John Wood wrote:
>
> I am living in Sydney Australia and own a blue 1967 MGB. I have just got
> it through its local registration test but the one thing I could not get
> working properly was the handbrake.
>
> I have bled the brake system, renewed the shoes and then adjusted the
> rear brakes. Having done that I have tightened the handbrake cable such
> that it reaches maximum travel after about 4 or five 'clicks' - it will
> go no more because the rear brakes will not move any further.
>
> Despite all of this adjustment the handbrake only holds on the smallest
> hill and I have so far been unable to figure it out.
John - I have found over many years on many BL cars that this design of
handbrake can be made effective, but deteriorates rapidly on an
all-weather car. Remove and clean all the mechanical linkages and
lightly lubricate them. I also apply a very thin smear of grease to the
shoe to back-plate and shoe to linkage metal to metal surfaces. Even
then, my roadster will lock the wheels but my V8 will not. Roger Parker,
whose views I respect greatly, has also said that if the cable has
stretched so much that it has lost its 'spring' then it will not hold
the car and should be replaced.
> The only thing that looks a little odd is that the cable travels over
> the exhaust pipe at the back - it kind of looks like it might be better
> coming across the car on the underside (closest to the road) of the
> pipe.
My cable also fouls the exhaust, but only when the body is jacked up and
the axle is hanging down. On its suspension it is fine. Could this be
the case with yours?
Cheers,
PaulH.
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