Need help with my 78

my handbrake dosent work. done evrything. i just wanna confirm that it has to be the thumbs that press out the brake bands in the drum is bendt. alot of work if it is


1978 Chevrolet Corvette, 4-speed manual, l-82.  

does the parking brake handle pull all the way to the top?????  if so.. the parking brake shoes are probably out of adjustment


have you adjusted the parking brake shoes by turning the star wheel that fits between the bottom of the parking brake shoes...  


i have found that you can tell if drum brakes shoes are out of adjustment.. with a screwdriver...   we are talking about full size drum brakes here..

by shining a flashlight into the adjustment hole so you can see the star wheel... using a screw driver to push the star wheel forward till it stops..  then the other way..  and seeing how far if goes...  if it moves more than 1/16 of an inch.. you need to adjust the brakes...   now.. you do have to understand..  when i say push the star wheel... i am saying to push it sideways..  <<<  >>>>   NOT TURN IT     we are checking to see if the shoes are out of adjustment..


if the adjuster is not keeping the shoes close to the drum surface... when you pull the lever.. there is not enough action to push the shoes all the way to the drum surface..  

here is a picture of how to stick a screw driver through to adjust the parking brakes...

http://www.corvettefever.com/howto/36458/photo_05.html


here is a good picture of what the parking brake shoes look like...

http://www.corvettefever.com/howto/36458/photo_14.html

here a link to replacing the wheel bearings article..

http://www.corvettefever.com/howto/36458/index.html

here is another article on the C3 parking brakes

http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/vemp_0401_c3_corvette_parking_brake/photo_13.html

this is the complete article... you should read it completely several times...

http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/vemp_0401_c3_corvette_parking_brake/index.html

open every picture and read the captions..

post if you need more answers...