Emergency Brake Adjustment

Very nice brake.

This might help:

https://www.lokar.com/assets/i...loorMountE-Brake.pdf

It looks like the adjustment is in two places, one Lokar and the other VW:

The Lokar adjustment looks to be done at the clevis at the bottom of the mechanism, but the amount of adjustment there will be limited simply by the shape of the clevis (there isn’t much depth).  Still, it may certainly be enough to get to where you want it to be.

If you need a bit more adjustment, the VW adjustment is done at the rear brake drums.  There are two brake shoes inside of the drum - The rear side shoe is connected to the rear end of the e-brake cable and there is an adjuster at the bottom of the drum’s back plate behind a small rubber plug.  Remove the plug to get access to the star wheel adjuster inside.  The cable pulls on a lever that pushes the rear brake shoe outward against the drum and the amount of movement is adjusted by the star wheel.  It is best to get a Bentley VW service manual for a 1970-ish VW Beetle for detailed step-by-step instructions for this adjustment.

Couple notes of caution:  

1.  It is a lot easier to see what’s going on before you adjust the rear shoes by removing the brake drum or, even better, get a good photo of what’s in there.  Everything inside will then become obvious, especially the fact that the adjuster tightening works inversely to what your intuition might tell you.

2.  The rear adjusters (they are star-wheels on a threaded shaft) frequently get corroded or rusted in place and become un-adjustable until they are removed, cleaned up, lubed with anti-seize or brake grease and re-installed.

Hope this helps!

I recall you have a custom MetalCraft frame/chassis and not a VW bug pan.  On a VW pan the tunnel is much taller and rounded.  There are probably access holes under the carpet.

Thanks for both of your comments and information...looks like I will be doing some "exploratory surgery" on my car. I finally was able to get a new clutch cable installed and adjusted, it's amazing when you do the job right....shifting has never been so smooth, very pleased with the results....

@Larry Scislowicz- I'm guessing you have rear drum brakes- adjust the brakes using the star adjusters per the manual (so your brakes work properly) FIRST, then play with cable length.  With a stock handbrake you should only have to pull it up 3? 4? notches to engage.  The Bentley manual (Super Beetle, Beetle, and Karmann Ghia 1970- 1979, chapter 5, section 9.1) says to raise the handle 2 clicks and adjust cable length so each wheel can just be turned by hand with equal force.

For the procedure to adjust brakes- Chapter 5 section 7.1 and pay attention to this note-                                                                                                                                                  "If the brakes are far out of adjustment, it may be necessary to center the shoes once or twice more during the course of the adjustments"                                            In other words- adjust, go step on the brakes a couple of times, and then adjust again.  When it stops changing (and both shoes are correctly centered in each drum) you're done.  For proper working drum brakes I can't stress this last point ENOUGH!

Of course, if you already know all this, then never mind...  Al