backing plate ebrake cable guide fixes

H

hueyhoolihan

Well-known member
anyone have an idea as how to go about fixing a worn out rear e-brake cable guide? it's the metal tube that passes through the rear brake backing plate. it's been cut through by the cable at one point in time and although i've got a new cable in there, i know it will fray in no time unless i can fix the tube.

can't find a replacement tube, if there is such a thing. only backing plates are used ones in poor condition on ebay. no reproductions that i can see. unless these would work...

https://cgfordparts.com/rear-backin...9-48-merc-35-47-pu-12-bendix-x-2-48-2213.html

i was thinking maybe soldering in liner or better yet, having someone weld in a new tube of similar dimensions. i'm hoping this is a common problem and people have found a work-a-round for it.

off the wall suggestions welcome. :)
 
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hueyhoolihan said:
anyone have an idea as how to go about fixing a worn out rear e-brake cable guide? it's the metal tube that passes through the rear brake backing plate. it's been cut through by the cable at one point in time and although i've got a new cable in there, i know it will fray in no time unless i can fix the tube.

can't find a replacement tube, if there is such a thing. only backing plates are used ones in poor condition on ebay. no reproductions that i can see. unless these would work...

https://cgfordparts.com/rear-backin...9-48-merc-35-47-pu-12-bendix-x-2-48-2213.html

i was thinking maybe soldering in liner or better yet, having someone weld in a new tube of similar dimensions. i'm hoping this is a common problem and people have found a work-a-round for it.

off the wall suggestions welcome. :)
Click to expand...
McMaster-Carr sells the thin wall tubing in 3' lengths. You'll have to measure yours as I no longer recall the exact dimensions. Seems to me 1/2" OD. It's very reasonable and they ship in one day.
You can drill out the old guide and remove the two tack welds. Then, put the very small curve into the new tubing after you put a flare on one end. Insert through backing plate, tack weld and you're done.
I have done many of these.
 
I use hydraulic tubing out of the dumpster at hydraulic joints or the local tractor and equipment dealer.
 
Easy fix. .065 wall tubing flare it with a tapered punch cut to length and weld in. Basic fab work.
 
Kube said:
McMaster-Carr sells the thin wall tubing in 3' lengths. You'll have to measure yours as I no longer recall the exact dimensions. Seems to me 1/2" OD. It's very reasonable and they ship in one day.
You can drill out the old guide and remove the two tack welds. Then, put the very small curve into the new tubing after you put a flare on one end. Insert through backing plate, tack weld and you're done.
I have done many of these.
Click to expand...

thanks,

ya, it's beginning to look like i'm going to have to go back in and remove the left backing plate. hope it won't require me to bleed the brakes. i'm a one-man show here and don't want to have to buy a bunch of brake bleeding paraphernalia that i might not live long enough to ever use again. :)

boy! these old cars can really get butchered over the years...smh. the left rear woodruff key was put in backwards such that the end did not present a square surface for the washer to sit up against. so they left it off! then stripped the nut trying to tighten everything up. not to mention that one of the handbrake levers inside the hub was not properly fixed over its pivot pinion, making the whole mechanism completely useless.

of course the cable as it entered the backside of the backing plate on the other side with its rotted out cable routing tube was frayed to distraction and had a shim on the axle that had been turning with the hub and was in several pieces.

maybe it was a good thing that the car wasn't running when i bought it, i might have been tempted, considering how good it looked, to assume everything was in fine shape, and take a long trip and get stuck out in the middle of Area 51 somewhere.
 
KiWinUS said:
Easy fix. .065 wall tubing flare it with a tapered punch cut to length and weld in. Basic fab work.
Click to expand...

i agree, as was mentioned previously, but unfortunately i'm working in a 10x20 "Public Storage" unit with 2.5 ft on each side. but maybe when i go back in there and remove the plate, i'll think differently about making my own.

it's just that i don't really enjoy fiddling around making small stuff. i know i'll end up, after hours of research and waiting for a week for it to show up, it won't be right, then when i finally get the right stuff, i'll crack it when attempting the flare, have to start all over again and then i'll burn through it when attempting to fix it to the backing plate. each failed episode costing me a week of delay...i'm not that young!

ya, you laugh, but i KNOW it will happen! :)
 
thanks guys...

i ended up buying a used left rear backing plate on ebay. some moderate rust but the handbrake tube is fully intact. i'll probably throw some primer and gloss black on it and call it good. hopefully it will stay intact until i'm long gone. :)

like i said, i'm praying for an installation that doesn't cause me to introduce air into the brake lines, forcing me to open up yet another can o' worms.
 
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One man' bleeding can be accomplished with a vaccum bleed tool. Been doing that for years. Newc
 
Or, in the aternative, there are always Speed-Bleeders.

Seriously, you should check them out.
 
I saw you already ordered a used plate; but E-brake tubes are easy; don't sell yourself short on what you can do.
 
