.

Brian
8227

[murf]

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions. I am hoping to go back sometime over the weekend to check out the access to the garage which is situated at the rear of the present owners house. Because of the very limited space around the car I think that the best way forward would be to winch/drag it into the open and then somehow either dismantle the offending brakes as suggested or just haul it straight onto a trailer. I suspect the latter might present more access problems as the houses are back to back Victorian terraced with a communal back alley. I wont know which way to jump until I take another look.

[fay66]

We dragged my donor car out of a bramble hedge as it was the only way to get it out, once out we found that the brakes were locked, but after cutting the brake pipe (rotten) it took the pressure off enough for the offending wheels to turn.
If before you drag it out you can get to the handbrake mechanism on the back of the disc, you might be able to release, or at worse case cut the cable, there's just about enough room to get under the back end without having to jack it up

Good Luck

Brian
8227

[murf]

Thank you Brian, I'm hoping to get another look at the car after work next week so I will attempt to squeeze myself under the back end to assess the situation.