1982 lotus esprit brakes

Does any boady have any experince with rear brakes on a 1982 lotus esprit. A friend of mine has one and the hand brake on it will not pass the MOT test. I live in N Ireland were they have an automated system of mot testing. When the car is on the rolers the hand break will not hold. But in a normal application works fine.

Any help would be greatfull ;)

A couple of things to look at.

Make sure the same force is applied to both wheels. Jack rear off ground and pull on handbrake one click at a time and check that the braking effect increases the same both sides. Adjust balance if necessary. (in sill behind drivers seat)

If one side will not work at all the ratchet mechanism on the piston is probably stuffed and new pistons required. I got new pistons and seal kits from here. http://sjsportscars.co.uk/home.asp

Try a different type of pad. I recently put EBC green stuff pads on my 1980 Esprit to good effect.

Claims listed here. http://ebcbrakes.co.nz/greenstuff/

EBC home page http://www.ebcbrakes.com/

A search on Google should find a local supplier for you.

Make sure you look up the correct procedure to retract the pistons on the rear calipers. There is a ratchet mechanism used by the handrake. When I got my car the handbrake didn't work because someone had forced the pistons back breaking the ratchet. You need to rotate pistons 45deg before attempting to retract. Return to original position once done. (buy a retraction tool, they're cheap) BTW instructions are for Citroen box, inboard brakes.