Alright so heres the spill, my brakes were operating perfectly except the shoes were rotted away, so i take the drums off and replace the shoes and all of the sudden the drivers side rear wheel is locked up even without any pressure on the line. Also the pass. side is not wanting to bleed, while i had the shoes off of the passenger side my dumbass brother pushed the brakes and pushed the wheel cylinder apart on the pass. side. just thought i would add that and maybe it would help.

 

When you put new shoes on, you have to back off the adjuster so that they have the proper clearance. There is a "starred" adjuster wheel that advances every time you use the parking brake, and moves the shoes closer to the surface of the drum. This system keeps everything adjusted properly. But when you put new shoes on, you have to screw that adjuster back in so that it can start over. Look in the manual and you will find the instructions (there is an online manual you can find in the FAQ section).

 

I put a DIY on the forum about rear drum brakes. Here it is.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...light=DIY+rear

The adjuster in the middle of the shoes (threaded starred connector) needs to be adjusted to allow the new shoes to fit properly.

If you push the brakes without the drums in, the wheel cylinders will push apart too far and may start to leak. See if you can C-clamp them back together. If not, they are like $25 each at Autozone. Plus, since the car is so old, it may be a good time to replace both of them. I did that during my change.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions...

 

Well i looked for that on mine but it doesnt have it. all there is is a cable with a spring around it and it attaches to the piece of metal that the rear shoe is held on with. and i also have now replaced the wheel cylinders. still same problems, drivers side wheel locked up and i am not getting any fluid out of the bleeder screw on the pass. side.

 

That adjuster has got to be there. The part you described is the connection for the E brake. The part I'm talking about is going to be right by the wheel cylinder, behind it.

You can adjust it with the drum off, just get it so that the drum just slides over the shoes without causing any binding. Otherwise, there are a couple of small access holes that you can reach from underneath the car, on the inside of the brake assembly.

 

Okay, here you go: Follow this link, and scroll to page showing the blowup diagram of the rear drum brakes. Item number 9 is the piece you are looking for (adjuster).

http://www.wankel.net/%7Ekrwright/files/manuals/1985_RX7_FSM/85RX7(11)braking.pdf

This is all assuming that there are no major differences between 80 & 85 models. I don't recall my Dad's '79 being any different...

 

In the diagram, the adjuster is between the two shoes towards the top right? Well if so then there is just a straight piece of metal there. Ill get some pics today when I get home from school of the assembly, I am going to take the drum off and get it turned down a little and see if that helps.

 

The only adjuster that I could find on mine is right beside the e-brake handle.

 

The '79 drum brakes do not have the star wheel adjuster or self adjuster. The adjustment is by a pair of eccentric bots at the lower end of each backing plate.
Maybe you 7 is a early '80 with '79 brakes?

 

All SA drum brakes have to be manually adjusted by using two wrenches on the offset bolt that is at the back bottom of the brake backing plate. Its on the very bottom of the backing plate, if you look at it on front side it turns the nub that the bottom of the brakes shoes rest on. Sometimes it can get pretty frozen up so be patient and use a lot PB blaster and heat to free it up.

 

if the other side doesnt want to bleed, i would make sure the line isnt clogged somewhere sending double the fluid to the other wheel cylinder. that would explain why it would lock up so easily.

 

Nah, it was the parking brake. I did what t g farrell suggested and that worked, thanks. Good news though that was the last thing to do before it was drivable and today after i fixed it i took it out for the first drive and it was a blast! I dont even want to drive my truck anymore.

 

Nah, it was the parking brake. I did what t g farrell suggested and that worked, thanks. Good news though that was the last thing to do before it was drivable and today after i fixed it i took it out for the first drive and it was a blast! I dont even want to drive my truck anymore.

 

t g Farrell is right, all the SA models do not use the star wheel adjusters.
All the SA models have a pair of eccentric bolts with jam nuts. One adjuster bolt is left hand and one adjuster bolt has right hand threads. Adjust each of these until the shoes are tight, then back them off a little, then lock down the jam nuts.