Talking of handbrake pads,

[billwill]

In my opinion the proper way to deal with excessive wear of handbrake pads is as follows.

1. If there is not one there already put a small cylindrical compression spring on the adjusting screw, between the pads so that it pushes the pads apart.

2. Each pad has a lifter attached to the pad holder, it's like a washer with a long tab sticking out of the side and is bent into a Z shape. Ideally I expect these should be made of a spring metal, but they are not (well mine are not); so as the pads wear, this gets pressed further down and does not recover its original shape. When you fit new pads it is important to bend the end (that is furthest from the bolt hole) upwards gently, so that it properly lifts the handbrake pads away from the disk when the handbrake is released.

[Foxie]

Bill,

You are absolutely correct !

Properly and regularly adjusted as you describe, there should be no wear at all on the handbrake pads.

And the handbrake will hold on any hill on the public roads.

I've just fitted my third set in 23 years.

Sean Murray

[ppnelan]

Mine recently passed the MoT test with 40% efficiency!!
It usually struggles to reach the 25% limit for a single line system and passes only as a split-system at 16%, despite locking the wheels...
The secret? This time, I put 2 extra spare wheels & tyres in the boot and a 'large' mechanic pressed down on the back of the car during the test
They told me it is common for certain models of light/small cars to be unable to provide enough grip at the back to get a good result - the wheels lock too soon. There are even some models flagged on the DVLA computer system which are recommended as being passed even when they fail... Pity the Elan & +2 aren't noted as such.

Matthew