Handbrake Adjustment

Parisien

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Put it like this Newton, only I was wearing my seatbelt I would have set the airbag off as I fell on the steering wheel!


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dunnah01

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648
So.......after two 1.5 hour sessions, we changed the handbrake cable....completely F****** it was...pics to follow

Was it a pig of a job or one of the not so bad ones? I need to get my handbrake sorted for the MOT and a new cable is probably a good idea whilst I'm in there - although need to replace the backplates first though to give the shoes something to work against (everybody wants £200 each for the s.h.1.t cardboard standard items so I'm making up some stainless versions instead).
 

Parisien

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Well D....the cable was badly corroded inside the outer sheath which was damaged and let in water etc....so little or no real free movement inside same....one sides square eyelet was bent, so needed straighten to get out, multiple fiddly, awkward clips and pully part to centralise the two arms of the cable......so yeah...a fare amount of cursing......;)


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hodroyd

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14,150
Frank,
Excellent News..!! Cables have always been a bit of a sod, it surprises me nobody has come up with a better solution..!! Corrosion inside the sleeve and on the cable itself just causes the little monkeys to crack and then the end of the cable just digs in to the sleeve and it goes nowhere..!! Did you manage to do a how to photo shoot, or not due to curses and cut fingers..??
Cheers
R
 

Parisien

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Just a few pics of the cable Rob......in the YES...Yeessss.... thread......was just relieved to get it through!


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dunnah01

Member
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648
Finally got a day to do the handbrake -it tain't priddy but it's way better than it was!

The disks were OK but the old cable, shoes and backing plates were shot:

Old Backing Small.jpgold cable small.jpgold shoes small.jpg


Got the shoes relined locally for £30

relined shoes small.jpg


Templated the old backing plates in 4mm Stainless Steel and bought a new handbrake cable:

Backing Small.jpg


Fabricated the new backing plates (function rather than form prevailed - I still can't believe that they want £200 each for those backing plates :shocked:):

new backing small.jpg

Re-assembled the whole lot and fitted the new cable:

final small.jpg

Now have a lovely strong handbrake that will hopefully last even longer than the last one - all for about £75 so very happy :smile:
 

Parisien

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Excellent......makes huge difference........well done, your handbrake cable looks even worse than mine!




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safrane

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16,746
Well done...those look like the most corroded disks I have ever seen on a coupe, even the painted hub looks rusty.
 

dunnah01

Member
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648
your handbrake cable looks even worse than mine!

handbnrake small 2.jpg

It had been rubbing against the anti-roll bar as well so was only working on one side - it made 4% at the MOT where a pass is 15%


those look like the most corroded disks I have ever seen on a coupe

Fortunately the disc corrosion was only superficial and there was plenty of disk thickness left - I've had them off the car for a while trying to find somebody to skim the handbrake drum - had no luck so I'll have to live with it. I'm having the discs skimmed on the car at some point.
 

safrane

Member
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16,746
Rusty cable was the only issue on my golf for its MOT...Replaced the OS one only for the NS one to snap just moments after Grrrrrrrr missing the sun again ;0)
 

philw696

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25,113
British climate and too much salt on the roads. Sorry about that again Peter. Nice day for chilling in the garden.
 

Parisien

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34,927
Seems so, but wondering if checking where the cable meets/touchs the underside etc as part of service might help


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Needamaser

Member
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1,491
Just a wee update.
I may or may not need handbrake shoes soon for my car but on phoning Belfast Brake Specialists , apart from being a really helpful guy, he is quoting £40 to reline all 4 shoes (including shotblasting clean) and that includes postage to return. Says if they receive one day they will send back the same if possible.
He uses softer friction material so they bed in quicker and says he does a lot of Maseratis. No wonder!
Fantastic service and way too cheap!