30-07-2020, 09:31 PM
Hi
The blanking plug is normal. Just take it out, substitute a nipple and swap back when you are done.
If your wheels spin OK, that suggests the brakes aren't binding. A very light drag is acceptable. The cable run should be such that rear suspension movement hardly alters the cable length, but it's always possible that the run is non standard. As others have implied, jack the car under the rear axle so that the weight is still on the rear springs and conditions are as close as possible to the on road state.
Prior to Semi Girling, brake adjustment is done on the cables themselves. There is no front/rear compensation, and in my experience, the front/rear brake balance can be altered quite a bit for only a few turns adjustment of the nut on the front cable yoke near the cross shaft. So maybe you have too much rearward bias. One method of checking is to find a gravel surface with no traffic, brake hard, and compare the front and rear skid marks. The best method is to check on a rolling road brake tester if you can find an older testing station with one that is narrow enough. Some folks don't like the idea of roller testing an A7, but I have had it done many times with no problem. Ideally you are looking for at least 70 kg per wheel when you stand on the pedal.
The front brakes should balance reasonably well side to side due to the pivoting quadrant, which (in theory at least) equalises the cable tension between the two sides. The rear brake balance side to side can be problematic for A7s of that era, due to the vagaries of the cross shaft design. Most people aim for best balance at near full braking, and accept that balance will not be perfect for lighter applications. Again, balance is quite sensitive to rear cable length so I suggest changing it in only 1 or 2 mm steps.
I once resorted to putting the car on axle stands both front and rear, and using a bottle jack and wooden blocks to apply pressure to the brake pedal. It was possible to feel the turning resistance of each wheel increase as the brakes were progressively applied. Unfortunately, there was no way I could summon up by hand anything like the 150 ft-lb torque at the wheel needed to simulate full braking, so it was only a basic guide to balance at light application.
The blanking plug is normal. Just take it out, substitute a nipple and swap back when you are done.
If your wheels spin OK, that suggests the brakes aren't binding. A very light drag is acceptable. The cable run should be such that rear suspension movement hardly alters the cable length, but it's always possible that the run is non standard. As others have implied, jack the car under the rear axle so that the weight is still on the rear springs and conditions are as close as possible to the on road state.
Prior to Semi Girling, brake adjustment is done on the cables themselves. There is no front/rear compensation, and in my experience, the front/rear brake balance can be altered quite a bit for only a few turns adjustment of the nut on the front cable yoke near the cross shaft. So maybe you have too much rearward bias. One method of checking is to find a gravel surface with no traffic, brake hard, and compare the front and rear skid marks. The best method is to check on a rolling road brake tester if you can find an older testing station with one that is narrow enough. Some folks don't like the idea of roller testing an A7, but I have had it done many times with no problem. Ideally you are looking for at least 70 kg per wheel when you stand on the pedal.
The front brakes should balance reasonably well side to side due to the pivoting quadrant, which (in theory at least) equalises the cable tension between the two sides. The rear brake balance side to side can be problematic for A7s of that era, due to the vagaries of the cross shaft design. Most people aim for best balance at near full braking, and accept that balance will not be perfect for lighter applications. Again, balance is quite sensitive to rear cable length so I suggest changing it in only 1 or 2 mm steps.
I once resorted to putting the car on axle stands both front and rear, and using a bottle jack and wooden blocks to apply pressure to the brake pedal. It was possible to feel the turning resistance of each wheel increase as the brakes were progressively applied. Unfortunately, there was no way I could summon up by hand anything like the 150 ft-lb torque at the wheel needed to simulate full braking, so it was only a basic guide to balance at light application.