Brake Woes

I have a Silver Eagle SF Tourer and with, ongoing issues with the brakes.  Specifically, the nearside front brake locks up and won't release.    The Story: The car was going in to a specialist to have a couple of other minor jobs sorted out.  As I am quite new to this (though technically competent) and discovered the problem a while back.  There is quite a tight LH turn to get out of my garage and it was in the turn that the NS wheel locked.  Centring the wheel and working the brake again did not free it up - neither did attempting to 'rock' the car back and forth.  The specialist could not adjust the brakes either and identified an issue with the brake cables.  These were replaced, the brakes set up on a brake tester and the car road tested OK.  The car was delivered back after a couple of months away...  This morning, being nice and sunny, I wanted to go for a drive.  Pulled out of my garage ...and the NSF brake locked up.  The car is now on my drive with the wheel and brake drum off so I can free the wheel to get the car back indoors.  Having gritted my teeth to leave it to a specialist with the associated costs, you can imagine that I am a title hacked off.    What Next: 1. I have contacted the specialist to see what they suggest. 2. Does anyone have experience of this issue and how (if?) I can fix it? 3. Is there a "brakes guru" I could get to sort the problem?  As it stands, the car is pretty much unusable as I can hardly whip the wheel and drum off every time I have to take a sharp corner. Posted by nicksmrvil 20/01/2019 11:36:18

Greetings Nick,  Welcome to the Bulletin Board.  I would start by making contact with the model secretary and the technical adviser, Nick Simpson. The Nov/Dec Bulletin has the details on Pages 5 and 6.   Hope this helps.   Richard Melbourne Posted by RichardWallach 20/01/2019 21:10:16

Is the exit from your garage flat?  Is chassis flex and excessive float on the brake cross shaft causing the brake to pull on?  Just a thought. Posted by Angus D'Arcy-Drake 22/01/2019 16:55:59

My memory of the Silver Eagle braking arrangements is vague, I sold mine a long time ago but here are a few observations. Mechanical brakes, especially cable operated, are prone to maladies which sometimes originate a long way from the offending brake. Check the tightness of the axle securing bolts and make sure the axle is not moving to and fro as a result of worn spring location pips (or bolts) running in elongated holes in the axle or mounting plates. Worn pins, bushes or shackles can also cause erratic braking. Check for broken spring leaves (often concealed by rust and muck) or settled springs. The front brake cables run in flexible conduits to allow the wheels to steer and the length of these is usually adjustable at the after end. This adjustment is fairly critical. My apologies of this is stating the obvious. Posted by DeaneHarding 23/01/2019 15:48:14

While on the subject.... My '25 SC12/50, with original FWB, has an ongoing squeal from the front right. The drum has been very lightly skimmed and is round. I've dismantled several times, cleaned, lubed as appropriate, lightly sanded the plentiful linings and re-assembled.  All is quiet for a few miles and some braking, and then the squeal returns.  It sounds like metal on metal, but isn't. Braking is very good and unaffected, it's just that screeching squeal which is very annoying. Ideas? Posted by johnlayzell 24/01/2019 16:39:08