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My Series 3


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Hi Guys,

Just thought i would post up my S3 that i've had for a while. Been laid up for some time so trying to get it MOT ready.

This is when we got it. It's not ex military but previous owner has done it up to look something like it.

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It was put in for an MOT which it failed on. Mainly the electrics failing and the non existent hand brake. So i got the hand brake sorted and now it works fine. rewired a few things to make them more reliable than before.

One thing was rewiring the headlights as they were a bit dim and the main beam stopped working.

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Still have a slight issue with the brakes and think they need adjusting. The passenger side brake seems to some on and lock up a long time before the others do which is causing a braking imbalance.

If anyone has ideas on how to adjust the S3 brakes as well as get easy access to the washer jets that would be great.

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Hi, and welcome to the forum.

The series brakes can be adjusted by a cam bolt which is on the back of the brake backing plate; if one wheel locks up, you could also suffer from oil contamination due to a leak from the bearings.

daan

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urgh...Series brakes...bane of my life... If you've not already done so you need to have the drums off and check the shoes. If there's any oil on them, scrap the lot and do a full brake service, and add to that, if there's any trace of oil leaks get the hub seals changed. You'll never get good brakes if there's oil or brake fluid leaking into the drums.

As Daan says, there's adjusters on the backplate, two large hexagon heads. If they've not been done for a while they're probably seized. While the drums off you need to check these work too. Also, check which way they work! When I rebuilt the brakes on my 88, I repainted all the backplates, then I used a white paint pen to draw around each adjuster to show which way moved the shoes outwards, saves hours faffing around going the wrong way or trying to remember. All the ones on the 88 are the same and are setup so rotating 'over the top' towards the front of the vehicle is plus...The 109 though is all over the place - I haven't rebuilt them...permanent marker on the back plate for them, amazingly it's still there!

When I adjust them, I jack up a corner, spin the wheel and notch the adjuster out slowly until it drags, then I stamp hard on the brakes several times to settle the shoes in the right place, then do it again. Repeat for all four corners then road test, tweaking as required, and checking for hot drums too.

They will work very well when all is working, but they do need constant adjustment, once a month I'm usually under mine tweaking them.

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managed to take a look at the brakes over the weekend and adjusted them a bit. Took the wheels off first to check that they adjust and i think overall the adjusters need replacing. The pads look ok but i think the whole system could technically do with an overhaul.

swapped out the washer system as well and thats now working. Hopefully it's all good enough to get through the MOT thats overdue.

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