Handbrake

Hi Guys,

Any ideas on the best type of handbrake lever to use ? Mine will be mounted between the driver seat & the gas tank, & I need a "drop down" one so that I can actually get in the car without spearing something sensitive !

I have found a couple of local "drop down" ones (Holden HQ, etc), but the pull on the cable is straight up, not horizontally from the back as I need.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

Peter, Lokar makes a parking brake like you describe. It is the one I have used in my car. Check it out at lokar.com:

Do you have access to a Pontiac Fiero brake? This is the type that you pull up to set and then it returns to the floor. To release you pull up and press the button.

Did Pontiac (GM) ever sell these cars down under?

I drove a porsche once that was like that, cant remember what model, i think i 924, that body style anyway, not sure on the way the cable is routed to it though.

Peter / Lynn,

Love the hand brake lever in the photograph. Looks great but it looks like it has a fundimental flaw in the design.

I assum that the rear of the two cables go directly to the break mechanisms and that the breaks have individual adjustment. It is here that the flaw is.

There would always be an imballance in the adjustment between one side and the other side. A balance bar / compensation wheel should be fitted to allow for and fix the imballance. The best place for this arangement is where the grub screw locking arangement is at the forward end of the cables. A simple solution would be to seperate the cables and the securing block and make the threaded bar from the lever attach to this block with a pivot.

As the break was applied and one side started to bind, that cable would stop to pull and the other cable would continue to pull until the second side started to bind. The cross bar would now not be square but the pressure on both breaks would be the same. As the pressure on the lever were increased the breaks would have even pressure applied to them.

The wheel method (as used by RF) uses one rear cable which loops around a wheel wiich is directly moved by the lever. We have found this type of hand break system to be very efficient , with little or no adjustment needed and so far (touch wood) no complaints.

Hope this helps,

Robert

The picture shows the handbrake system as on early GTD's. This was changed from twin cables to a single hand brake cable in 1989/90 or thereabouts. The build manual, if you got one, was for twin cables only.

The single cable system could easily be attached to this hand brake. All you do is instead of having the two cables running through the rear bulkhead (or what ever route you choose) to the hand brake lever, put a solid link, say a rod or bar, that goes back and then put a half moon equaliser on it and a single cable.

On my car I once had two of these half moon equalisers as with the sump I had, the cable fouled. By putting in a short spreader bar and the two half moons, the cable cleared ok. Different sump now so back to just one half moon.

However, how do you have the hand brake to the outside of the car, as required here in the initial thread question, and have a single cable? I think that would either need a custom cable or would lead to its own form of imbalance. I think that with just a little care on set up, the pictured system would be in balance. Each cable has its own adjuster and the two cables are on a pivot which can twist when one side locks up. Clearly not as easy as a single cable system but could be made to work with care. Just maybe not as good for hand brake turns! For that, go hydraulic!!!

Malcolm

Thanks Guys,

Regarding the balancing between L & R, perhaps the original '88 Vette arrangement is one of the simplest (see attached pic - sorry about the file size, but it was necessary to get the detail). Basically, it is a single cable pull from the lever, with the outer sheath pulling on one side & the inner core pulling on the other side - self compensating.

My real challenge is to find a handbrake lever which will drop down after it is engaged. You then pull it up, push the button, & release it down. That way, the damn thing does not stick way up in the air when it is on - on a car with the handbrake next to the fuel tank, this would make it easier (possible) to actually get into the car without doing some fundamental damage to the driver !!

I know I could use a C4 'Vette unit to do this (with a horizontal cable pull), but these are virtually unobtainable here in Oz.

Any ideas on local alternatives ?

Neal, unfortunately Fiero's are even harder to find in Oz than "Vettes.

Eric, queries so far on the 924/944's seem to indicate a vertical pull-up - I'll keep asking.

Thanks again to you all for you help.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

Some originals had a lever that pushed an arm which held down the brake pedal. Lee Holman can provide this type.
Best

You might check ebay. I found a Fiero e brake handle there for my car. Cheap too.

I hesitate to suggest this..but read on;
My Ferrari Mondial has exactly that hand brake handle. I don't think it would be a good use of your time to buy one from them as all F-----i parts are outrageously expensive. However, there are a number of people who dismantle them and a handbrake handle is not an especially hot item, so you may be able to find one that is actually at a reasonable price.
It works as follows- you pull it up to engage the handbrake, then it pushes down, and to release the brake you have to pull it up, depress the button, whereupon it reengages and you can release it. The reason it folds down is the same as on a GT40, I would guess- on a Mondial, the handbrake lever is between the driver's seat and the doorsill, so after you apply the handbrake it pushes down to let you exit the car.
Good luck. Incidentally, Ferraris are made by Fiat and you may find that a Fiat part is identical or will cross over. Fiats aren't sold in the US anymore but this may help.

Jim,

This description of the Ferrari handbrake is exactly the same as the Pontiac Fiero handbrake. I used to have one, they work great! Thus, for a US parts source you should be able to go to GM or the yard and get the same functioning brake for not much cash.

Ron

The hand brake you want is what I would describe as a Fly Off hand brake and is used in some Aston Martins. I think they may have been used in some MGs too but have no idea which. May be worth an enquiry to the US MG owners club perhaps.

Alternatively be creative and mount your normal handbrake up side down!

Malcolm

Peter,

The "drop down" handbrake you describe was also offered on the Porsche 914. It was mounted between the drivers seat and the door sill (On LHD cars in the US).

Andy

Thanks guys - I should be able to find a handbrake from a Fiero or a Porshe 914 to do the job.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

The Safir MK V had a cable that pulled the brake pedal down thus engaging ALL four calipers. The AP Racing calipers did not even bleed down over weeks of engagment-Problem? Not legal in New York and many other states, law requires that the "emergency brake" be separate and independant of the service brake system and some states require it to be mechanical and not hydraulic.

Also note that the original '40 had the brake handle mounted on the bottom of the instrument panel and it pulled out in a horizontal plane, not vertical.

Don't have a good picture that I can post, perhaps some else does.
Rick

The original system you describe is the one I spoke of that simply depressed the brake pedal.