How are your brakes? Pedal going through the floor? Steering wheel shaking out of your hands when you try to slow down? Car diving off to the left or right? Or do you just need a bigger anchor?

500s do suffer poor brakes but there is no need to put up with this dangerous situation. All parts are available to fix the problem properly and even the worst case scenario will only set you back around $400.

Poor stopping power and long pedal travel

This most common problem stems from the age of our cars and the wear that occurs to the brake drums. They gradually become oversized as they wear or are machined to overcome the other problem of brake judder.

The problem can be easily fixed by getting your old brake shoes made oversize to fit the drums.

This is in fact cheaper than buying new shoes anyway !

Of course, brake drums only have so much metal in them and will eventually need to be replaced.

Brake judder

This problem is usually caused by your tyre fitter or even you yourself.

Your wheels only go on the hub in one position. There is a little stud that needs to be lined up with the hole in the rim.

Many people fit the wheels incorrectly with the result that they are bent out of shape by the stud which can also cause the brake drum to go out of round. When the brakes are applied the out of round drum vibrates badly and shakes the car all over the road.

Re-machining will usually fix the problem but if it is too serious, new drums may be needed.

Steering pulling to one side when braking

Usually caused by leaking wheel cylinders. As the brake shoes wear the wheel cylinders have to travel farther out and eventually they start leaking brake fluid on to the shoes. This acts like a lubricant and only one side brake works, causing the car to pull to the opposite side.

Problem solved by fitting new wheel cylinders and shoes.

It should be noted that when working on brakes, both sides need to have the same work done on them to keep the braking pressures even.

Alternatives

Niki brakes are an improvement on 500's as they are a better design and are larger in surface area. They are an easy way of improving your brakes but involve fitting Niki wheels as well.

Disc brake kits are available O/S and cost an arm and a leg but really do the job.
It is also possible to fit discs from a Fiat 850 sport or similar but this process would need Regency Park approval. This process also requires the fitment of thirteen-inch wheels from a 124 sedan or similar or, if you are prepared to flare your guards, you can fit any of the standard alloy rims from 4 stud fiats like the X19 Chromodoras.

Tony Potter