[COLVERT]

The hand brake even when all the mechanical parts are installed correctly and are in good condition can operate poorly.

In normal use the hand brake is only applied when the car is stationary.
It doesn't take long for a film of rust to form on the inside of the drum.
This in conjunction with shoes that have not been bedded into the drum will give poor performance when the brake is applied.

To bring the brake up to optimum performance first the shoes HAVE to be bedded in. This is something that is achieved over, maybe, a week or two.

The idea is to apply the hand brake, gently, over a couple of hundred yards, at a slow speed. Very soon it will become apparent that the brake efficiency is improving.

Doing this on my own car has now made it possible to actually lock the back wheels even when driving at 10 mph or so.

Once this has been achieved it's only necessary to polish up the drums, maybe, once a month or so to keep them in good, effective, condition.

Without this initial bedding in the hand brake will NEVER reach its best performance.----

Try it. You will be very happy with the results you can achieve .----