THANKS TO AES York 01904 780149 autoelectricsyork.co.uk
"T he handbrake has suddenly stopped working,” warns Editor Martyn as he hands me the key fob to my latest project vehicle for CM. Fortunately, CM’s Steve Rothwell has been here before and suggested I check and adjust the handbrake shoes, which was the first job for this month’s instalment, and was completed on my driveway. Sure enough, the handbrake shoes needed adjusting, which isn’t a particularly difficult job, providing you can find the adjuster.
So, I felt a sense of achievement when I had the handbrake working and set off to AES near York to borrow a ramp to check the front brakes. I was glad to be at AES because the first embarrassing hurdle involved extracting the caps that protect the wheel bolts. The caps on the rear wheel bolts had been a little fiddly to remove, but I’d managed with a couple of picks. The front ones were more recessed, so there was no space for the picks.
Luckily, mechanic Pete at AES had a useful extractor tool that was slim enough help.
Whilst the plastic caps didn’t get the better of me, the tightness of the front wheel bolts did. Even my breaker bar couldn’t crack
