hand brake cable broke, OK to still drive?

Yeah. In general, the broken cable won't foul anything.

Go ahead and order parts. I would replace the 35 year-old wheel cyls and the rubber brake hoses (rear at least) too.

Your biggest obstacle will be the 36mm axle nuts. They are torqued at a minimum of 250 Ft-Lbs! You won't get them off with a 1/2" drive breaker bar. There are various specialty torque multipliers out there, or get a 3/4" drive socket and a 4 foot long cheater bar.

See:

helpful articles. Speedy Jim

Yes and no.

It should still hold the rear wheel on one side.

Get it fixed as soon as you can.

Here are some links you might want to view:

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TORQUE TOOL FLYWHEEL & DRUM PLATE

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BUG-ME DVD VERSION - VOL-4 BRAKE MAINTENANCE

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It is not a Super Beetle right?

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Aircooled Vw Bleeder 0104

Works on most Air Cooled VWs, including Bugs, Buses, and Square Backs and Fast Backs.=A0 This kit includes adapter 1104.=A0All bleeders come with a full 1 year warranty.=A0=A0 Appplication notes:

1104 - 27mm=A0 -- bug after 1963, bus after 1967

Note: I use this power bleeder since I do nearly everything by myself.

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Yes you can drive it. When you park it, you have to leave it in gear so it doesn't roll.

Hand brake may not work. Balance beam on handbrake handle ( under the boot) will let other side slack right off. I,ve got this 6 foot length of gas pipe and still a good tug needed. John

What balance beam?

Between the two cables.

J.

Ah, gotcha :) DAMN it's been too long.

the older ones had fixed points on the handle where the adjustment was made. It pulled each cable independently but made equal adjustment difficult hence the "balance" plate. Nice thing is that you could up-date the thing. and , everyone knows not to let the adjustment get too far out. Pull the handle too high and it all falls apart. BTW. I just up-graded my Lever with a foam grip from a bicycle handle bar grip set. very nice! good luck. g.

I had no e-brake in my 66 bug for years. Just carried a pair of chocks under the hood in case I had to park on a hill.

an old trick I had with those, If when pulling the e-brake on quickly the car rocks side-wises , it means one side is tighter than the other. that's why the improved it with the rocker plate under the adjustment nuts. thought you might like to know.

Sure... you can drive it without a working parking brake... *ominous music* I used to do that... *louder ominous music*

Sure... you can drive it without a working parking brake... *ominous music* I used to do that... *louder ominous music*

..........

what made you realize it isn't the best idea? LOL

As it turned out, I have very little braking power now. A neighbor explained that the shoes may have fallen in, away from the drum, and now there is too much travel in the brake system to cause the shoes to apply any considerable pressure to the drums, front or back. There just isn't enough travel in the entire system. Of course I found that out a couple miles from home and noticed that the brakes didn't really do any stopping, just slowing. Got home and parked it as soon as I could. And planned ahead for stops, traffic, etc. Kinda scary. Got the tools now to crack of the big nuts and we'll see what we find. Thanks for the help...

That could happen if the rear drums were adjusted wrong. You are supposed to release the handbrake cables first, then adjust the shoes. If you don't release the handbrake first, the adjustment will be false as the handbrake is keeping the shoes closer to the drums than what they really would be. Therefore a broken handbrake cable will let the shoe go back to fully seated, and further away from the drum.

Just try readjusting the drums first, see if that helps. Set the shoes so you can just hear them slightly scrape and drag as you turn the drum.

Yep start at the beginning. Check for hydraulic leaks while you are in there. Clean off the wheel brake cylinders, pull back the boots and look for leaks. (Some use a garden hose and flush off debris in a bucket) Check adjusters to see if they are correctly oriented and easy to adjust. Check the thickness of the shoes' rubbing material and make sure the handbrake levers on the shoes are moving freely. Replace the handbrake cables. Reinstall the drums and adjust the shoes tight and check the brake pedal. It should be very high and now you can adjust the shoes like Jan said. ;-) Oh make sure you have some freeplay in the Brake Master Pushrod too!

Have fun safely driving the Beetle again!

JMHO

in fact, that could be *why* the handbrake cable broke...

to add to Jan's post, the handbrake should be released *and the cables slightly slack* (de-adjust if necessary) before adjusting the brake shoes. Then when done, readjust parking brake as necessary, but the cables should be ever so slightly slack when the parking brake is fully released when you're all done. If you do it right, this won't be necessary in the future...

nate

That's what I said :)

I know, I was just clarifying. someone might have interpreted that if the lever is released all the way that that's good enough.

nate