In the rear brake assembly, is the "elbow" part of the handbrake lever part inside the drum supposed to hinge or move on itself? It's two joined pieces of flat metal with what looks like a pin. It's locked solid although the handbrake does move the arm OK, I wondered whether it's supposed to hinge at that joint (inside the brake drum) or it was just made out of two pieces of metal meant to be a fixed L shape?

This part is supposed to pivot, seizure is the most common cause of poor handbrake efficiency on a Panda. Best to get it in a vice and work it free with some WD40.

work it free with some WD40

Vernon, hope I'm not telling you something you already know, but I've discovered something better than WD40 ... diesel. It works a treat on stuck or rusted stuff. Failing that Plus Gas. WD40 is great at displacing water (WD40 stands for Water Displacement 40th Formula) and does lube to some extent but I found Plus Gas and/or diesel a better option for freeing stuff up. Will strip the brake assemblies and get those swivels moving again! Thanks for your help.

Thanks for the info Colin, I didn't know about diesel's other use, will give it a try.

I said WD40 because it's a common brand, like T cut. I don't actually use either, Bilt Hamber's ferrosol is my choice. There that's two Bilt Hamber products I've recommended in two days, I'll have to buy shares .

Vern as a Guru and as most of us have rusty Pandas, only the lucky few have minters.
Which of the Bilt Hamber products would you use after rust removal and in what orde
Daver

pandamaniac said:

Vern as a Guru and as most of us have rusty Pandas, only the lucky few have minters.
Which of the Bilt Hamber products would you use after rust removal and in what orde
Daver

Click to expand...

Guru?

Hydrate 80 is a great first coat for slightly rusted or clean steel, then you can overpaint it with whatever paint you like.

Thier cavity wax is supposed to out perform waxoil so you could use this too, it's called Dynax.

They also do a couple of primers, etchweld & Highbuild, I guess these could be used instead of Hydrate 80 on larger areas of clean steel, but if there is surface rust Hydrate 80 will put up a barrier to stop it coming through.

They're not in to top coats so you will have to go elsewhere for those.

Have a look at their web sight it explains what each product can do, and they're not in to false claims either.......

http://www.bilthamber.com

Hope that helps Dave.

P.S. I'm just working on some bumper brackets from Gavin's Panda project, I'll start a thread to cover all the stages they go through, may be a good way of explaining it.