Ooh 700th post!
Regular readers will know that the Stylus' handbrake has always been pants. There were many reasons for this, a pulley made of soft plastic, attached by a poorly supported screw made from cheese, a cable stop bracket badly attached to thin sheet metal that moved when the brake was applied, a balance bar that was far too short & handbrake levers on the calipers that were very stiff from lack of use.
It was the last of those that contributed to the final fault (possibly the final fault). When soaking the levers in WD40 & working them up & down to free them up I hadn't realised (not having had a hobby car with rear discs before) that I was adjusting the self-adjusters out - it didn't show up because the pistons were moving in each time the adjuster moved out.
I noticed yesterday that when I pulled on the handbrake, the nearside caliper lever went right to it's travel stop before the brake came on. Taking off the caliper & putting in a vice, I realised what had happened, wound both pistons fully in, pumped the foot brake to get the pads against the discs & Bob's your uncle, five clicks of handbrake & the hubs are rigid. I need to bleed the brakes through before I can road test it, but in feels better than it ever has before.
This news will come as a great comfort to anyone who stops behind me on a hill.
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