My hand brake does not seem to work very well so I'm leaving it ingear most the time.

It seems to grab after it rolls a bit.

Do I adjust in from the inside the car? Or outside and what do I do?

Why I'm asking do you think I should replace the old handbrake cable with a new one?
Or just some minor adjustments? Nothing wrong with the cable but I would say it is original.

Tah!

1. Check rear shoes & drums for wear. On cars this old now, you may need to have the drums machined to remove ovality & fit oversize shoes. Any brake repairer can do this for you.
2. Check wheel cylinders for leaks- replace if necessary.
3. Check hand-brake quadrants on the trailing arms to make sure they rotate freely. Often they can seize up. Easier to do with handbrake cables disconnected from the operating levers on the hubs.
4. After all this is fixed, re-assemble drums and adjust each side as per the manual.
5. Re-connect cables to operating levers
6. Engage handbrake notch at a time. Check drums each side for resistance by turning.
7. If resistance un-even, adjust cable tension at handbrake end (brass (monkey) nuts) inside the car until same on each side.
8. replace road wheels & test drive foot brake for even braking. If one wheel locks up, the pressure limiting valve on the subframe may need attention.
9. Find a nice dirt road & start practising handbrake turns.

here endeth the lesson.

_________________
1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

all the stuff on the back end is new including rear shoes & drums.

so either not adjusted right or something is shot.

The handbrake cables tend to stretch over time as well, so you end up running out of adjustment in-car (mine is like this). There's two things you can do about this:

1. Buy new cables;
2. Fit cable tensioners (basically a bracket which attaches to the cable somewhere and 'kinks' it, taking up the slack).

_________________
Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

OK then, you need to check the shoe adjustment. You can have the best cables in the world, nice leather handbrake boot and grip, but your handbrake will only work as good as the drum/shoe operation because all it is basically doing is replicating what the hydraulics are doing.

_________________
1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

Also check that the shoes and springs are in correctly, the number I see where this simple thing is mucked up, would be 5 cars out of 6.....

"1. Buy new cables;
2. Fit cable tensioners (basically a bracket which attaches to the cable somewhere and 'kinks' it, taking up the slack)."

.... Or just tie knot in each cable ... works fine and lasts for years (decades?)

One thing to check if you've done a lot of work at the back is that the handbrake quadrants have been put back on correctly. They are handed and if installed upside down you can apply as much tension as you like at the handbrake but there will not be enough tension in the link downstream of the quadrants to apply full pressure to the linings.

Cheers, Ian

Good one Ian, that never occurred to me

_________________
Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

NG have you actualy adjusted the rear brakes and if so how. If the rear brakes arn't adjust corrctly new cables want even help you

_________________
Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

It is a good way to get defected. It is not safe because it weakens the cable.
In NSW it is a failure on a rego inspection.

Hasn't been defected in over 20 years - which is why I said it lasts for decades...

Cheers, Ian