azswede1960

Found out tonight that when I pull the parking brake lever, the brakes are not being applied.

Any suggestions/checks ??

BSeery

check the cable tension, it may need to be adjusted under the car.

jerryp58

Check the adjustment first.
You can try the turnbuckle between the front and rear cable.
It that has no adjustment left you need to pull the wheels, hope that the adjustment hole in the rotor is lined up with the adjustment hole in the hub, and adjust the star wheel with a brake spoon or a screw driver.

If adjustment doesn't help, some part(s) of the brake system could be "frozen".

My brakes were frozen in two locations.
First, the rear cable had so much dirt & road grit between the cable & the protective sheath, the cable was almost impossible to move.
Spraying it with cleaner may help; you may have to remove the cable to get it really clean.
Second, there is a little "lever" in the hub mechanism that consists of two flat pieces of metal joined by a rivet.
This lever will rust solid at the rivet, preventing the shoes from being pushed outward.
I'm not sure of how much of that rivet you can see from outside the hub or if you can lube it without getting the lube on the inner drum, but it may be worth a try.

If you decide to rebuild the brakes (I put a ZIP SS e-brake package in mine and have been very happy), there's a really good "how-to" article on corvettefaq.

Hope this helps.

azswede1960

Got the car jacked up, wheels off, and have the cable adjusted to max tension and still nothing (it was there before and I backed it off - moved nuts towards differential).

I cannot turn rotors to line up adjusting hole.......car is in Neutral, all wheels are off the ground.....am I missing something ??

azswede1960

Okay - I have now both calipers hanging on frame, the rivets in rotor drilled out and adjusted the parking brake all the way, and the rotor is not coming off!!!

The cable from center console is pretty loose, but not disconnected.
Any advice at this point on what to do to get the rotors off? I am assuming the rotor & parking brake drum is one single piece.

I will go ahead and order the cable & brake kit, but sure would like to get the rotor off before I do.

Also since I am drilling out rivets from rotor, does that mean that these have not been off the car EVER? So the rear brakes have never been turned or that rivets have been replaced, which I don't think so, they looked original!!!

buchinsd

I just replaced my parking brake shoes on my 81 and one of my rotors was stuck pretty good also. I was able to get it off with a rubber mallet though. You should be able to turn the rotor if the rear is jacked up and in neutral with the parking brake off. If you cannot turn the rotor, the parking brakes are locked up somewhere and you will have to locate that before proceeding. The rotor and drum is one piece. Good Luck!

azswede1960

By using the rubber mallet and hitting the backside of rotor you got it off?
Also did you have all your cables disconnected or were they connected still ?

azswede1960

It sure seems like these rotors are on there really solid! I am wondering if maybe the backside of the rivets are still holding it on tight even as I have them all drilled out with the recommened 5/16 drill bit. Maybe go bigger and make sure it is all out????? :mad

Tried banging on them with rubber mallet but no luck there.
Rotors turn fine, but still not coming off!!!! :cuss

MotorHead

Make sure the brake shoes don't come out a little then turn on an angle and jam. Try to keep them straight. Personally I would like to meet the brain surgeon that designed the parking brakes on these Vettes as I have had mine cleaned up and working a couple of times then a couple of months later they no longer work again. :D

gdh

I think that is pretty common on all C3's, terrible parking brakes.

Brettmc

Try re-adjusting them the othe way. You might have adjusted them all the way out and they are gripping the drum, not allowing the rotor to come off.

Brett :thumbs:

Disco_Mike

What is the condition of the cable? My problem is that the cable is stretched and starting to fray.

azswede1960

Would it help to remove the center hub cover or could that not be what is holding me on tight? Also is there such a thing as a rotor removal tool, similar to a steering wheel removal tool ?

jerryp58

The rotors spin freely?
All of the rivet material is removed?

Then the only thing left holding the rotors on is habit.

Try spraying a little WD-40/penetrating fluid at the base of each lug, then take a hammer and tap the hub area around the lugs to see if things loosen up.

azswede1960

All the rivets are removed - even got a little bigger drillbit to make sure.......
The wheels turn, but I adjusted both of them all the way the other way just to make sure and got the brake to apply, so I know I was "adjusted" right.

Did the WD40 trick but it seems like these things are on SOLID, is the center hub cap on each rotor, part of the rotor or will it stay when rotor comes off?

Anything else I can to, I am starting to get really frustrated with these wheels, no wonder previous owner never messed with them :cry

jerryp58

The center hub stays.

With the caliper off , the rivets out, and shoes adjusted to where the rotor spins freely, I can't think of anything but rust that can be holding that rotor to the hub :confused:

Did you :smash: the drum area a few times with a hammer?

azswede1960

I was turned on to this stuff "Rust Breaker" (from SPRAYON corp) spayed it on the first rotor around the center hub and at the studs, had it off in 10 minutes :party:

Thought #2 would be same way but it is still solidly holding on....gave it another good spray down and will knock it out good this time and pray to the corvette gods! I have too much other things going on to be struggling this long with rotors, but what a wonderful learning experience it has been :D

azswede1960

#2 is off and they are being machined....anyone know what the specs are for the drum?

azswede1960

PS - In addition to the RUST BREAKER, #2 took a little more encouragement from MR. SLEDGE between the studs :smash:

azswede1960

Jerry - where is the article you talk about ? I just go to Zip-corvette.com! :confused: