65 E-brake tip

[Velox]

Yeh I know they never work anyway. But when finally getting my car going, with my brake handle pulled out as hard as possible and the cables seemingly tight, the car rolled easily forward and backward, and I had checked everything many times. I know it won't hold on a hill but sheesh it ought to hold just a bit on a slight incline on my driveway

Anyway found this picture of a 66 but same idea, notice the equalizer rod assembly attaches to the equalizer lever in the hole nearest the pivot (center) point, with the second (outer) hole on the lever for the spring attachment. On mine I had assembled it based on an old assembly manual drawing and had the rod attaching to the outer hole. Well that was just enough to lose any mechanical advantage such that pulling the hand brake out as hard as possible did essentially nothing. I switched the rod's position to the inner hole, readjusted, and now cannot roll the car at all on a flat surface either direction. I'll try tomorrow on an incline and see how it is, but its gotta be better than it was

So for the 65-66 folks check the equalizer rod/lever assembly make sure it conforms to the picture below, it might help you

 

[2+2GT]

The brake in your photo is correctly assembled, as per Ford specification. Any diagram showing otherwise should be burned.

 

[BarnStang]

They do work. Couple things to check that will help. The rear drums should be true-exactly round and not egg shaped. If they have been turned a bunch of times, that doesen't seem to help either. I'vehad better luck with new drums. Mostimportant isthat the rear brake shoes need to be adjusted assnug as possible with no more then a slight drag onthe shoes, meaningyou can turn it easily with your hands. THen readjust after somewear. Makesure the self adjuster is assemble correctly and working. Most parts stores carry hardware kits with all the parts if your hardware is looking rough. If the cables are dragging at all they need replaced. You can use ATF to lubricate the cables, but you will need to have them all off the car to do it right. This rarely helpsa badly worn cable but something to try tillyou replace them. Unless they move freely I pitch all of them and put new ones on. It will hold the car.

 

[ARPM]

The brake in your photo is correctly assembled, as per Ford specification. Any diagram showing otherwise should be burned.

Actually he is right about the Ford Manual. Below is a copy of the 1976 last revision Ford did and shows the wrong setup. I learned this when I was doing my vert and notice the mechanical disadvantage in Ford diagram (see my setup below). In my vert I swap the spring to the other side cuz I used an "X" Crossover and was in the way. There is not much space in there due to the re-informent plate and I installed 2.5" SS pipes. I don't know what happen to Ford in those revisions but I have found a few errors that previus revisions didn't have.

 

[2+2GT]

The diagram and 65 convertible photo both show the cable attached correctly, but the spring in this photo is not even close to correctly installed. Of course, the exhaust shown is completely non-stock, but the spring could be corrected easily:

 

[ARPM]

The diagram and 65 convertible photo both show the cable attached correctly, but the spring in this photo is not even close to correctly installed. Of course, the exhaust shown is completely non-stock, but the spring could be corrected easily:

My 65 vert is anything but stockI tried to put the spring in the correct side but since the 2.5" "X" SS crossover is so wide and is located right in the border of the re-inforcement plate the spring rubs against it causing rattling noise when the e-brake is off and the heating of the spring. The Ford Diagram shows the spring at the transmission side hole and my picture has it in the outer hole near the front e-brake cable attachment. In the Ford Manual position the mechanical advantage is small compared to the other position causing the e-brake to be hard to pull and not correctly stopping the car. This I experience in my 66 GT that has a factory brake setup and the new position of the e-brake parts improved stopping of the e-brake about 30-40%. Now, on my vert the new setup improved more that 50% due to the Crown Vic's rear disc setup. (See below). Even with this changes all stock e-brakes setups are not efficient enough to stop the car.

 

[2+2GT]

Not sure I understand your location, but if you tried to put it here it was correct. I have seen springs rub, when the exhaust was modified.

 

[2+2GT]

You should add a crosstube. It'll add 5-15 hp.