Hi Bob, sounds like you are in a bit of a pickle! You did not mention what
surface the car is on. If it is concrete or something hard, I'd be inclined to
put some wheel dollies under the rear wheels and pull the car out to get more
room to work safely. I think that one way or the other you need to get enough
room to get the rear wheels off and look at what is going on. Temporarily, if
you can access them, remove the clevis pin that hold the cable to the
bell-crank located on the top of the right side of the axle, thus disconnecting
the cable. I suspect the cable has seized and when you remove a clevis pin,
the brakes will free. This wont be easy as with the brakes on, the pins will
be tight. One way of the other, you have to disconnect the cable. An extreme
measure would be to get some heavy duty cable cutters and cut it, but I think
that you should be bale to work it all free once you have access. If the
seizure is in the rods going to the brake plates, I would think that with the
cable disconnected you could tap on the levers on the rear of the brake plate
and release the shoes. Once you have good access to everything I think the
problem, be it cable or the bell-crank will become apparent. There is a grease
nipple on the cable which is often neglected!
Good luck, Mirek
-----Original Message-----
From: Healeys <healeys-bounces@autox.team.net> On Behalf Of RCobb
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 7:40 PM
To: healeys@autox.team.net
Subject: [Healeys] emergency brake system query-
BJ8 was fully functional when parked in storage a couple years ago. Handbrake
was engaged.
Recently, when preparing the car for "re-activation", upon releasing the
handbrake, the cable disengaged at the lever's pivot point, as though the
cable/linkages/whatever are binding or frozen.
The challenges: I have not been able to find documentation that clearly shows
how the brake cable is run, or how any linkages behind the brake backing plates
or within the brake drums are configured (which would help direct attention to
what may need to be freed-up); if it would help to pull the rear wheels and
drums, there is only a 12" clearance next to the left side of the car and maybe
18" on the right side; the car was backed-in and it's not feasible to roll the
car out of the storage space, as there is a significant slope, which would
limit the option of jacking the rear of the car, while on the slope; I suspect
the car would not roll anyway, since the handbrake is functionally engaged.
I've jacked the rear up about 14", but that does not give me enough visual
information to determine the source of the problem or how it may be corrected.
Suggestions, from those who are familiar with how the emergency brake system
functions, are solicited. Thanks in advance.
Bob
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