Hello,

I have a 1966 Dodge Coronet 500 that I have been slowly restoring and have run into a problem that I cannot find much information about. My E-brake seems to be locked on my rear drum and will not release from the brake release. Any ideas on how to fix this? I do not have a lot of experience with drum brakes, but I tried loosening the star bolt in the back to remove the drum, but it does not seem to be budging. Are these in anyway connected? With the E-brake stuck on is it keeping me from getting the drum off?

Thanks for any help.

That's a common problem when the E-brake cables rust. You can apply the brake but the rust keeps them from releasing. It usually takes a lot of work and a lot of force to get the drums off.

Soak the covered part of the cables with PB Blaster. The cables get rust in those housing areas and stick.

Is there slack in the ebrake cable, the part thats not sheathed?
If your pedal release is working but the brake at the wheel isnt free sounds like the rear cable is seized in the sheath.
Like Stumpy said, soak the pieces with PB Blaster. I'd flex the cable as well. Get your hand on it and wiggle it around as much as it will let you. Flexing it back and forth may free up the inner cable.

Yeah, the cable is tight as can be. If soaking it does not get it to budge what other options do I have? If I cut it, will that hurt anything?

What they said, confirm that the cable ain't taut (the mini ball at the end of the inner cable at the end of the sheath, that the binding is in the sheath or inside the drum) rather than the adjuster or ebrake lever (I'm sure you've released the ebrake lever up front). if still tight, the nut on the adjuster where the cables T under the middle of the car tends to be stuck from road debris marring the threads on the adjuster & if so remove the nut with a nut cracker rather than risk breaking the adjuster threaded length. then, worse case, drill out the brake nails on the back side (2) so you can pull the whole schebang forward a bit to get in there. EDIT I read your last post, you could cut the sheath right at the drum hole but those are hard to come by & I'd first drill the nails tho the sheaths might need replacing anyhow. If you get em out WO cutting them off, soak em in your solvent tank for several days & see if it frees up, good chance it will. MORE EDIT with the drum off use a small hose clamp to compress the tines on the inside of the b plate that lock the sheath in place, compress it enough to collapse the tines so you can pull the sheath out the back side, get the tines started thru the b plate then loosen the clamp