Hi All. I’m looking for any assistance to get my mechanical parking brake to work. It has not worked since I got the car. I do know it was converted to hydraulic disc brakes—and they work great.

So the parking brake may not have been hooked up correctly or at all. The cables Y to both rear tires at the caliper

I tightened it up as much as possible and still it did nothing.

First, can someone please explain how the parking brake is supposed to work with disk brakes?

And how can I tell if it is hooked up properly or improperly?

I removed the pedal at the moment to remove the kick panel since I’m also installing AC and fixing some wiring. I may install an electric actuator like E-Stop (if I can get the brake to work).

Thanks in advance for the help

You’ll need to let us know what system your car has. Lots of pictures will help.

 

You will likely need to provide some additional information about your rear disk conversion as different kits use different types of e-brake systems...my 68 rear disk conversion was done using a Wilwood kit and it uses a drum brake system within the disc itself and is totally manual with no hydraulic assist. Very simple and functional.
Ihave seen others that use the hydraulics within the main calipers and others that even have a separate small caliper to clamp the disc...please identify your system and I'm sure someone will be able to offer advice on getting it working properly.

 

Thanks guys. Although I have a lot of parts paperwork from when I got the car, there is nothing on the rear brake system. I will get the wheels off tomorrow to get some better pictures.
Here is what I have for now. Def hydraulic system main system. I do not know what the park brake cables are supposed to engage.

 

Based on those pictures your car was not converted to rear discs. They sure look like drum brakes to me. My guess is the cables were slow to release and the actuator strut was removed inside the drum.

Jeff

 

Thank you for pointing that out and correcting me. I guess I need to get a better education on brakes. I can tell the difference from the outside, but can’t tell from the inside.

I already need to raise it up to replace my rear shocks. The rear air shocks on it are blown (right side is at least). I was planning to put some blistien b6 performance shocks on and scrap the air system.
But if I am going to convert it to disc brakes, I’m reading I need staggered shocks. (I’m not sure if those will work).
Any recommendations on rear disc conversion kits and shocks? And I’ll fix the parking brake at same time.

 

What year is your car? And yea, those are drum.

 

When you convert to discs, ask whoever makes your conversion kit if they have the emergency brake setup with it. The original drum brakes would be pushed out by stepping on the emergency brake pedal which would pull the cables on each side which would expand the brake shoes inside the drum. This was how the brakes would hold the car. Newer emergency brake systems use the same effect except the brake shoes are inside the rotor but they will work the same way.

 

It’s a 69 Camaro.
I inherited the car earlier this year and I had been told it was converted to disk. Thank you for pointing it out.

I am definitely going to 1) convert to rear disk to an e brake function 2)replace my blown air shocks with appropriate shocks (probably bilstien) 3) mostly likely install the electric e-stop system (no sure it fits in chassis)

 

It’s a 69 Camaro.
I inherited the car earlier this year and I had been told it was converted to disk. Thank you for pointing it out.

I am definitely going to 1) convert to rear disk to an e brake function 2)replace my blown air shocks with appropriate shocks (probably bilstien) 3) mostly likely install the electric e-stop system (no sure it fits in chassis)

The conversion to disc was probably the front, not the rear.

 

You have drums. Being a 69 it should have staggered shocks. Research here for some feedback on which conversion setup is best both for brakes and e brakes with your setup. When you get past that you can decide if you need E-Stopp unless it's something you want otherwise.

 

I suggest you keep it simple and replace the rear brake shoes with new hardware. Have the drums turned. Properly adjusted the front disc rear drum system works very well.

 

OP tightened up the cables and it still did nothing. Sounds like the rear shoes just need adjusting.

 

Thanks all for the input.

@fairfax1000 It has disc brakes on the front. I am not sure if brand, age etc. I am not dead set on a conversion. new hardware on the rear sounds like a good option.
I didn’t get a chance to lift up the rear end yet. But will soon. I’ll post some pics when I do.

Thanks for all the help.

 

Thanks all for the input.

@fairfax1000 It has disc brakes on the front. I am not sure if brand, age etc. I am not dead set on a conversion. new hardware on the rear sounds like a good option.
I didn’t get a chance to lift up the rear end yet. But will soon. I’ll post some pics when I do.

Thanks for all the help.

No worries....adjust the rear brakes before the parking brake. You may have to back off the park brake adjustment first. But it looks like you’re missing the spacer bar and the spring that goes on it. Generic examples below.

 

I had front and back drums on my 68. I converted the front to discs then rebuilt and adjusted the rear drums. I'm very pleased with the braking now. If you already have front discs, I'd recommend a good once over to ensure they're up to specs and focus your time/energy in other places.

 

I'm also in the camp of not needing rear discs unless you are auto-crossing the car or carving canyons. Front disc brakes are nice, but doubt you'll notice much difference with rear discs over drums on the street. Get the car jacked up, the rear tires and drums off, and have a buddy apply the emergency brake slowly. It's a purely mechanical system, so pay attention to what is moving (or not) and go from there. If you start taking stuff apart, only do one side at a time so you can refence the other side on how stuff goes back together.

 

Maybe when the rear brakes were done, the parking brake cable was not connected to the parking brake lever/shoe for some reason. When I overhauled my drum brakes (all 4 wheels are drum brakes), the passenger side rear parking brake cable 'hook' was not on the lever that pulls the shoe to engage the parking brake.

Loosen the lug nuts, jack one side up at a time, remove the wheel/tire, slide off the drum, operate the E-brake, and see if the rearward shoe moves back.

 

I got them off. Drums of course. Look like they have seen better days. When I activate the e brake, something moves inside but doesn’t look like the shoe moves.

 

Looks like you're missing the horizontal strut (sometimes called a spreader bar) as Jeff said in post #5. Here's a pic you can use for comparison. There is a spring on the strut that is hard to see in this pic but it is required.

 

Thanks! @allanjs

I can’t seem to find just the strut. can I get just new struts somewhere? Or do I need a whole new assembly.

 

I don't know if you can buy the strut & spring from a vendor. A few guys here on the site have converted to rear disc and may be willing to sell you the pieces. You could try a wanted add in the classifieds. Also check the cables to be sure they aren't frozen or extremely sticky. They can normally be freed up but can also take quite a bit of effort to do it. Been there, done that a number of times.

 

Dorman or Help 21129 is the brake strut according to the Orielly's web site. Not sure where you are located but help products should be available across the USA and Canada. The spring is readily available also based on my brief search.

Jeff

 

The shoes look like have enough life to outlive all of us. The park brake cables should be attached to the lower leaf spring plate.
If you adjust the drums with as slight drag all the way around, you’ll be fine once you all the parts.