Well holy hell

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Things you won't find in the maintenance manual.

Over the last covid year I took the time to rebuild the Fox clutch and accelerator hydraulic cylinders. It had been ten years since last done so good preventive maintenance. It's a dirty job that involves removing the 200 pound armoured toe board tub along with the fairings, dash, driver's seat, steering wheel, speedo cable, choke, throttle and...here's the point of my rant...the parking brake.

All came apart, the 200 pound monster lowered to the ground and appropriate repairs and installation of cylinders completed. The 200 pound monster was re-installed taking extra care not to pinch any of the many tubes, hoses and other obstructions it wanted to snag on. Then installing the 28 half inch round head tapered screws, nuts and lock washers, many of which are 'somewhat' hard to reach and it's by touch only. Plus the fairings, dash, driver's seat, steering wheel, speedo cable, choke, throttle, oh and that parking brake.

Fast forward to yesterday and for the first time (why would I check??? It came off and went back on exactly as it was supposed to???) I noticed the parking brake handle would only go about half way then ground (on something deep in the bowls) to a stop. Shi-eet. Reaching into the bowls (where no human eye can go) I feel the end of the brake shaft riding on a ledge of that 200 pound monster tub. But....but...it didn't do that before!!!! What's changed, and like a kick in the gut...I have this horrible feeling I will have to undo everything and take that damned tub off again. Knowing that if I threw a heavy wrench at the wall I'd feel better but lose the wrench, instead I went inside to ponder the situation.

Why? What changed?

Then I figured it out. The Fox hull is fastened to the frame with a number of rubber mounts, all but two of which are Ford engine rubber hockey puck mounts. What had happened is that they had compressed over time under the weight of the hull and reduced the space for the parking brake shaft by just enough for it to bind on the tub armour.

Luckily there is a fix by adjusting the hex nuts on the shafts that hold the back to back motor mounts (we're talking a small amount) because otherwise it would require the whole mess be taken apart and the tub ground at the binding point. I curse GM for not anticipating this problem 75 years after the fact and had provided a little bit more clearance. It's not like they didn't have an extra 1/8" of space to deal with.