I've seen this before.
Everything is solid, just weak!
The E brake is not arched for better contact.
The only thing I can think of is dragging the brake on long stops and off ramps.
Until the pads break in.
Any better ideas?
My driveway is a slight slope and the e brake won't hold.

TIA
R

 

Forget about an emergency brake, GM designed them as a parking brake. If you open them up, you will see that they are about the size of an old motorcycle brake. That said, if they are set up correctly, they will hold a car on an incline. There are countless posts on rebuilding them on the C-2 and C-3 forums. Good luck. Jerry

 

Just my 2 cents.................
I've had my 78 for almost 15 years and never never never had the P Brake work correctly no matter who I had fix them
So I always make sure I park it in PARK!!!! Glad mine is A/T!!!!
JJ78

 

Did you adjust after putting new shoes in? I had to re-adjust a few times until it became consistent.

 

What procedure did you use to adjust?
Did you follow the factory service manual procedure?

 

After complete rebuild mine also needed several adjustments. Factory manual says to back off adjustment star 6-8 notches from tight; mine required only 3-4 notches to work. Charlie

 

The parking brakes on 65-82 Corvettes were never really effective. As TampaJerry said, if "set up correctly, they will hold a car on an incline", but that's about it.

Here in NJ we used to have annual safety and smog inspections performed by the state at state run inspection stations. You had to turn your car over to a state inspector who drove it through a building performing a number of tests, such as emissions, wipers, turn signals, headlight alignment, etc. The inspection stations had grids in the floors that tested the brake pressure, and the last test was of the parking brake. After the brake test, the inspector would apply the parking brake and try to drive off the grids. You walked along as the tests were performed and back in the 70's if you were driving a Corvette the inspector would almost always look over at your and smile, if not outright laugh, because they all knew the the chances of the parking brake holding against the power of the car were pretty slim. As long as there was some resistance they would normally pass you, but occasionally you'd get a hard a$$ or someone new and they'd fail you. In that case you'd usually wait a couple days and then take it to a different station, preferably a smaller one in a less traveled area.

 

I have a 1968 early C3 and I fixed my parking brake before enjoying the car very much after buying it. It may only be a parking brake but it is important to have operational as it does make the car safer. I used the Stainless parking brake kit and it still works 35 years later. This brake is a PIA to get set up properly as you must adjust it tight and drive it to get the pads bedded in.

I tell people that the parking brakes came from some Honda car as they are the right size.

If you want a worse example of a parking brake take a look at my RV. It is based on a Ford E-450 with a V10 and a tow truck transmission. With a 5.73 rear axle ratio and 10 cylinders the parking brake can easily be driven through. You can put the Parking brake on and the vehicle can still drive right away thanks to the power and torque of the V10 engine. Maybe dropping a 40 pound anchor with a 200' chain attached to it might be more effective. The RV was ordered to be able to tow a Jeep Cherokee behind it, hence the 5.73 rear axle ratio.

One day while driving my C3 home at ~70 mph I entered a clover leaf marked for 20 mph and suddenly found that my master cylinder was locked up solid. Thank goodness for the four speed as it was the "life saving" feature of the day. I was able to get home with just the parking brake and four speed. As they taught us in Boy Scouts, "Be Prepared" and that saved my butt that day.

 

Does anyone else occasionally drag their parking brake as they drive to abrade any rust and debris that may be on the drums? Just curious...

 

No, I would be concerned over damage to the other components by having the shoes touch a rotating rotor.

 

I need to work on my 68, 71 and 82 parking brakes. All are very weak. It is my belief that the C3 parking brakes must be set up perfectly in oder to get mediocre results.

 

Glen,
CT was the same way with inspectors, only I don't recall them driving the car at inspection. Local to me, the DMV had a drive-thru garage for inspection. Fail the inspection, no registration. They seem to hate corvettes since they also did a 2 point VIN check. Replacement engines are and were common. The first thing they did was to raise the hood, check the engine vin to car vin, no match, go home. The lines were longer than standing in line at Disney World, 1-2 hours. If the VIN matched they went down the list of checks until the parking brake check. Put it in gear let off the clutch and if it stalled you passed. With an automatic, if it locked the wheel enough to satisfy the inspector it passed. If you knew an inspector, it passed. If the inspector hated their job, you were in trouble with a vette. Emission testing was almost as bad.

 

I have done so many of these that I automatically machine the star wheels to my own spec now. No matter where they come from and it's not many places. Some of the new rotors have ID on the hats too small. Some don't fit over the shoes. Many do buy slightly hit the ID of the hat and there is no more compression on the shoes. I also have to address issues with the other SS parts.

 

Tried that on my 78 after my go to Vette man did the usual adjustment...............NADA!!!!
Maybe if someone can tell me how to get to the pictured star wheel adjuster I can try that myself
JJ78

 

You should have a hole in the rear rotor that gives you access to the star wheel. How were you trying to adjust it, by the cable?

 

Lots and lots of pictures and vids here and on the iweb

 

Rather than 6-8 notches, mine was best at 3-4.

 

No MelWff I was trying to find that hole???
Does the rear have to be jacked up with the TA's leveled straight out in order to make the adjustments??
JJ78

 

The rotor may not be clocked correctly if the hole does not go through.

 

The rear has to be off the ground so you can remove the tires and turn the rotor. The TA's do not have to be level. The detailed instructions have been posted and as mentioned if someone removed the rotor and did not correctly install it the hole in the rotor won't line up.