I'm working on a full brake overhaul including the handbrake assembly and wanted to tap into some experienced opinions:

I feel like other than a little grease between the sliding surfaces of the adjustment pawl and the "operating lever", the handbrake mechanism should be reassembled completely dry and free of any kind of grease or oil. I have tested my rebuilt assembly in a bench vice and can't see a benefit of adding grease of any kind.

This set that I'm refurbing had enough grease & dirt packed in to the adjustment nut teeth to cause the pawl to skip right over without affecting any adjustment. The mechanism is open to air which allows dirt / silt ingress and the adjustment process happens so infrequently it seems like grease will only serve to catch contaminants. This packs into the adjustment nut teeth which rounds them off and inhibits the adjuster from functioning. I had to pick/file them clean as soaking in degreaser had no effect.

The handbrakes currently installed on my car are between adjustment points - turning the bolt 180 tighter results in lock-up and one step looser is too loose. This is a situation I'm trying to avoid on the rebuild mechanism.

Is there a proven long-term approach to rebuilding these?