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Parking, Hand, E - Brake

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Old Oct 11, 2021 | 06:59 PM
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Default Parking, Hand, E - Brake

Hand brake doesn’t work.
the hand lever is good it moves the leveler in the the rear on both right & left rear brakes. The wheel cylinder does not push out to open up the shoe kits. Is that fixable or do I need a new “wheel cylinder”?

If so where can I buy one? Auto zone & Oreillys don’t have it.
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Old Oct 11, 2021 | 11:12 PM
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Moved to C5 Tech.
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Old Oct 12, 2021 | 09:29 AM
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The brakes are adjusted by measuring the diameter of the drum in the rotor and measuring the diameter of the shoe, 90 degrees away from what you are calling the cylinder. All you need is a flat blade screwdriver to move the star wheel. There is special caliper for this that they sell on Ebay and Amazon for measuring drum brakes. That is what you need

If it were mine, I’d remove what you are calling the cylinder, take it apart and carefully cleaning and repacking with grease. Therwis a little pin in the “cylinder” that you do not want to lose when you clean. Probably the only source of “cylinders” would be the numerous Corvette parts salvage guys around. T’ e never seen one break just from normal use, so you likely would not benefit from a new replacement. Any salvage ones you get will need cleaning too.
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Old Oct 13, 2021 | 12:56 AM
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Originally Posted by k24556
The brakes are adjusted by measuring the diameter of the drum in the rotor and measuring the diameter of the shoe, 90 degrees away from what you are calling the cylinder. All you need is a flat blade screwdriver to move the star wheel. There is special caliper for this that they sell on Ebay and Amazon for measuring drum brakes. That is what you need

If it were mine, I’d remove what you are calling the cylinder, take it apart and carefully cleaning and repacking with grease. Therwis a little pin in the “cylinder” that you do not want to lose when you clean. Probably the only source of “cylinders” would be the numerous Corvette parts salvage guys around. T’ e never seen one break just from normal use, so you likely would not benefit from a new replacement. Any salvage ones you get will need cleaning too.
if the above is done, and they still don't work, what's the next step?
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Old Oct 13, 2021 | 11:05 AM
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At the risk of seeming sarcastic, have you tried mechanical trouble shooting?
  • Watch the cable termination. Move the parking brake lever. Does the cable end move? (right behind the backing plate, the thingy with the spring that can be seen in your pick? Y= YEA! ,N=Crap, the cable is broken somewhere. be sure to check both sides for movement. There is a splitter above the differential where one cable goes to 2 cables.
  • When the lever is moved, do the "pistons" in the "cylinder" expand the brake shoe? Y=YEA, N=Crap, the last guy in messed up tine internals, and probably lost the little pin with the round ends.
  • When the lever is moved does the shoe expand? then adjust the cylinder adjusting star. if you do not have the measuring caliper, then you can use trial and error with the brake rotor. If you adjusted too much, you will not be able to get the rotor over the shoe.
It really is a simple system, all mechanical.
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