Brakes 1975 Cj5 E-Brake Removal From Backing Plate Tips

[curly]

Hey fellow Jeepers,

I have a 1975 CJ5 that I ended up inheriting, it's in good shape overall from what I can tell: Decent Tub, Decent Frame. But a lot of the parts are fairly old. For example, the tires are from 2008, the hoses are very old, there's very old dirt living all along the under body that was probably not washed after going mudding.

My current project is doing a brake restore, since I noticed brake fluid has been disappearing from the Master Cylinder. I ordered new drums + Shoes, new MC, new hardware, and new e-brake cables. I don't mind sharing the part numbers if someone wants to know what all I got.

So far, it's going good, I have removed the hardware on my RR wheel, and removed the shoes. I started working on removing the e-brake cable, such as removing the cotter pin from the equalizer, then unbolting the very difficult to get to bolt that's located on the gas tank mount. However, I cannot, for the life of me, get the e-brake cable removed from the backing plate. I have tried using a box wrench to wrap around the spring clips, and using vise grips to hold it down as I take pliers on the other side to try to pull it through. No luck. I'd rather not saw it off if I don't have to, and I'm fairly Limited in tools. Also, be forewarned, I'm a very big novice when it comes to mechanics, I've been learning just on various stuff on the jeep, but still don't think I'd say I'm good at anything!

Was wondering if anyone had any tips for removing this E-Brake Cable? And as another question, the under-body is so gunked up that I was hoping to do a little bit of spring cleaning while under the body around the holding brackets and equalizers to clean it up a bit, not sure if anyone had any tips for that as well.

I have attached screenshots of the 'gunk' and the e-brake cable line with my sorry attempt at removing the spring clips.

 

[Black Thumb]

Hit it with PB Blaster or Kroil and let it soak in for a while then try again. If that doesn't work go to heat. If that doesn't work go brute force till it breaks. Cut only as a last resort, and then use something tiny, like a Dremel with little cutoff wheel.

For the underbody I have a powerful pressure washer, but it has a big wand which made is almost useless for getting under the Jeep in the driveway. I found this on the Bezos-Chinese-Emporium.

Amazon.com

Nice short handle, so I can use the creeper to get low on the side (or all the way under) and blast the whole underbody (you may want to put the plugs in the drains if your tub is nice because dirt will shoot out of them and get everywhere). Blast everything (you're not going to hurt anything), hit everything with a spray bottle of degreaser, let it soak in and do it's thing, and then blast again. Wear some sealed safety glasses though, and unless you want to get filthy it's best to go full Walter White with a Tyvek coverall and hood. I certainly don't do it all the time, but if I know I'm going to be working under the car soon I give it this deep clean. Makes for a nicer work environment.

 

[Belizean]

2 people working together makes getting that ebrake cable off easier. Even then it’s fun

 

[curly]

Hit it with PB Blaster or Kroil and let it soak in for a while then try again. If that doesn't work go to heat. If that doesn't work go brute force till it breaks. Cut only as a last resort, and then use something tiny, like a Dremel with little cutoff wheel.

For the underbody I have a powerful pressure washer, but it has a big wand which made is almost useless for getting under the Jeep in the driveway. I found this on the Bezos-Chinese-Emporium.

Amazon.com

Nice short handle, so I can use the creeper to get low on the side (or all the way under) and blast the whole underbody (you may want to put the plugs in the drains if your tub is nice because dirt will shoot out of them and get everywhere). Blast everything (you're not going to hurt anything), hit everything with a spray bottle of degreaser, let it soak in and do it's thing, and then blast again. Wear some sealed safety glasses though, and unless you want to get filthy it's best to go full Walter White with a Tyvek coverall and hood. I certainly don't do it all the time, but if I know I'm going to be working under the car soon I give it this deep clean. Makes for a nicer work environment.

For the heat, I'm assuming I can try to use one of these hand butane torches. Do I need to be concerned with heat around the backing plate?

I'll try to clean out from under, but will need to borrow a pressure washer from a buddy then. Probably an obvious question, but do I need to be worried about spraying over or around the Transmission ?

 

[curly]

2 people working together makes getting that ebrake cable off easier. Even then it’s fun

I will give that a shot, definitely would help having an extra set of hands as you can imagine with the vise grips. I'll see if adding a little heat doesn't work, but if not, I'll be conscripting some help!