Gary in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

G

garywcook

Member
Joined
May 9, 2014
Messages
7
Location
Tenerife, Canary Islands
Hi all.

I'm an expat from the USA living in Spain. Formerly from California, we packed up everything including the 77 C3 and moved to the Canary Islands back in 2006. Got out just in time because everything crashed afterwards! Must have been me taking all my money out of the bank. I wish.. :)

I work in technology. Not a lot of technology on this island so I travel a lot to Europe most of the time but also cover Africa and the Middle East.

My corvette is a 77 that I restored just before moving to Spain. It's the only C3 here. I bet there are less than 10 in total here. The ones I've seen over the years are mostly C5's and 1 C6. When I first arrived, there were 2 C4's but I haven't seen them in years. Nothing older.

This was one of those projects that got out of control. Started with a few interior pieces on an original black L82 4 speed and ended up with a restored Torch Red, ZZ-383 crate motor, 5 speed, and more. Along the way, pretty much everything that could be replaced was replaced. I'll post some pics later but they are available for the most part on my website. A few broken links so be patient if you take a look.

I found this group though a search for "mechanical parking brake modifications". A picture of a spot caliper came up so here I am. I am looking for a parking brake solution so the C3 can pass the strict inspections over here. It won't now. Trust me. Everything has been replaced, adjusted, replaced again, and a few tricks tried. Every brake part from the handle to the shoes. Every cable. Stainless. Not stainless. Brake shoes from a 1/2 dozen vendors. I even had a Carbonite coating applied to the inside of the drums on new rotors. It has the consistency of a pretty coarse sandpaper. It still will not hold the car. I can rebuild the parking brake blindfolded at this point.

I wish I had addressed this problem before leaving S. California. Too late and there is nobody here that knows anything about a Corvette. I wouldn't trust them to change the oil. So I'll be browsing the past posts to see what I can find. I think the spot caliper is the way to go.

gc
[email protected]
http://www.europeancorvette.com/
 
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Welcome to VetteMOD Gary!

I am going to be all ears on this conversation. Hadn't heard of a "spot caliper" and now it is on the radar.

The stock "Parking Brake" on a C3 has never really worked so taking a different direction like the spot brake solution sounds great. Thanks for the lead on this.

Maybe a spot brake using a linear actuator and ditching the handle!!!

I like this subject!!!

John (also in technology)
 
Welcome to the motley crew.....


I too had an issue with the C4 I sold, had to get it through inspection, and even the Maryland inspection on my '72 here now...this all in '95.....

On my C4 the brake would not hold on some incline, woopie doo, WTF they think leaving it in gear is for?? at any rate, the trans is now a 200 4r for the cheap way to get an overdrive that was not needed in Wash DC region traffic....but here in Florida we fly....

SO I note the C4 has a similar setup on the ebrake, and what I did is tighten hell out of the brake cable making it too tight, drive the 3 blocks to the inspection station, pass the stupid inspection, drive it home, and readjust it....

maybe try that???:lol::smash::thumbs::surrender:
 
I tried to overtighten the adjusters. I tried new rotors. I tried coating the rotors. I tried different vendors of shoes including Raybestos and Delco. I have replaced the hardware 2x. I've replaced the cables 2x. I replaced the handle and cable. I tried to shape the shoe to match the inside of the rotor. I've pulled on the handle so hard I've cracked riveted shoes! It still rolls downhill.

On another site, somebody said the slot wears where the arm pivots. This prevents both shoes from fully expanding. This person used epoxy to glue a small piece of square metal in the slot! Said it works. I'm not sure if I'll try that. I've replaced the actuator arm but nothing in the slot. This sort of makes sense because the brake works in reverse but not forward.

I've been looking at the mechanical spot caliper possibility. In addition to Wildwood which are cheap but require mods for the disc thickness, there are some vehicles that have as standard. Viper, Ferrari, Lambo, and Aston Martin to name a few. Even some delivery vans. Many are customs made by Brembo. Might be cheaper and easier if I can find a used set with the right fit. The others have larger pads too.

Still thinking about the ultimate solution. Hopefully somebody here has an idea. It's hard being the only C3 expert within a thousand miles!
 
You might want to look at '76 to '77 Cadillac Eldorado calipers. They have a mechanical parking brake on the caliper.

I had looked at these a while back...but haven't messed w/ the idea-since there are so many projects ahead of it.

Richard

MountCaliper.jpg


RearDiscComplete.jpg
 
I just looked at the part on Rock Auto. I don't think it would be a good replacement for the hydraulic caliper but it might work just as a mechanical one. Good pad area. Nothing strange sticking out like some I've seen. Rotor appears to be about the same as the vette. Affordable. I'll investigate.

Checking into clearances, I don't think it will fit as a second caliper. As a replacement it's probably not a good idea. Pad area is bout the same but it is a floating vs. fixed design.
 
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Welcome to Vettemod Gary!

I saw that you had even tried to use carbonite coating without success on your parking break drums...
We use that a lot at my work to increase the friction coefficient up to 4-6 times when designing connecting couplings for drivelines in ships. You must really have som mechanical error in your parking break system if not even that coating helps!
I do not mean to question your skills or so, I am sure you will get good advices in here.

I restored my p break system using stainless parts and following the AIM:s instructions on how to properly adjust and tune the break system. Not a single problem and the car passed the inspection without any hickups. I live in Sweden and the inspection here is really tough...
The p break holds the car in steep hills.

Maybe you should try to test how much movement you get on the pads, it sounds like you might not get full movement ?

I know the system can be a pain in the ass but it was originally designed to function properly by a bunch of smart engineers at Chevrolet an it should be possible to get it back in that condition.

Regards Daniel
 
Hey Daniel.

I was in Stockholm a few weeks ago at an event. Beautiful city but too cold for me!

Inspections here are pretty tough, especially the first time. Not looking forward to it at all. This is a very strange problem for sure. I'm going to make another attempt to fix it next weekend. To this point all brake parts are new. Some replaced multiple times. Stainless steel. Reputable vendors. Replaced more than once. I rebuilt the entire car and I'm pretty good with drum brakes. I was working on them before disc brakes were popular.

On the next attempt I am going to look at the possibility a worn slot where the parking brake actuator pivots. I've replaced the actuator already but as I previously mentioned, another person uncovered this strange problem and fixed it by adding some metal back into the slot. This has to be the root cause.
 
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GARY, are those brake shoes stainless?? IF SO, they will not work, you have to use the stock STEEL shoes, I remember this from years ago, my hardware is stainless, but the SHOES are steel....

:smash::eek:
 
Thanks for mentioning it but I've tried every brand including stainless and steel. The current broken set is a stock Raybestos. This weekend I'm going to try something else and will replace with Delco parts.
 
One more time Sunday..

Wish me luck.

:smash:

I'm going to make one more attempt to fix this tomorrow.
Wife and kids gone. No travel. Nothing to bother me.

I've lost track of the number of times but I think it will be at least the 10th serious attempt. Down to my last set of brake shoes. Delco stock organics.

If it fails, I'll scrap the car. Stop by for free parts. ZZ383 engine? 5 speed. Not really.. But I'll not be a happy Vette owner!
 
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