Any suggestions on how to adjust the parking brake so I can get the rotor OFF on a '76? The passenger side rear rotor is giving me fits, and the only thing I can think of is the p-brake is adusted too far out and is holding the rotor on. I have disconnected the brake cable, taken off the caliper, and beat the rotor almost to death with a four pound sledge. Won't budge. (The sledge worked great on the driver's side, but the p-brake return spring was broken.)

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

make sure the rivets have been drilled out...

then position the adjusting hole somewhere towards the bottom, take a screwdriver and back off the brake shoes with the adjusting star. The brake shoes probably have worn a groove in the drum so you do have the right idea to back the brake off as much as possible.

 

 

Okay, I FINALLY got the rotor off...The problem with the parking brake adjustment was that whoever took the rotor off last didn't bother to line the holes up with the access holes in the drive spindle when they put the rotor back on.

Now, another problem. (Hope you guys can help) The return spring on both sides was broken. I took the brakes completely off, got all new parts from MidAmerica, and am trying to put it all back together. According to the Chevrolet shop manual, you should be able to do it all WITHOUT taking the drive spindle out. Anybody ever do this? Every time I move the shoes a little bit to put the retainer springs on, the shoes slip off the actuating lever. Would it be easier to just go ahead and pull the spindle so I can assemble the emergency/parking brake parts without the interference?

I appreciate any help and advice, and thanks for the quick responses before.

 

There is no doubt that removing the spindle will make the installation of the parking brake shoes and hardware much easier. However, you are opening another can of worms. The spindles just don't come out by themselves nor do they go in by themselves. A few specials tools are needed. If you take this route and you have no idea if the bearings were ever replaced, then now would be the time. The downside to changing bearing is that the runout will need to be checked and the spindle re-shimmed. If you're the type of person who says 'while I am at it I might as well', you will want to rebuild the complete trailing arm(s).

 

If I remember correctlly I put the bottom spring on the shoes then spread the shoes apart and put them in place and then put the top spring on. Then things got tougher.

 

this is a bear...the problem we had was the one retaining spring stud that is caught between the backing plate and can't be held in place....my son and i finally did it with long needle nose pliers and it took about 2 hrs per wheel.... one of us held the stud while the other treid to compress the spring and turn the retaining clip on....i have read others have tied the springs together with dental floss and then cut the floss with a knife....others have said this is away overated problem....like i said it took me 2 hrs per wheel and every bad word i knew and then it was done.......

 

The last time I looked there was an article on corvettefaq.com that discussed how to replace the parking brake with the half-axles still in the hubs. Apparently after you've done it for a few times its really easy! It's that first time that's a killer!

The really easy no-brainer way to replace them is to remove the half-axles. But this gets to be a really major operation. Usually, the entire axle/spindle assembly will have to be removed (easier said than done) and then pressed out. Then you'll have to replace and repack the bearings. This bearing replacement is apparently an art, in addition to all the tools, you also will need practical experience to do it correctly. If your car is pretty aged, maybe it's time to just go ahead and redo the entire half-axle spindle housing along with the brakes.

I redid my parking brakes with one of the stainless steel packages sold by several of the corvette parts houses. Watch out about the parking brakes shoes. If you're redoing everything new in the axle/spindle housing you apparently don't want to order the stainless steel parking brake shoes. Order the OEM plain steel. Spray them if paint if you don't want a corrosion problem. There's a potential fit problem with the stainless steel brake shoes since they are purposefully made a little oversize. I think the fit problem relates to the rotors. If you're installing new rotors I think that's the situation that requires you to order the plain steel brake shoes, not stainless.

If you do decide to have your half axle/spindle housings redone, make sure you specify the bearings. Timken Bearings. If you don't, you may (or probably will) get third world junk parts installed. I think Tom's Differential charged me about $600 to redo both sets my rear half axle/spindles, which included quality made in the US internal parts. Also, if you redo your rear axles, you want the rebuild shop to mount the rotors and axles and spin them on a lath and check for/eliminate rotor wobble. This was an operation done at the factory and should be done for the rebuild. (Oh, my rebuild price was lower, to some extent, since I provided a lot of new parts for the rebuild.)

I bought Stainless Steel Brake Corporation "turbo slotted rotors" for new rotors. They are accurately machined with little/no wobble. Some of the no-name rotors can be pretty bad, or so I hear. These rotors are about $70 each, which is more expensive than the no-name rotors. I splurged and bought the cad-plated rotors for my rear wheels. SSBC wants about $130 each for these, which seems like a little bit overpriced, but I did buy them for the rear. Sure enough there's been no corrosion problem with them. The front "plain" rotors have been coated with Krylon clear to hold corrosion in place until I get them on the road.

Inline Tube makes beautiful stainless steel repro emergency brake cables. They look just like stock, and include the little rubber fittings. Also, for repro parts, they even fit!!!!