C3 Parking Brake

[Ed A.]

Hi Guys,
I need some help ! I recently decided to upgrade the brake system on my 1968 Vette and decided to convert my parking brake system over to a stainless steel system which I purchased from one of the major suppliers. My brake system was original with the rivets still on the rotors, I disassembled the the old system and installed the stainless system on on the left side ( A REAL PITA ) and when I tried to install the rotor I found it was difficult to install. The stainless pads protrude about 1/8 beyond the hub and the rotor is extremely tight. The system seems to be installed correctly and I checked the curvature of the stainless shoes against the originals and they seemed fine. The actuating lever seems to be in the slots in the shoes and all the springs are attached as well but the upper retracting spring was difficult to install and had to be really stretched. However I noticed when I manually activate the the actuating lever only the front shoe moves outward. Also I have the adjuster assembly set at the collapsed ( shortest ) setting and I can't rotate the star wheel to expand the shoes the rotor is not installed and I have the parking brake cable disconnected from the actuating lever.
I don't want to uninstall the system and reinstall it and the have the same problem as something is obviously wrong. Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

[Edward J.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Ed were the levers free, I have seen them rusted and frozen? The top of the shoes should be resting On the pin. If all this is okay there maybe to much material on the linings, maybe check the rotor for wear if there is a lip you may have to machine. Good luck.

[Gary R.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Ed
Every ss parking brake kit I bought from various vendors, most are Lone Star and some are not, needed to be fit. The hold down pins should be an arrowhead and they are usually stamps with radius in them. The starwheels I don't even bother to check anymore and machine them 090-100 shorter to deal with what you found and also with new rotors. Some new rotors don't have the hat bore cut wide enough. Some of the spring ends are curled too much and the lever will hit them and pop them off so I radius the level. The backing plates almost always have the anchor bolt hole off and it needs to be opened up. I like Bairs quality over the others and theirs are not from Lone Star.

[Joe L.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Hi Guys,
I need some help ! I recently decided to upgrade the brake system on my 1968 Vette and decided to convert my parking brake system over to a stainless steel system which I purchased from one of the major suppliers. My brake system was original with the rivets still on the rotors, I disassembled the the old system and installed the stainless system on on the left side ( A REAL PITA ) and when I tried to install the rotor I found it was difficult to install. The stainless pads protrude about 1/8 beyond the hub and the rotor is extremely tight. The system seems to be installed correctly and I checked the curvature of the stainless shoes against the originals and they seemed fine. The actuating lever seems to be in the slots in the shoes and all the springs are attached as well but the upper retracting spring was difficult to install and had to be really stretched. However I noticed when I manually activate the the actuating lever only the front shoe moves outward. Also I have the adjuster assembly set at the collapsed ( shortest ) setting and I can't rotate the star wheel to expand the shoes the rotor is not installed and I have the parking brake cable disconnected from the actuating lever.
I don't want to uninstall the system and reinstall it and the have the same problem as something is obviously wrong. Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

Ed-------


A VERY common problem with these stainless steel parking brake kits. I tried to install one once-upon-a-time and gave up. I re-installed the GM hardware and new GM parking brake shoes and all was well. Although I absolutely love stainless steel anything, living on the west coast, I really do not need the corrosion resistance of a stainless steel parking brake system. A functional system, as marginal as the C2/C3 Corvette parking brake system is, is more important.

[Ed A.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Hi Ed,
Thanks for the response, actually I replaced my original actuating levers with the new stainless ones and they were moving freely. The radiused top of the shoes are seated correctly on the pin. The inside area of the rotors is somewhat scored and I'm taking them to be turned on Saturday.
I appreciate your Help.

Regards, Be Well
Ed

[Ed A.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Hi Gary,
Thanks for the response, the pins I got were stamped and radiused I hand filed them and cleaned them but they still allow the cap to pop off easily. With the starwheels I was able to save my originals which are in good shape I'll try using them instead of the stainless ones. My rotors are somewhat scored and I'm taking them in on Saturday to be turned, I'll see how that turns out, additionally I have been in touch with Bairs as they do sell individual stainless components and are great to deal with.
I appreciate your help.

Regards, Be Well,
Ed

[Ed A.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Hi Joe,
Thanks for your input, living in the midwest rust is always a concern but since my cars are never out in bad weather and stored in a heated garage I probably don't need stainless either, but a few years ago I did my 1966 Vette without a problem. Perhaps both the kits and were better then.

Regards, Be Well,
Ed

[Mike E.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

I just performed that enjoyable task yesterday. Tips of the pins needed to be massaged. Shoes from FLAPS had holes for the pin that were too small. One shoe had excess welding where the star wheel shaft end slot indexes into the shoe, and the metal was too thick, so we had to hand file and Dremel that. Eventually they fit within the rotor hat quite well, but not because they wanted to.

[Ed A.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the input, I compared the tips of the pins to my originals and they are different. The stainless ones had more rounded tips while the originals were more arrow shaped. I massaged mine as well with a file and removed the burrs which helped me to get the spring retainer caps to stay on.
However I still can't get the rotor on ?

Regards, Be Well,
Ed

[Edward J.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Ed can you machine the inside of rotors to maybe help out?

[Ed A.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Hi Ed,
Funny you should ask, Actually I have a relative that works for a Chevy dealership and I'm going there in the morning to do exactly that. My rotors are not too bad with only a small lip but it can't hurt to try, I'm just not sure how much to machine out. Thanks for getting back I appreciate it, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Regards, Be Well,
Ed

[Ed A.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Hi Ed,
Just wanted to get back to you know I machined .008 out of my rotors ( .016 off dia. ) and the rotors slipped right on over the stainless brake pads. Now if I can get the adjuster to rotate I can complete my o ring brake upgrade.

Thanks,
Ed

[Edward J.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Ed, I believe the adjusters are left and right? So make sure your spinning in the right direction and there mounted correctly.

[Ed A.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Hi Ed,
I don't believe they are left & right but I'm going to try to pry the adjuster out and make sure it turns freely. I also checked them against my originals to insure they neither too long or too short and they checked out within thousands, so they seem to be made correctly.

Thanks Again,
Ed

[Lawrence M.]

Re: C3 Parking Brake

Ed, I don't remember where I got this, but it was supposed to be for C3 Corvette disc brakes.rear caliper brake adjusters.jpg