On 25 Oct 2006 12:44:15 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:


The one that frightened me was the A30/A35 (both, I believe).
Effectively only ONE braking system, there being common components
between the handbrake and footbrake systems. I knew a girl who had one,
and she suffered a total brake failure.

I had one in 1967. The vehicle had a mixture of Lockheed (Hydraulic)
and Girling (rods and cables) brakes.

The front brakes were hydraulic (drums, 2 leading shoes).

The rear brakes were operated by a single hydraulic cylinder behind
the drivers seat connected by a single cable to a bellcrank on the
rear axle casing which operated the two rear drums (1 leading shoe per
drum), via rods. The whole sorry lot rusted up quite frequently.

The handbrake lever was connected by a rod to the piston of the single
hydraulic cyinder for the rear brakes. The handbrake lever itself was
mounted under the floor in a die cast aluminium pillar block on the
driver's right hand side by the door. This crumbled away. Exposure to
salt/dissimilar metals, whatever I couldn't get a replacement to last
more than 15 months despite painting it, undersealing it, & greasing
it. The original had lasted 7 years !

I can't think of any condition of single component failure that could
result in sudden catastrophic loss of all braking, but I'm pretty sure
that the rear brakes could be seized solid with rust without the
driver noticing other than a poor handbrake, which never had been very
good. Then If the bore in the master cylinder developed a rusty patch
this could damage the rubber seal resulting in the hydraulic system
quickly becoming U/S.

The rods, BTW, were a swine to adjust especially since my vehicle had
had a chassis repair which (thinking in retrospect) must have moved
the rear axle forward by 1 - 2 cms. since all the adjustment was taken
up and even after replacing a supposedly stretched cable still more
adjustment was required. :-(

There's one on ebay, 575 quid if anyone wants one. ;-)

DG