Well the welding was finally finsihed today -- no more grinding or cutting out tin bits , the welding is done from front to back including sills ,cab arches , steps, and all cross members excellent , talk about relieved , just bits n bobs of tidying and a few minor mechanicals and we're set for the mot . relieved
win or lose Steve , i reckon yours will be better when finished -- good to see you back btw -- i am nearly ready for mot but won't put her in until mid jan , spoke to my mot man about her yesterday
May I say for dogged determination and sticking with it you need to win a award ,you will be sadly missed from the smg... Zed bacon and eggs mate...
Today i adjusted the rear nearside brake , or attempted to , i have it working well on the pedal ,after stripping the drums out scuffing the shoes a bit for grip and roughing up the drums i put it all back together , i tightened the adjuster until it locked the drum then took it off a few notches so that it turned freely , i then pulled on the handbrake but it would'nt hold as a brake , i could still spin the drum by hand . i tightened the cable but still no better , i took the drums apart to make sure the cable was attached , yes so it was'nt that , i did notice the cable connections were a not level where it joins from a single to double cable , so tomorrow i will have a go at leveling that up , can't see what else it can be as the drums are decent and the shoes like new , the adjusters are working ok and the top cylinder is working well from the pedal .
A little trick I use on my MG for break drums when its adjusted fine and everything elses seems good is to compensate for ware on the leavers. some times the leavers get a little worn where they go through the break drums and its not always obvious, some times the wear also happens on the metal parts of the shoes as well where the leavers are pushing against them. to compensate I flip the shoes over and invert them, if that doesnt work I use a center punch/pop and right on the edge of the metal part of the break shoe where the leavers touch I put 2 center pops. this spreads the metal of the shoe a bit more and gives a bit more travel on the hand break and usually does the trick
Hand brake , can't swap shoes over because they are handed , so adjusted cable so its level at the front connection and and at the right tightness , no better i can adjust the shoes until they hold firm , slack em of a notch and it spins ok although a little resistance , pull handbrake on nothing , took drum off and got will to pull handbrake on while i watched the cable /lever action , no significant movement , lever moves about 3 mm and cable goes tight ??? Does this mean the cable is stretched and expanding when i pull it on or is there something i am missing , just to restate-- drums are good and there is plenty of meat on the shoes , i have roughed up the shoes and drum with sandpaper and they hold well on the foot pedal , recoiler spring is old and worn so that may not be pulling the shoes back into the adjuster as it should but until the handbrake lever is opening as it should i won't be able to tell ?.
Yes, as Owen says, you have at least one jammed cable - prob rusted up at the back in the sleeve. Ignore my PM - thought you meant the handbrake lever wouldn't hold, not the brakes themselves.
Discconect the cable at the drum ends and pull the handbrake on and off to see if there free moving or not Get some penetrating fluid down the cables to soak for a while to see if it frees them up
