E-brake cable not coming off...RUST

[etxxz]

!!! I went to a junkyard and the cable i took (also 2dr e30) slid off with no problems what-so-ever and hoping i have the same experience in my car, it turns out that its rusted at BOTH ENDS...

i let them both soak on Naval Jelly (rust removal lvl3) and come back an hour later, wipe off and apply some more. I'm on day two and after wasting all of my energy i turn to my trustworthy e30 community for some help...just to give you an idea of the rust situation, i can peel 1"x2" layers of rust from the DIFFERENCIAL!

(current cable broken btw)

i dont want to break anything but if i must i'll get my metal griding tools out and make space for a the "new" cable. This sucks jaja!!

Thanks for your patience, reading and attempting to help, all comments appreciated!

-etxx

[2002maniac]

cut the old one. Pull it out and put the new one in.

[etxxz]

cut the old one. Pull it out and put the new one in.

if only it was that easy...

after a day of failed hammering and pulling i decided to go crazy and do some cutting with the dremel and then finishing the hole with a drill and some cool metal bits i have...

~3hours:





gotta say that the breaking sys of the e30 is a pain in the lower intestinal track!! hard to access caliper bolts, not to mention how difficult it was to reasemble the brake shoe components :curse:

lets hope it all works i have yet to drive it.


...can anyone tell me if the installation of the brake shoes is really this difficult or was i just fighting around with them springs like an idiot

[2002maniac]

...can anyone tell me if the installation of the brake shoes is really this difficult or was i just fighting around with them springs like an idiot

It goes together pretty smoothely if you can get it all aligned properly. Otherwise it is a huge bitch

[Axxe]

It goes together pretty smoothely if you can get it all aligned properly. Otherwise it is a huge bitch

45* needle nose vise grips FTW


My car's ebrake was stuck like that, I just stuck a punch in from the outside, put in on the lip, and wacked it a few time, popped right out.

[etxxz]

45* needle nose vise grips FTW


My car's ebrake was stuck like that, I just stuck a punch in from the outside, put in on the lip, and wacked it a few time, popped right out.

jaja i bought that tool this afternoon just for the job but i ended up using a wire-hanger to pull the spring and it worked better

lets see, what methods do you use to mount the shoe components?
first thing i did was putting the retaining screws w/ spring to hold the shoes, then align them with the e-brake cable pulling part, put the spring for the top, i then spent an hour+ pulling the damn bottom spring into place and another hour with the adjusting thing on the top and mounting the rotor!!

i still can't believe the pain involved with it jaja...already drove and tuned the e-brake so watever i did works
Total labor time to change e-brake cable: 9~10hours

:shock:

[Axxe]

Put the top adjuster in first, then play with the bottom. Saves you a lot of time that way.

[bmwsmurf]

Had the same problem on my 325is, center punch + hammer got it out. What a pita.