A couple weeks ago a friend reported using his handbrake in his driveway, and, just like in the cases reported above, having it come apart internally, jam, and break off an upright mounting ear. This was after he followed all the advice about loctiting and tightening the small fasteners, etc.
So with that I decided to put the rest of my build on hold and do something serious about this serious problem.
I purchased a mechanical parking brake caliper set from IPSCO (
Mechanical Parking Brake Calipers) and after a couple iterations of bracket design with proprietor Mark Johnson, now have a neat, clean, and easy-bolt-on parking/emergency brake that not only can be used for parking but I believe is much less likely to self-destruct than the original "situation" (see above for scary/gory details.) I'm also pretty sure that, despite IPSCO's disclaimers, it will function well as an emergency brake. According to my research it has a good reputation in the Pantera and Viper world, and got a good review elsewhere on this forum:
http://www.gt40s.com/forum/rcr-forum-rcr40-slc-p4-mkiv/31946-parking-brake.html#post301518 about a year ago.
One side effect of this you may not like is that the design and machining quality of this unit is so beautiful that it stands out from the rest of my GT40; it's easily the prettiest component on the entire car. So to maintain visual harmony you may want to kick yours up and down the street a few times before you install it.
Here's how it connects to our cable:
It bolts to the forward caliper mounting ears on your upright that hopefully were machined and threaded so your upright could be used on either side of the car. Fasteners are M10-1.5, 25 mm long, eg Mcmaster 90854A189. (not supplied)
And, by the way, you have the option of having your logo engraved on caliper.
Anyway, if you want one call Mark up and ask him for a setup with the brackets he made for me.
