I had my 81 at the shop getting some things done and the repair man told me that when he test drove after repairs he ways getting some grinding from the left rear wheel,  I told him to go ahead and check it out. The next day I was called and told a spring from the emergency brake had broken and fallen down in between the rotor and calipers brake pads, he went on to say the spring was discontinued from Chevrolet and was not able to get from local auto parts store. I was told I could get it from the Corvette parts suppliers. When I went to pick the car up I questioned about what his labor cost would be to replace the spring when I found one. I was told that they would have to pull the left rear axle out a little in order to replace the spring,  cost would be several hundred dollars. I ask him for the spring and the spring looks like the retractor spring in the attached diagram. I then began to search through my service manual and can find no procedure for what I was told. I'm not familiar with the rear axle set up on Corvettes but it sure don't look to me from what I've seen on them that what I was told is right. Looking at the rear axle's I would think that if it has to be done all you would need to do is unbolt the universal joint closets to that wheel. Am I missing something and if so Please give a new be a heads up.    

The parking brake hardware is contained inside the rotor hat and requires removing the rotor (which requires caliper removal).  If the rotor hasn't been removed previously then the rivets will need to be drilled out.  Be sure to mark the orientation of the rotor to the hub as they are machined as an assembly and if not indexed properly, the lateral runout will probably exceed specs.  Recommend doing both sides using aftermarket st-st hardware.  A factory service manual is very helpful and your mechanic should get one as his recommendation for repair is out in left field.

Not sure how any parking brake spring could find its way up to the caliper.

1973 L-82 4 spd

Thanks Shark,  I'm very new to working on a Corvette my other car is a 1963 1/2 Falcon that I have owned for 30 years and rebuilt  but this Corvette stuff is so much different. The shop that worked on the Vette is not my normal one but have used him in past. I myself need to pull one of the rear wheels off and look at the braking system to become more familiar with them. I did think as I was being told the axle would need to be pulled out some to make this repair it didn't sound right.   

Just got back from talking with the shop owner now I understand a little bit more about the emergency brake set up on the Vettes. The spring was not in between the disk pads and the rotor it was lodged in between the drum and shoes. I looked on line for the parking brake repair kits but would like some suggestions on the best parts and who to get them from. Your suggestions Please. 

I guess since he says he found the spring inside the parking brake then that means he remove removed the rotor all ready.

The Corvette parking brake is basically a drum brake system. If you plan to do this operation yourself, I recommend getting the Corvette factory service manual. Check with Helm and see if they still carry it. If not I'm sure there are plenty places you can find on the internet that do. Either in printed form or on a DVD or downloaded file.

One of the aftermarket companies that specializes in Corvette brakes is called Stainless Steel Brakes I believe.

1973 L-82 4 spd

Shark,  I'm sure all the disk brake pads are new and rotors had been removed at one time or the other. I looked at them all when I had all the ball joints changed had new tires put on and alignment done at the shop I use 98% of the time.  I'm sure I could do it by myself if need be but I won't do it myself if the axles need to be pulled out. That's the other thing that has me confused,  it just doesn't sound like it should be necessary to pull the axles out,  is it ? if I remove the rotor as per the shop and service manuals instructions I should be able to get to all and change out all the parking brake hardware in the drum just like the older cars that only had drum brakes,  Correct ?    

Correct. You just need to remove the caliper and then remove the rotor and replace all of the parking brake hardware. While you're at it, I would suggest that you replace the cable that goes between the two rear wheels for the parking brake because it will get rusted and stick. Then you will be replacing the parking brake shoes again.

1973 L-82 4 spd

Sounds good Thanks.  Looking around on the internet and they seem to have a wide variety of prices on the parking brake hardware kits. I seen prices from $39.95 to $11.00,  I would imagine that's per side. I'm going to do some looking around and I don't think I'm going to get any real high price kits because I don't intend on driving the car myself in the rain or bad weather. I register the Falcon and the Corvette with extended antique plates and can drive them for any reason from the first of April to the end of October.

The parking brake parts should be available from any of the major Corvette parts places (the two I looked at had 'em - Bair's and MidAmericaMotorworks - both sponsors of C3VR).  All of the C3s had basically the same system - drum brakes inside the rear rotors.  The parking brake on my 2001 F-150 has the same type of setup so it is a pretty universal design.

