MTFCA Forum

I have very little throw on my hand brake lever. I think the lining is too thick. No matter how I adjust the brake rods there is a very narrow window where I achieve neutral before the rear brakes engage. If I adjust for more throw the lever won't release enough to clear the clutch cam on the shaft and the car won't slip into high gear. Speakig with Steve at Langs, he thought the repro linings might be a bit too thick (assuming they are repro) and suggested sanding them down a bit by using a belt sander. I'd be interested in reading what others think about this problem.
I considered using Langs EZ adjusting sliders but after discussion with Steve , I decided it was questionable whether they'd work correctly.
Thanks for your input.
Richard

Oh, I forgot to add, I already ground down the lining thickness at the ends close to the brake cam. I am using reproduction brake cams if that makes a difference.

What position are the levers at the rear wheels where the rods are attached? When the brake is off, they should be back from center. When the brake is applied they should be straight up or forward of the center. Maybe your rods are too short?
Norm

I have the same problem, it took a lot of time sanding down the lining .. got a sweet spot at the lever w/ the rear levers position correct. Hope the conditions improve over time, but the hand lever doesn’t have the travel that is normally observed. Thanks for opinions..
John
Oscoda Michigan

Hi John. Exactly how did you sand down the linings?
Would you have done things differently? Any suggestions appreciated.

Norm, I'll get back with you tomorrow after I check things out. Thanks for your input.

Norm, I'll get back with you tomorrow after I check things out. Thanks for your input.

I used a heavy flat file & air die grinder with a coarse 3M pad. Installed rear hdy disc brakes, had to cut and true drums along with grinding linings to get drums to slide on and turn freely.
John
Oscoda Michigan

I had the same problem with my '26 this spring when I put new linings on. I used soapstone to mark high spots on the linings. I coated the inside of my drums with soapstone, put the drum on and spun it with the brake lever pulled very slightly. Soapstone transferred to the linings to show high spots. I used a 2" wide coarse wood rasp to trim high spots on the linings.

Repeating that a few times to get a good fit helped on the flat part of the linings. The lever still had a short throw until I rounded the outer edges of the linings. They rubbed the drum before the face of the linings touched. That made a real improvement.

Thanks Mark and John. Great ideas. I had thought about turning the drums on lathe to true them if they are out of round. I like the idea of marking the drums to determine
the high spots on the lining.

I also did a lot of fussing to make sure my brake shoes were round and concentric with the drums. I placed a lined shoe in each drum on the bench and shaped the metal shoes to fit evenly. My car had no linings when I got it so my shoes were out-of-round. When the cam spreads the shoe at its opening, the highest stress in the shoe is 180 degrees from the opening. My shoes were bent from being over-expanded since there was no lining. That became apparent when I bench-fitted the lined shoes. To increase the curvature I placed the lined shoe over a vice with the jaws opened 2-3". I gently hammered the inside of the shoe above the vice opening to recurve them. It took a while but was well worth the effort in my car.

Norm. The brake rods are plenty long. I readjusted the brakes and reversed the position of the bolt that engages the handbrake cam to where the threaded end slides on the cam. Adjusting the brakes with the engine running helped
getting them so they grab at the same time. Reversing the handbrake cam bolt allowed a bit shorter handbrake throw before engaging high gear. Result is I can pull the handbrake lever further back than before but it still goes into high when I release it. I'll drive the car after lunch and see if there is an improvement on the road.

Mark. Good thinking. When I restored this car I tried substituting a couple extra brake shoes I had laying around. They were bent up as you say. I opted to use those in the car. The car had been restored about 50 to 60 years ago and the chassis parts looked good. I didn't see any out of round situation when I installed them and they fit inside the drums evenly. However I saw the fit was tight.
If my efforts today don't satisfy me, I will remove the hubs and find if there are any high spots to be taken down. Never have used soapstone. I assume I can locate some locally or use Prussian Blu