This is long overdue, but I'm getting tired of having to rely on first gear to keep me from rolling down hills and a part I'm waiting for got delayed so I'm gonna go for it.

As far as I can tell all of the cables are correctly connected, but when I rip the brake absolutely no difference is made to the resistance on the rear wheels. I tried tightening it at the equalizer, but the only effect this had was to shorten the travel on the lever before it tightens up. Before buying a new cable I wanna make sure it's necessary/that there aren't any easier fixes; thanks in advance for any insight.

 

The cross cable between the rear calipers is the usual culprit. It rusts up. Have you checked to see if the cable is moving at the calipers?

 

Pulling the brake doesn't seem to make any difference, but the cables are still in decent condition as far as I can tell.

Is it common for them to stretch out over time?

Because it looks like there's slack between the equalizer (not sure if that's the appropriate term) and the calipers; pulling the brake only tightens up the cables a bit even at it's shortest setting…

 

The cable on my Z looked fine, at least the visible portion of the cable. I took the cable off to check it better and found out that I could not even budge the cable. I even secured outside protector and tried jerking on the cable end. Nothing. It turns out that the cable shield is steal and prone to rusting. This rust, when the cable is moved, will wedge against the cable to the point where the cable is 'frozen'.

If you dont feel like making a new cable, buy one...I found that they either work or dont as I tried blowing the rust/crap out, spraying lube, spraying penetrating oil, breaking the rust up and all with out success.

 

Great to know, thanks. Yeah since the whole system up to that section appears to be working fine I'm thinking I'll just order the new cable.

 

I feel silly having to even ask about something this plain and simple, but looking online I've found a few different sorts of cables that claim they'll work. This looks most like the diagrams in the FSM/the actual bottom of my car; is it similar to what you replaced yours with?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/280ZX...-/190481311332

 

I will have to check that link out when I get home...(Work blocks access to ebay). I have a 79 have not found a cable set up for that year. (Found up to 78, then 80-83).

I wacked the good parts off of the cable set up from my car and the same with one from a auto salvage and made a working set to go back on. She works great now.

 

That is an OEM (Original equipment manufacturer = NISSAN) part.

There are two versions of 280zx rear brakes: 79-81 and 82-83. All 79-81 parts are interchangeable which each other, but not w/ the 82-83.

So... if that's the part you need, grab it.

You can also check the NISSAN part numbers and diagrams at http://nissan4u.com

 

ah, great. Thanks, that's a big help