Cadillac

OMG, this mod is killing me. The axle is on the car with a new MC and correct prop valve to manage a pair of Ed's LS1 brakes on the fronts and new PBR's on the back. I've been told the pedal is nice. The problem now is the mechanic working on the car won't release it until the emergency brake is functioning properly. I guess it's a valid concern, dangit.

Anyway, here's the issue. The intermediate (middle) cable on the rear ebrake system has a different attachment to the actuator mechanism (handle) than the intermediate cable requires. Fuzzy cell phone pics follow:



In this shot, you can see the handle and how the DRUM brake intermediate cable attaches. Is this handle different in drum brake cars compared to disk brake cars? Is it related to suspension package?



In this picture you can see the kind of attachment required by the intermediate cable that will actuate the disks in the rear during "emergency" operation. The last picture is the other end of the intermediate cable where adjustment occurs.



Please help me figure this one out. I think all I have to do is score an ebrake handle from an '89 GTA and I'll be good to go. Would one from an IROC, Z28, or TA work as well so long as it was equipped with a desk rear?

What about a fourth gen handle? Is that an option?

Cadillac

Wow... did a search and have been reading about this problem through many years of TGO members doing the same thing. From what I can tell:

1. The '91-'92 F-cars had a self adjusting, ratcheting system that worked with the ebrake cable.
2. The '89 system that worked with the PBR rear brakes has an adjustment for it over the driveshaft in the transmission tunnel.
3. A wise Third Gen owner I know in the area says it is possible to measure the intermediate cable and talk to a company that makes these for custom applications.

Here's an old pic from TGO that shows the older style adjustment that the mounts for which are missing on my car.



After all the reading I've done this topic THIS should be a sticky.

Should I go with Option 3?

JamesC

iTrader: (5)

Or purchase an 82-89 JY piece (as shown in the pic) and move it to your car.

JamesC

Cadillac

That would mean I have to get the handle for the ebrake too since it's a different actuating mechanism between the two years, right?

Cadillac

I found a correct e-brake handle and the peice under the car that connects the cables. Now I just have to hope that the cable mounts are the same from year to year GTA to base Firebird on the body. 35 buck and a lot of hope.

alloy

iTrader: (16)

Here is a pic of an ebrake handle I pulled off a 95 six banger car yesterday. Looks like the same cable end as you have now. Most likely it was a drum brake car being it was a six.

I just picked up a set of rear LS1 brakes and am hoping to use the stock LS1 cables, ebrake lever, and the brake cable floor mount I spent yesterday afternoon cutting off the 4th gen.

Al Hasse

I've decided I'm going to make an access panel in the floorboard (drive shaft tunnel) where the cable adjuster is. Since the disc park brake doesn't have a self adjuster, this way I can I can adjust the park brake without lowering the drive shaft.

JamesC

iTrader: (5)

Wouldn't that be more labor intensive than dropping the shaft?

JamesC

Al Hasse

Maybe only the first time. I have no problem removing the rear seats and pulling back the carpet over jacking the rear and crawling under to drop the drive shaft.

Cadillac

This is starting to **** me off. The new cable doesn't work with the other cables and the new handle I got. I think I'm getting into customer cable territory. Not a place you want to be with a repair and maintenance shop.

Comp788

This is what happens when you try to go to a parts changer. All they know how to do is unbolt one part and bolt on another part. The stuff is really basic if your mechanically inclined!

TheScaryOne

iTrader: (3)

These are pics from a rear disc 1987 Iroc. The handles are different between drum and disc. Good information. If you get the adjusting unit from the transmission tunnel from a rear disc car, you should be good to go. I've never been under a rear drum car though, but I do recollect that if you're doing a full rear end swap, you're supposed to grab EVERY ebrake cable and clip you can. So if you're at the junkyard, grab everything from the adjuster unit back.

Cadillac

One might think that mechanics are mechanically inclined.



This thread is really helping me conceptualize the solution:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/brak...er-ebrake.html

Question: Are PBR brakes also known as LS1 brakes?

Al Hasse

This is exactly the setup on my 89 RS with drums in the rear. In my swap to discs, so far, I have new brake cables from the adjuster back. Haven't made alot of adjustments yet as the car still sits on jack stands, but it appears that the stock intermediate cable (with adjustment bracket) and brake handle might work.

JamesC

iTrader: (5)

No.
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Worked fine when I upgraded to PBR's.

JamesC

Cadillac

Following up on this... closure as it were.

The rear end swap as far as the posi, gear change, and braking are everything I hoped it would be. The car accelerates much better and there is no more "one wheel peel". The braking is MULTIPLE TIMES better with all four wheels working in concert (new prop valve made all the difference).

The ebrake posed a problem for a couple weeks. It all ended with finding a custom cable manufacturer in the area who created the cables to spec for about 100 bucks. After I got the car back together and put my whole family in it to drive to Sacramento it became real apparent, real fast that something was wrong. The weight of the loaded body got close enough to the bottom of the car where the cable attachments were located. It was grinding pretty bad! Once we figured out how to tuck the cables up tighter, the problem went away.

Concerning the ebrake function though, it's not like I can lock the wheels down while rolling. I suppose at a dead stop on a slight grade, it might hold the car but it isn't all that.

Whatever. I got my new rear end and feel like the car is a little more substantial than before.