I'm trying to fix my e-brake that barely works for inspection. I tightened up the cable on my 77' so it is tight after about 6-7 clicks, but it still barely does anything, I can still push the car into a roll. I can hear a slight grinding noise coming from the back though, so I was thinking maybe I just need new Ebrake shoes, but I wanted to check to see if there was some other kind of part that frequently brakes or something before I went ahead and bought parts. Thanks for any advice.

 

Mine took shoes and springs to pass. Works great now. :yesnod:

 

Based on experiences with my 73...

I did the same, tightened the cable and it did nothing for keeping the car in one place. You could tighten it all day and then put the car in neutral and push it all over the garage.

My problem was the cable itself. The parking brake cable is sheathed at both ends where the cable connects to the trailing arm. The metal cable runs thru a metal sheath. Over time (many many years) the cables tend to rust together.

One way to check this is to remove the rear wheels and look at the tab on top of the wheel bearing assembly where the cable attaches to the brake lever. This lever is what expands the parking brake shoes.

When you set the parking brake the lever should move forward (which expands the shoes and thus does the brake thing.) This should happen on both rear wheels.

On the other hand, if you set the parking brake and the lever doesn't move then the cable is the problem. Mine was rusted in place on one side, but hardly moved on the other.

If the cable moves freely, then you might want to pull the rotors and check out the shoes. If they are O.K., you can try adjusting the shoes, they may just need to be adjusted out. If not O.K., replace and adjust them.

Good luck...

 

The adjusters won't turn in either direction, I guess they are frozen from 20 years of not being turned. I'll pull the rotors and see what is going on, I might have to bite the bullet and spend $110 on a rebuild kit for something I never use.

 

OK, it's obvious that the cable has to free running on both ends, and need grease.....
so that taken care of, to rebuild the brakes the best combination seems to be the stainless spring/parts kits, and then use the stock type iron shoes....the stainless shoes have a nasty habit of hanging up and for some reason, not releasing.....

GENE

 

When I was shopping for my car , I didn't find a functional parking brake on any of the cars I drove. Most people said nobody would check during a Ma. inspection. I bought a stainless steel kit and haven't had a problem since. Oh by the way I have never had the parking brake checked during a Ma. inspection, the chambered exhaust always distacts them. chuck d