Hi all - doing some repair and upgrade on my car (1970). I need to change the wheel studs (don't ask...the answer is embarrassing)...while I'm in there, I thought I would upgrade the parking brake system to all stainless and make it work. When I bought the car 20 years ago, the previous owner said to never use the parking brake as it doesn't work. I never understood why, but just didn't use it. Last year I did the driver's side and found the parking brake cable all seized up, etc, thought that could be why. Now I'm doing the passenger side...got the wheel and rotor off...and .... shocker, there is NO parking brake hardware on that side!

So - now to my question...I also noticed that the parking brake retaining pin (the rear-ward one) is broken off...in fact, it kinda looks like it was cut off? anyway...this is the one that is retained somehow by the backing plate I believe. I'm not sure how I can get that broken one out and put a new one in? I've read a couple places that if i remove the nuts that hold the backing plate on, that might give enough wiggle room to get a new pin back there? Can anyone confirm this? I'm really not up for taking the trailing arm out and rebuilding that whole thing...that's probably over my capability. I'm hoping there is some reasonable way to do this? otherwise, I might just put it all back together with no parking brake. I've made it 20 years already without one.

any suggestions??

 

Here is a photo...

 

You have some rust there and that's why the original pb failed and was removed. The genius who did that cut the captured hold down pin. Now if you're asking what I would do, seeing how the surface is rusted and someone who knew nothing about the car had worked on it before I would in fact remove the arm and rebuild it.

Now if that's off the table, you will have to try and loosen and remove the 4 nuts holding the backing plate on. The plate is also retrained by the anchor bolt which you will not be able to remove with the axle in place and removing it will mean rebuilding the arm. However, you may be able to fish the new pin in place if the plate has enough play in it. Again, not what I recommend or would do but anything is possible.

The axle flange still has the rivet bodies in it and some dings, I would remove the rivets and dress every hole on the flange and the back of the rotor hat.

 

Thx - in total, not what I wanted to hear. But your last comments... I was going to remove the vivets... But what do you mean about dressing the holes? I don't understand that....

 

He means to deburr - remove all sharp edges, blend smooth. Every sharp edge is a “stress riser” - a potential area where a crack can begin to form.