So I recently purchased an '82 Spider, and after spending an afternoon going through the brake system (replacing a couple fittings and bleeding the crap out of the lines) I was finally ready to take her out on the open road. One of the mechanics at work was shirking his duties of working on airplanes and helping me with the bleeding process. So enthralled was he with the car that I happily let him sit in the front seat when he asked. As he sat, we chatted about the car, when, to my utter horror, he reaches for the INOP labeled hand brake. Before I could utter a "NO!", ZIP... There went my afternoon of hard work.
The rear brakes are locked up tight. I've worked on this for two days now, and I cannot for the life of me get the right rear caliper piston to retract enough to let the wheel roll freely. I've been able to get the caliper off and on the rotor, but the horn that the handbrake cable attaches to on the backside of the caliper doesn't seem to move from its engaged position. I thought I'd fixed it the other afternoon, but a half mile from the office the brakes started smoking....
Help!