Parking brake pads, what’s best

[h20hamelan]

I have a couple elan’s which will be needing pads this year.
I see there are offerings of £35 for cheap ones, and £70 for better.
As long as they are set up correctly, I dont mind the cost too much, but the more I read, the more scared I get. Believe when I was young, I had some rebuilt for an Anglia or Saab 99 or something. Wonder if anyone now a days re-faces pads?
The N. American suppliers have them. Shipping to Canada is rather poor from the good old US of A. I prefer Royal Mail.

[reb53]

I bought some brake pad material and some rivets from some brake place and rivetted on my own.
40 years later they're still working fine.
Bearing in mind they're only used when the car is stationary that's not surprising.
I occasionally test them whilst moving just to ensure they'll pass our MOT, and they've always been ok.
Better than the originals actually !

[h20hamelan]

I did the same, about 30 years ago. I have not been able to find anything.

The only thing I can think of, is cutting down something that will fit. Then welding some parts from an old pad, like the hooks. The tolerances are very tight, so have not tried this.

[TBG]

I never use the handbrake. Just leave it in gear - except on ferries!!

[Craven]

Maybe of interest,
viewtopic.php?t=46410&p=333506

HandbrakePads.jpg (90.61 KiB) Viewed 1195 times

[h20hamelan]

good one

[Bud English]

Been there, done that. Still haven't driven it yet.
http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/free-pa ... ds#p161671

[Brad B]

I went to sort out a dragging parking brake, reading this thread was inspiration.
After reading my elan workshop manual, and Brian Buckland’s manual, I think I’ve got non original brake pads? My handbrake pads don’t pivot off the handbrake leg pivot spindle. Possibly the handbrake legs won’t pivot far enough. What am I missing figuring this out?

[h20hamelan]

won’t pivot far enough. What am I missing figuring this out?

i find the pads do not release easily enough from calliper mounts.
the length of the rods, how it is "set-up" reflect some of this!

someone that knows will chime in

[mbell]

Looks like normal set up but
1) it's missing the "Centralising Strips" that hold the pads off the disc when the brake is not engaged. These are just a strip of bent metal that bolt to the caliper. See part 17, http://rdent.com/manuals/plus2/brakes/jc.htm

2) It looks like the pads have been incorrectly fitted, probably on the wrong side, as the friction material shape should follow the disc outer radius.

3)It looks like something has caused the inner pad only to stay in contact with the disc, causing the drag and wearing the pad out.

I'd fit new pads (the correct way around) and Centralising Strips, then correctly adjust it all. Also consider adding as helper spring over the tie rod between the arms, this helps keep the weight of the arms off the pads and making things easier for the Centralising Strips.

[Brad B]

Thanks! I appreciate thoughtful insight, and especially the R.D. ent. diagram. It’s much clearer than my factory manual.
What you don’t see in my picture, I have removed the centralizing strips just before taking the photo. I didn’t know there function before your reply, thanks for that.
I also removed a coil extension spring during disassembly, that might be the helper spring.
My big puzzle is extracting the pads at this point. They swing open a few degrees, but don’t come away at all.
Then, before installing new pads, I need to understand why the inside pad was continually loaded against the disk.
I did notice the hand brake rod for this side was not straight. That makes me think the mechanism pivot is bound, and didn’t release, but I’m not clear on which pivot, or how the linkage is supposed to move during brake set and release.
I really like the idea of working parking brake, but Brian Buckland says something surprising and disappointing -
“With correct adjustment about every four weeks if the car is in daily use, a set won’t last more than six months”.
I would think if the pad is off the disk, (when brake handle is released) pad wear would be insignificant.
I think Brian is pointing out a design error.

[69S4]

I really like the idea of working parking brake, but Brian Buckland says something surprising and disappointing -
“With correct adjustment about every four weeks if the car is in daily use, a set won’t last more than six months”.
I would think if the pad is off the disk, (when brake handle is released) pad wear would be insignificant.
I think Brian is pointing out a design error.

There isn't much clearance between the pad and the disc - it says .003" in the workshop manual, and that's the maximum clearance. So if you've got any degree of run out on the rear disc the pad will wear in daily use. The manual says .004" max for disc run out which would give .001" each side between the pad and the disc with everything working correctly. That's not a lot of clearance and getting down to .004" disc run out is an exercise in very careful set up. It's very easy to have more than this and not feel it in the normal brake pedal.

Last time I stripped my rear brakes I put a lot of time / effort into minimising run out and getting the centralising strips working + adding the central spring etc and the handbrake has improved considerably. I now get between 1000 and 1500 miles between adjustments. The person I bought the car from (a long time ago) had a different approach. He worked in military helicopter maintenance and relined the handbrake pads with the same material they used for braking helicopter rotors. Said they never wore out! That was somewhat true but they didn't grip the disc much either and wouldn't pass the UK MOT.

[Brad B]

“Last time I stripped my rear brakes I put a lot of time / effort into minimising run out and getting the centralising strips working + adding the central spring etc and the handbrake has improved considerably.”
Thanks Stewart, that’s my goal for this car, I have the time to be thorough, I first need to figure out why the pads won’t come out.
This 66/67 series 3, DHC is the Elan if wanted since school days, back in 1967. I love driving it with everything in order.

[mbell]

The hand brake pads are tricky to remove, a lot of lifting and wiggling. Failing that unbolt the caliper and remove from disc that should give a bit more room.

It sounds like you did already have the helper spring.

The hand brake rod should be straight, so it may have been bent causing bad adjustment. So I'd straighten it out. The two rods are connecting to a tee that the handbrake cable pulls. So the two side are connected.

I don't think there anything seriously wrong, just needs a bit of time to strip, rebuild and adjust.

[Quart Meg Miles]

Buckland's "won't last six months" comment is rubbish! My handbrake works perfectly and I've driven tens of thousands of miles with the present ones. It's one of the few items I haven't listed in my maintenance record, which I didn't realise until now!

I agree with removing the caliper to get the pads out. Use WD40 or some other penetrator to help free the swinging pivots, they look very dry in the picture.