85 Accord: Rear wheels frozen

After storing my '85 Accord for several years, tried to tow it and it
wouldn't budge. The rear wheels are frozen in place. I suspect there is some
rust between the discs and the brake pads. Or maybe the parking brake has a
frozen cable. I will need to take a look at it this coming weekend.

If you have any experience with a resolution for this problem, I'd be
interested to know how you fixed it.

Thanks,
Robert

 

PC Blaster, hammer, torch - in this order

 

Yeah, I had my CRX do that when stored over the summer a few years
back. I made the mistake of leaving it with the park brake on. I got
it loose by taking the wheel off and banging at the brake drum with a
lead hammer. Yours is probably in worse shape though, if it's been
several years.

There should be two threaded holes in the brake drum into which you
can screw 12 mm bolts to force the drums off.

 

Shoes are stuck to the drum.

Bang the SIDE of the drum, NOT the perimeter. Keep hitting it all around
and eventually the shoes will go ZING into place and the car should move.

Good lesson to leave the parking brake off when storing a car.

 

I had that problem with my '88 Accord when I returned from a 3 month
stay in Japan. I just mashed the brake several times and the drums
finally released.

 

Yeah, and it's amazing how feeble the 'stiction is' in such a
situation. It will resist like crazy in shear but hardly at all in
tension.

I installed a complete engine gearbox out of a Volvo once that had
been stored for a year. The clutch simply would not release. We pushed
that car all over the parking lot, but nothing we tried would persuade
the clutch to let go. So I unbolted the bell housing and removed the
clutch mechanism. The clutch plate was stuck to the flywheel, but I
lifted it off with my fingers. It just made a little sticky noise like
you might hear when removing a piece of masking tape.
I reassembled everything and it worked fine.

 

Decades ago it was common practice when "laying up" your car for the winter
to cut a piece of wood just long enough to wedge the clutch pedal down. It
was to prevent just this occurrence.