Series IIa 109 Rear brakes in the Front?!

[andrewMcF]

So this is my first 109 but from all the home work that I've done it looks like someone previous to me has put a set of rear brakes in the front... The slave is at the top and pushes out both ends and looks exactly like the diagrams for a 109 rear brake...

Is there a reason for this, other then insanity? And is this a good thing or bad... My simple logic tells me that two pistons pressing left and right is better then one pressing down...

Thoughts...?

Andrew

[Greg S]

You now have one leading shoe and one trailing shoe. Originally it would have had two leading shoes. The advantage of a leading shoe is that the rotation while going forward will help to cam the shoe into the drum, there by reducing the foot pressure required to apply the brakes. They are less effective when in reverse but people usually don't drive in reverse above a few miles per hour and not far either.