As mentioned above they're pretty easy to work on.  Remove the wheel, remove the caliper, pull the rotor off and have at it.  Good advice given on replacing the cables while you have everything apart - MUCH easier.

Jim Olson 

"The Toys"...!!!  Save the Wave!

Where I've been in a Corvette...!!!

I could not find Stainless Steel Brake Corporation online anymore but I did see that Jegs and Summit Racing both carry Stainless Steel Brake Corporation parts. Not sure what constitutes high price but I think the kit for both sides 30 years ago ran about $50. The crossover cable I believe was about $30. Stainless Steel Brake Corporation was the one that was formed by the guy that actually developed the stainless steel liners for the Corvette calipers to prevent them from pitting from rust and then leaking.

FWIW, I've learned over the years that when you use cheap repair parts, you usually wind up doing that repair again.

1973 L-82 4 spd

  Please use Bairs. They are dedicated to our C3VR. Brian has bent over backwards to accommodate our venue. They KNOW Corvettes. Not just a catalog store. Get the good stuff and do it once. Once and done!

Click on image for full view

I also looked for and was unable to find Stainless Steel Brake on line. I'd like to use stainless parts also,  I'm not going to use the cheapest parts I can find because I totally agree with you on the have to do it again. It sounds and looks like a fair price for a good part would be about 40 to 60 dollars for both sides. I think that Summit was also the place I seen some. Just going to shop around for best price and quality. I'm going to look into the other 2 places mentioned in the other post tomorrow.

I went to Bairs web site and was unable to get any hits on the parts I was looking for when I typed them in his parts locator bars at the top of page. 

Here's Zip's parts:  https://www.zip-corvette.com/68-82-c3/brakes/corvette-park-brake-system/park-brake-packages.html

Here's the How To: http://www.corvettemagazine.com/tech-articles/1967-1982-corvette-parking-brake-rebuild/

There's lots of YouTube videos on it also.

BTW it's not an emergency brake cuz it will not stop a moving car very well.  I tried it once just to see.  😉

1973 L-82 4 spd

Here ya go:  http://www.bairs.com/page71.asp

Then scroll down the page a bit.

Jim Olson 

"The Toys"...!!!  Save the Wave!

Where I've been in a Corvette...!!!

Thanks for all the links you 2 guys posted both places are reasonably priced.   I was just setting here after looking at both of the parts web sites and thinking to myself,  you know when you start messing around with these old cars the next problem is just around the corner.  : ) 

Once the rotor/brake drum is pulled, there is limited room between the EM brake shoes and the axle flange to get to the springs.  That may be the reason he wanted to pull the axle out a bit.

And it is right that this is really a parking brake rather then an emergency brake.  Mine holds better in reverse than forward, which isn't saying much.

Hi Bill,   educate me on this Please,  what does he mean by pulling the axle out a little ? I didn't ask him and now I know I should have. it looks to me as if that had to be done you could take the u joint closets to that wheel loose and that would give you the room you needed.  The reason I ask is in my personal opinion the labor cost for him to do it was high. If it was going to be necessary to pull the axles out for a few more dollars replace all the axles u joints at that time also.

While I do most of the work on my '75, I do take it to my mechanic for some issues.  At the time I did not know what it took to change the EM brake shoes, and since he had it in for something else, I had him do it.  His helper had quite a time getting the shoes back on because of the tight space.  He did not pull the axles but managed to get the hold-down springs in place anyway.

That is about all I know about the issue, but was glad after the fact that I had the mechanic do the job for me.

OK Thanks

As Bill noted space is a little tight but I replaced everything on my '70 without releasing the axles.  The first one takes a bit of time but the second one goes quicker.  Work one side at a time so you have a reference to look at if something doesn't look quite right going back together.

Jim Olson 

"The Toys"...!!!  Save the Wave!

Where I've been in a Corvette...!!!

Thanks,  I'm sure I can do the repairs and O yes I surely was going to only do 1 side at a time so I could use the other side as a reference point. 

The easiest way to get parts from Bair's is to give Brian a phone call.  He can also answer your questions.  ;-)