Yep, easy to fabricate. Bent and flared 1/2" hyd tube with a flattened lock washer brazed on as the boot stop. Made quite a few of them over the years.
 

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update:

spent four hours removing backing plate today. a lot more to it than i anticipated, as usual. :(

found a few more items that will delay things further.

tapered end of axle with the threads is in pretty bad shape, so are the threads. complicating matters were a couple of "made for purpose", probably aftermarket shims that were originally designed, i think, to sit over the tapered end of the axle, but had deteriorated to the point where they had slid further inboard and UNDER the bearing housing! it took me the better part of an hour to fish them out. (see remnants in pic below)

another mystery may have been solved too. for the other day when removing the right rear brake drum, i noticed that one of the two handbrake levers that pivot on a common pin was not on the pin. and it struck me as odd, in that there was nothing there to actually keep it in position... i set it back on and didn't think too much about it until today when working on the other side. it appears that one of the handbrake levers, the one that actually anchors the end of the handbrake cable, may be on the wrong side! as it's part number (see pic) ends with a "RH", and it's on the LEFT side of the car! if so, explains how and why the one on the right side had come loose.

there's an additional pic below of the butchered cable guide that forced me to open this can of worms.

BTW, i'm contemplating an axle or two replacement. but if i'm not mistaken getting the axles out involves opening up the diff. and wouldn't be looking forward to that at all.

pic 1: the lever that's on the wrong side of the car. in the pic it's on the right. and the lever that had fallen off the pin is at the top. it may also be on the wrong side of the other pin.
pic 2: closeup of part#. note last two letters are "RH".
pic 3: deteriorated shims found up behind tapered end of axle. they were shedding shards of metal too.
pic 4: mutilated cable guide. it's what forced me to do this.
 

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I fit speed bleeders to my 41, made brake bleeding easy.

Especially since I could do it alone, and not under my wife’s supervision.;)
 
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hueyhoolihan said:
update:

spent four hours removing backing plate today. a lot more to it than i anticipated, as usual. :(

found a few more items that will delay things further.

tapered end of axle with the threads is in pretty bad shape, so are the threads. complicating matters were a couple of "made for purpose", probably aftermarket shims that were originally designed, i think, to sit over the tapered end of the axle, but had deteriorated to the point where they had slid further inboard and UNDER the bearing housing! it took me the better part of an hour to fish them out. (see remnants in pic below)

another mystery may have been solved too. for the other day when removing the right rear brake drum, i noticed that one of the two handbrake levers that pivot on a common pin was not on the pin. and it struck me as odd, in that there was nothing there to actually keep it in position... i set it back on and didn't think too much about it until today when working on the other side. it appears that one of the handbrake levers, the one that actually anchors the end of the handbrake cable, may be on the wrong side! as it's part number (see pic) ends with a "RH", and it's on the LEFT side of the car! if so, explains how and why the one on the right side had come loose.

there's an additional pic below of the butchered cable guide that forced me to open this can of worms.

BTW, i'm contemplating an axle or two replacement. but if i'm not mistaken getting the axles out involves opening up the diff. and wouldn't be looking forward to that at all.

pic 1: the lever that's on the wrong side of the car. in the pic it's on the right. and the lever that had fallen off the pin is at the top. it may also be on the wrong side of the other pin.
pic 2: closeup of part#. note last two letters are "RH".
pic 3: deteriorated shims found up behind tapered end of axle. they were shedding shards of metal too.
pic 4: mutilated cable guide. it's what forced me to do this.
Click to expand...

Wow ! I suggest you dont worry about your backing plate improper assembly and start looking for a complete 41 ford rear end . Much easier and cheaper although it is a one year only . I’ve got 3 extra but on the other side of the country .
And yes your backing plate is completely wrong !
Your axles are toast , no way to repair . Pull the rear , start looking for a good complete rear or parts car . Not kidding. If this much is screwed up , what else ? Drivshaft bearing , front u joint , trans , clutch or even trans ?
Having a great running , reliable car is more important and impressive than a pretty piece of yard art .
Just saying …
 
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Ggmac said:
Wow ! I suggest you dont worry about your backing plate improper assembly and start looking for a complete 41 ford rear end . Much easier and cheaper although it is a one year only . I’ve got 3 extra but on the other side of the country .
And yes your backing plate is completely wrong ! Glad your car looks good .
Click to expand...

a completely new-to-me rear-end may be in my future as it looks like i need it, but not right now. anyway... it's good to hear that my thoughts WRT to the car having an improper rebuild of the handbrake levers was not off the mark.

i had hoped to get the entire left side brake assembly fixed and back on the car before revisiting the right side, but i just realized that some of the parts to fix the left are currently on the right!! so it'll have to come apart once again, and probably to a much greater extent, before i can finish up the left. smh.

good lord, what a fiasco!
 
Here's what it should look like assembled. Left side is at bottom of photo.
 

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