Dean Roberts

Finally we have very good rear brakes and a great handbrake on 3 clicks. I had stripped them down again soaked all the springs in oil. Copper greased the crescent shaped thingy (cheers bob). Slacked the handbrake loose and refitted everything. Banged the brakes a couple of times and heard both sides ratchet on the self adjusters. With the help of my son (rare occasion) then spun the wheels and watched them stop when foot pedal applied. Next the handbrake..... Well both sides working, but very loosely and not passable when the handbrake will only click 5 times max and still be slack Adjusted the handbrake until clicks. banged the brakes a few more times and then tested each side by tightening the bolts to the wheels with handbrake on (no movement). No movement in both, rock solid and easily passable for the MOT at 3 clicks. Dropped car back down tighten nuts properly and tested brakes & handbrake on drive and extremely happy. Cheers guys, not sure what exactly it was but just following your advice seemed to work and now I need to get it checked on the rollers and book a re-test. Right it's getting dark now, so time to garage it and chill. Chuffed to bits....

Running restores, waiting for an IBM engineer to deliver some new hardware whilst eating my dinner and playing spot the difference... Nothing wrong with using a phone and eating food whilst traveling back and forth between the machine room and the offices.

No manual with instructions

Dunno....Only one wheel bearing nut???

Its on the kitchen floor and not on the car?

Too true......I only have 2x weekends available to do anything for the next 6 months and driving is the last thing on my mind. By the end of the year, I will have had one of the following or all: A massive heart attack A nervous breakdown Quit Work Divorced Or rise from the ashes as a phoenix and overcome this years obstacles and start a fresh next year.

Andi, sorry dude I won't be able to make this as I will be working. In fact this is a very, very crap year as I seem to be working nearly every single bloody week day and weekend for the next 6 months.

Standard Sierra set-up with handbrake single line to crescent shaped splitter with clevis pin. This then has a single cable (shortened) passing thru the crescent shaped U bend and travel to each drum. Tonight when I get in from work, I will put the car on stands again and remove the wheels and drums and inspect both sides to make sure they are performing equally. Strangely this is the same side as the iffy drum in the picture below (guess which one): Looks like its been getting very hot in the past, but not a problem now as both drums have been replaced. Questions - Is the self adjuster solely reliant on the handbrake? Or the foot brake? Or both? The adjuster seems to be for the shoes to align with the drum when the brakes are applied and I would assume its working if both wheel stop spinning when the foot brake is applied.

Cheers CB750, I must admit. When Nikki stamped on the brakes yesterday I only heard the drivers side self adjust. Hmmmm....looks like I will tr my again tomorrow night and give feedback. So frustrating, cos I really need to start driving the car and getting used to it. Basically Nikki is complaining she needs more sugar (see earlier comments about the sugar runs).

Both sides work good on foot pedal. Drums slide off and on without any issues. Both wheels spin freely unless foot applied. Both wheels spin freely, drivers side stops when handbrake applied. It's as if it's not splitting it 50:50 or the cable is stretched/longer on the passenger side. A bit baffled and might call it a day and start packing up ready for another go tomorrow night.. Sky is looking a bit black above my head and it's beginning to drizzle. Don't fancy ripping the gearbox covers off the interior just yet.

Yes both sides of the cable are working. Until I get to 2 clicks onwards. After 2 clicks the drivers side tightens ok. Passenger side stops moving. It's as if the adjuster is only tightening the Drivers side. Is there a clip or pin stopping the u from sharing the distribution between left and right cable being equal????

Can anybody explain the plungers when adjusting handbrake. Sierra manual doesn't make sense. Also any reason that when I adjust handbrake the drivers side gets tuff. But at 2 clicks I can still move the wheel with a lot of effort. But worse stil the passenger side spins freely. Any advice highly appreciated while the cars on stands.

David, any reasoning for the 5.1 ratio pedal box (size restriction maybe)? It seems that non servo assisted brakes are ideally suited to 6.1 or above.

It didn't help being on call-out and work contacting me Saturday and Sunday to fix some hardware issues. Oh well, just need to get it thru the MOT and then start saving for maybe a few upgrades suggested by you guys earlier in the post over the darker months...

