I’m back with another problem! I pulled a frozen parking brake of the 280Zx today. The only way I could get the cable of the left side was to take the parking brake lever off at the rotor (only on the left driver’s side). The other side was a snap. The adjusting cam that it sits on turned when it was removed. To get the arm back on I had to grind a wrench thin enough to hold the cam in place while I tightened the lever back down. The lever does not have the travel that it did before I removed it, from maybe ¾ of an inch or so down to 3/8 or so. The brake piston is also dragging on the rotor now (that’s the real problem). Is it possible to remove or adjust the cam without disassembling the caliper? No rebuild kits were available today and I don’t want to tear it down without having one handy! I have a new cable coming tomorrow but will need to fix the caliper first. If anybody has had to deal with one of these advice is always appreciated
Thanks. (what can I say, this is a first working on a Datsun!)

 

problem solved

 

I have the same problem brake broke and the the right rear caliper needes to be rebulit would did you do.

 

What year is your Z? The 79-81's and 82-83's had different setups. There are no more rebuild kits for the 79-81's... I dunno about the 82-83's. Easiest thing to do is get one from a junk yard.

 

Mine (my wifes if I'm truthful) is a 1982 zx. No, there doesn't seem to be any rebuild kits that are worth buying, I found one in CA, with cost plus shipping it would not have been worth the trouble.I was lucky, the brake line was replaced with a brand new one ($58.00 at Advance Auto parts). All the problems came from trying to salvage the old one, I would have never had to remove the arm if any play had been in the old cable. I should have just cut and trashed it to begin with! I pulled the caliper off and backed the piston back into the cylinder, reinstalled and bled the brakes. This was enough to fix the problem, it even helped on another, there was a small amount of engine lag in first and second gear, apparently the parking brake was sticking when we bought the car a couple of weeks ago. Not enough to show drag or even wear on the pads, just enough to create lag and then let go. The free factory manual at,
http://carfiche.com/manuals022/cars/ really helped out a lot.

 

Nismo, you're probably right about the junk yard, unfortunately most of the 28zx's around here have been picked over pretty well, Advance does sell a rear caliper for about $74.00 online or in store. That may be a better deal than the wasp stings I got browsing the local yard a week ago! When I got back to the office I was told to watch out for the brown Z, that sucker had a hell of a nest in it! ...........Better late...............

 

^^^ Have you checked www.car-parts.com ?

 

wow, that sucks guys.
Maybe do a 5-lug swap with 87-89 Z rear brakes. Those rebuild kits should be around for at least a couple more years