E-Brake Question

[Chris Belyea]

I've redone the brakes in my '59 Conv D. I had the drums relined and shoes arched. I've adjusted the shoes. I tested the E-brake and only the passenger side engages. I don't have any resistance on the driver side. I'm going to go back this weekend and make sure I assembled everything correctly but I was looking at the manual on how to adjust the cables and from what I understand, there is a locking nut between the rear firewall and the parking brake sleeve. Looking at mine, I don't see a lock nut. From the photo attached, I'm I missing the adjustment nut?

Thanks
Chris

[Al Zim]

it is there in your picture directly towards the front of the car. I believe the nut is 27MM across. Only two pumps of grease into the emergency brake cable otherwise it will eventually get to the brake shoes. USE KROIL (Zim's favorite) to help lubricate the threads of the nut. Take your time everything you touch is OLD.

[Chris Belyea]

Thanks Al. When I looked at the parts catalog, I thought I should see what looked like (2) hex nuts. Does #34 nest into #33?

Thanks
Chris

[Jay Darlington]

its probably under all that undercoating.
Jay D.

[Martin Benade]

33 is one of the two nuts

[Jim Liberty]

Al is 100% right on. ......Jim.

[Dave Erickson]

You need a pair of 27mm open end wrenches.

I have the same problem on my D, except the opposite side. Even after adjusting the passenger side all the way out and the drivers side all the way in I cannot get the passenger side to engage when the drivers side engages. I think the passenger side cable is an inch or more too long, but I haven't taken the drums back off again to verify everything is assembled correctly. I wonder if there is a way to install the brake shoe cross linkage incorrectly that would account for the problem.

[Vic Skirmants]

Dave asked: " if there is a way to install the brake shoe cross linkage incorrectly that would account for the problem."
Yes, there is. That's probably your problem.

[Chris Belyea]

So a quick update. I pulled off the drum where the e-brake would not engage. Does anyone see something that stands out? It all looked in order.
I also removed some of the undercoating and found that the adjustment screws have been painted as well. So it's going to take a little bit time to get things clean to adjust anything. My guess is that the driver side has never worked properly since I've owned the car. Looking at the spacing of the adjusting nuts, they look pretty close to being the same distance. Perhaps the passenger side is newer and is either a different length or the driver side has stretched. Can't see an obvious reason that they would be different.

Chrirs

[KennethAdams]

Pardon my piggy-backing. I'm doing my e-brakes/brakes today too (59 Cab). Two comments interest me - Vic's on brake shoe crosslinking (what that is and how would one determine that?) and then another on arching (which i see lots of other posts on and will research) but wondering about.

[David Jones]

Ken, I believe the crossbar between the two shoes and under the slave cylinder and return spring is what Vic is referring to. It is what allows the lever arm to exert its motion on to spread the shoes.
Arcing is removing material from the shoes to make them conform well to the inner surface of the drum.

[Al Zim]

All I can see which I cannot see at all is the back of the brake shoe to the activating piece that connect to the parking brake cable to the shoe. The head of the bolt will be about half the thickness of a normal bolt on the inside of the brake shoe. There will be a thin wavy washer between the shoe and the activating mechanism that allows movement. I.E the parts are not squished together. This should be an easy fix.
ARCHING THE BRAKE SHOES! Who has the machine to do that? NEARLY NO ONE. If you had a new one it would be 40 years old. We have one and one for parts. In order to make things work you would have to send us you shoes and drums (perhaps measuring the drums very carefully) An easier solution is to adjust the brakes according to the B shop manual. REMEMBER TO TAKE THE CLICCKS BACK AS THE MANUAL SUGGESTS. These guys had more experience than you have...they wrote the book. Do not use the A shop manual.

[Mike Wilson]

Good points, Al.
Chris, see if by moving the ebrake cable, the lever moves and expands the shoes.
Arcing is matching the shoes to the drum lining so you have maximum contact of the shoes with the drum lining. There might be some shops that still have the equipment to do it. I believe it was discontinued (outlawed?) in the past due to asbestos exposure.

Mike

[David Nicholls]

Hello Chris

In the parts picture
#33 is the adjustment nut
#34 is the lock nut
I can’t see #34 on yours, maybe it’s under the dirt.

You’ve probably got your own technique, but to adjust the hand brake, I
Raise both rear wheels off the ground,
Select transmission to Neutral,
Adjust both brakes,
Engage the hand brake a couple of clicks,
Screw that Adjustment Nut on each cable, till rotation of each wheel starts to drag, evenly.
Then lock it.

All the Best
David

[Phil Planck]

Davids advise is very important first step.