Well spent the weekend completely removing the old drums, cleaning and replacing everything from brake lines, fluid, cylinders, drums, shoes, springs. Flushed and bleed the brakes and used the same brake fluid formula provided by Mr Perry... (thank you sir) Thought I would update the paintwork on the new drums to match the lovely red exterior of the car. Lots of swear words, rounded or snapped bolts and mashed fingers from the stupid (swear, swear, swear) handbrake cable. On just the first drum, the second drum was a completely different picture..... Took a crowbar, lump hammer and lots of brute force and determination to remove the drum. *bleep* thing took about and hour to get off before stripping down and rebuilding the whole lot. I also noticed that this drum looks like the red paint had been boiled and gone a strange varnished look (overheated maybe??? I had to replace the brake lines, as they had completed corroded onto the cylinders (including the leaking one. A fun packed weekend, but eventually the car seems intact and looks to stop very well. Proof in the pudding will be going to visit my friendly MOT man around the corner and having a few freebies on the rollers to make sure its passable. The only issue outstanding is the handbrake.... It may need adjusting, as I was able to (with a lot of effort from 2 people) push the car after it was pulled up to 3 clicks.... Then again, the brakes will still need bedding in and the cable was only going up 1 click until I pumping the brakes a couple of time and testing the efficiency.

I've always been using dot3 in the past. But things have evolved and recommendations are to use dot5. Whereas the sales suggest dot4 is the favourite. It would be interesting to find out what everybody else is using and is it being used for general driving or racing. Or do some people change it between track days and road days (as per tyres). ..... Hey at least I woke you all up and got the forum lively again Ian, have you got sweet or salted?

Another poser for the kids to discuss. Fluid Dry ERBP (°F) Wet ERBP (°F) Viscosity Limit Chemical Fluid Dry ERBP (°F) Wet ERBP (°F) Viscosity Limit Chemical Grade @ 0.0% H2O @ 3.7% H2O (Cp @-40°F) Composition DOT 3 401 284 1500 mm2/s Glycol Ether Based DOT 4 446 311 1800 mm2/s Glycol Ether / Borate Ester DOT 5 (SSBF) 500 356 900 mm2/s Silicone Based DOT 5.1 500 356 900 mm2/s Borate Ester/ Glycol Ether Which one is your favourite or recommendation? DOT 3 DOT 4 DOT 5 Let battle commence! ....Top Trumps could be good as a separate section with voting cards to find the winners....

I've got to get to drive the kit first.... Most I've done is to the MOT centre and back again. Where as Nikki has flew up and down the M42 and around the midlands on endless shopping trips for bags of sugar while I was off sick.

Keith my old mucka...this is just general chit-chat and useful info for the future. Don't worry, I will be working on the car Saturday in preparation for the MOT re-test.

I gather this is where the pedal ratio is important: Formula for Pedal Ratio: Pedal ratio is the ratio of leverage your clutch pedal applies to the master cylinder. To determine the pedal ratio you need to measure the height of the pedal to the pivot point then divided the measurement of the pivot point to the lower arm that controls your rod to the master cylinder. A = height of pedal B = center to center measurement of the lower arm C = pedal ratio A divided by B equals C Or example 9″ divided by 1.5″ equal 6 to 1 ratio. Double Click Image for Full View. If you apply 100 pounds of pressure to the clutch pedal, 100 pounds X (6 to 1) = 600 pounds of pressure. So, if the clutch pedal has been modified from its’ original design the pedal ratio is effected drastically. You can now see the pedal ratio is a “multiplier” of the pressure you apply with your foot, because this is the leverage that is applied to the master cylinder. Now, take this same formula and substitute 2″ instead of 1.5″ you end up with a 4.5 to 1 ratio. Multiply 4.5 times the 100 pounds of applied pressure and you get 450 pounds instead of 600 pound. That half inch cost you 25 percent of your clutching power. The same thing applies when you shorten the upper measurement.

Saturday 24th September at the GBS Factory. Ruth, Just thought I should mention that we have our End of the Year Bash on this weekend and unless it's local to the venue then a lot of us may miss it.

Some pictures posted here of the event - http://www.rhocar.org/index.php?showtopic=43321&page=4

Wow....light the fuse-wire and watch the fireworks.... That's a little bit heated, but a great debate.... All the information is extremely useful to myself and anybody who ventures onto this forum for help. What can I say, you guys are funny, great and informative all rolled into a shiny RHOCaR tin that does exactly what it says on the label. There's nothing better, than to read peoples views on 2 different products. Amazing how much you guys have "been there, done that - worn the t-shirt" and being such informative, nice guys continue to help others and try to stop them from wasting money and making the same mistakes.. Quote - "Dino, don't infer I'm a wuss again now I have done this you numpty. Alway bloody trouble causing you little imp" I try my best Ken , but don't worry, you DO NOT offend anybody personally, you just a have an opinion and your own personal experience that needs expressing. This what makes a great forum....Debates and opinions on different ideas and products. Thanks guys, I better keep my head below the parapet next time I start a Top Trumps War

Nice bling

Some of the fun activities at the festival: http://s1275.photobucket.com/user/Dino2B/Moira%202016/Moira%20Fun/story and a snippet of the pictures in the link above: