broken brake line? please help!

Maintenance advice to keep your Spider in shape.
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theOshow

broken brake line? please help!

Post by theOshow »

I just bought a '79 spider this weekend. It test drove great so I took it out for a 50 mile spin after trailer-ing it home and found it had a slight pull to the left when breaking. I started to investigate and found a broken wire (see picture). Is this the break line? It looks like a half inch thick tube with wires inside. I think it leads to the left rear wheel. If that's the case, wouldn't the car pull to the right when breaking?

I'm not a mechanic by any stretch, I'll only take on projects that I can find clear and specific how-to guides but before I worry about fixing it, I need help with figuring out what is actually broken :cry: I'm worried about driving the car to a repair shop if it is indeed a break line. please help!


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focodave
Patron 2018
Patron 2018
Posts: 704
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:35 am
Your car is a: 1980 Spider 2000 F.I.
Location: Fort Collins, CO

Re: broken brake line? please help!

Post by focodave »

Hard to tell from the photo, but I think that may be your emergency brake cable (broken, of course).
Have you tried applying the emergency brake, and if so --what was the result?
Did the emergency brake handle offer little or no resistance?
The wheel is going to have to be removed and you will need to see what is going on at the brake caliper side of the system to see if the remainder of the e-brake cable is still attached to the arm on the caliper that actuates the e-brake.
1980 Spider 2000 F.I. (my hobby)
1970 MGB GT (my other hobby)
2008 Ford Expedition (daily driver)
2019 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Standard
2019 Harley-Davidson Iron 883 Sportster
theOshow

Re: broken brake line? please help!

Post by theOshow »

E-brake makes sense. The handle clicks when I pull it so I assumed it was working but I just took it out of gear in the garage while keeping the E-brake on and I was able to push it without too much trouble. Thanks for the help!
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4uall
Posts: 4145
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:09 pm
Your car is a: 1980 Fiat Pininfarina Spider 2000 F.I.
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: broken brake line? please help!

Post by 4uall »

Jay

Fiona
1980 FI 2000 Spider
ITZEBTZE

https://goo.gl/photos/eNKaX7hrXhBu9fmp6

FINN (FN-2187)
2014 Jeep Wrangler Sport
MYTHERPY
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