My 77's works fairly well...but who cares??? It's an auto! The 72 4-speed brake is shot, and will remain so. I only replaced the handle cable and return spring just to keep the park brake warning light off....
Eddie :D

 

My e-brake worked great, until I drove down to CA to visit my parents while I was living in WA. I broke a spindle and my parents would not let me work on the car in their garage (yes my folks are weird) so I had to take the care to a corvette shop. They must not have put them back in correctly because they now only work while driving backwards! They barely rub while going forward, but will lock up the wheels going backward. I'm thinking of buying new springs, retainers, and pads and rebuilding them myself. I feel naked without a working e-brake. I once had a 66 volkswagon bug that lost it's brakes and had no e-brake to speak of...that was soooo scary...had to run into a telephone pole to keep from sailing into a busy intersection. I don't want to have to make that decision again. There's really nothing wrong with the system. The size of the drum isn't the issue...any size drum will do as long as the tension on the cable is sufficient to wedge the shoe into the drum with a proper fulcrum pivot that will lock it agaist the drum and lock the wheel. In fact...the only test that I do on an e-brake is to see if it is possible to lock the wheels at 25MPH. But, like I said they worked fine before a modern shop took them apart, and now they only work going backwards. I'm starting to think that there is a general concensus with shops that just don't put them back correctly...like maybe they have the release and pivot springs going the wrong way or something. The e-brake is supposed to lock them up going forward...I don't know of any requirement for reverse.

 

Mine works now. I replaced the shoes, hardware and cable. The pivot which spreads the shoes and the cable were rusted solid. You need to pull the rotors and check out the various parts of the system to see if they are working.

 

My problem is with the cable that attaches to the brake level. it is stretched and starting to fray. I know it needs to be replaced before I can adjust/repair the parking brake system.

 

I have everything new but the shoes (which were in fine shape) and they work on flat ground. My friend that restores them also says they never work well.

 

I tightened the cable, mine works fine. :cheers:

 

Mine would not work properly until I pulled the rotor off and fixed the expander that moves the shoes apart. (One side was rusted and not pivoting). I replaced the rear cable, adjusted the brakes using the factory service manual procedure and they work great.

 

Mine hasn't worked in the 2+ years I've owned it. However, due the other things needing attention, I've not taken the time yet to tear into the Ebrake to see where the problem is. :cheers:

 

In some states, the parking brake is part of the safety inspection. So.... if you plan on passing it at an "****" location... it has to work. I used to do state inspections in NY State and the brake was always an easy way for my boss (owner) to make extra bucks during inspections.

At that time, the test was to put the car in forward Drive and give the engine a slight bump in RPM. If it held, it passed. With a stick, the method was to "ride" the clutch a little until the car responded with FORWARD intentions. If it tried to move, but held, it passed.

The problem with a high output SBC or a standard output BBC was that there was too much torque for the brake to hold... so it always flunked. Then the arguing began.

I've never seen a stick C2 or C3 big block where the brake could hold properly... going forward.

The trick was as posted above.... adjust it way tight for the inspection, then back it off again before you burn out the shoes and ruin the drum. For the final adjustment, disconnect the half shaft and relieve the cable tension as mentioned above.

Ive done my share of these since I used to do this work professionally. My experience has been that the shoe lining provided on the SS aftermarket shoes wears longer, but is a lot harder than the OEM material. Consequently, the OEM material seems to stick better when the brake is applied. So... in my opinion... SS hardware with OEM shoes is the best combo... as long as the hardware is high quality. Some of the SS hardware I've seen looks like it was cut by a 2 year old... and operated sloppier than the rusty OEM parts I removed.

With completely new trailing arms including disc shields, rotors, shoes, trailing arms, spindles, spindle supports, brake hardware, brake cable etc.... the system doesn't hold a 454 running just off idle when the brake is adjusted per spec (GM... tighten to bind, 11 notches off). I've done this with the half shafts disconnected as well.

Rarely, with the right stack up of parts tolerances, the system works "fair", but can be easily overpowered.... on level ground. I'm willing to bet I can sit in anyones C2 or C3 and overpower the parking brake in forward using the gas pedal. Not so in a Rustang.

If I apply the parking brake on my 5.0 Rustang and let the clutch out... the engine stalls.
I know... I know.... it's a Ford. It's supposed to stall.

My C2 manual 327 also over-powers the parking brake with ease going forward. In reverse... the engine will stall half the time.

My humble opinion is that the system is simply designed wrong. Too much cable stretch (even with a new cable), too much built-in play in the mechanical mechanism inside the drum (even with all new parts). The combination of handle leverage, cable stretch, and rear machanism leverage (look at the pivot points & lengths involved) is a mismatch to apply enough pressure to hold the shoes tight on the drum.

There is a "sweet spot" where it will basically.. almost... sometimes... work. But finding that sweet spot, for your individual stack of parts, is time consuming.

 

is there ever any problem with parking the vette on an incline and leaving the manual tranny in gear to hold it?

 

Mine don't work that well either. It's always been a problem and yes even the C5 are the same way

 

Mine works. I'd hate to try to stop the car with it but it will hold the car. NJ requires an e brake to work for inspection. I had to make it work for the initial inspection. Have not had it inspected in years due to classic tags now.

 

Mine works also, but just to hold the car from rolling, I would hate to depend on it in an emergency :eek: hope the new spring loaded chute and pull cord works :lolg: :lolg: :lolg:

 

nice to know im not the only one!

 

One trick not mentioned here is the cardboard trick.

Take a piece of cardboard and cut a hole in it the size of the
inner diameter of the drum. THen put the cardboard over
the brake shoes and adjust until they are tight, then back off
a little...

 

Inop here as well. It's on my list, but I don't rely on them anyway.

Hans