Hand Brake Refurbishment

Parking Brake/Secondary Brake/Emergency Brake Refurbished

Cost:

In theory there should be nothing to pay except for the paint. I would say that if the cable is kinked or worn that could be your only expense. There is of course a tiny lever spring that could be lost but that will be virtually nothing.

Background:

To remove this part is quite simple, and doesn’t take long at all. The small under dash fire has damaged the handle at the back but luckily not the front. As it was seized up and off the car I thought I would give it the full refurbishment.

Process:

To remove this part there are two bolts on the firewall and two under the dash. First job is to get under the car and disconnect the cable from the lever that holds the equalizer bar and cable. The cable is only held in by tension in a recess and the ball at the end of the cable. Release the tension on the cable and the cable will slide straight out the side of the end of the lever.

Where the end of the mechanism or bar comes out of the firewall undo the two bolts. Move up the shaft and remove the two bolts that secure the bar to the under dash.  Remove the bar from its mounts and pull the grommet from the firewall. Pull the cable through the car. That’s all there to removing it.

At the bottom of the bar there is the cable wheel held in place by a centre pin and a locking pin. Remove the locking pin and tap out the centre pin to remove the wheel.

Once the cable is freed take out the other end of the cable to leave just the mechanism. Now it’s the case of degreasing and cleaning. My cable was totally smothered in road grime and all sorts of grease. I used the degreasing agent and some nylon scouring pads to get it back to the metal.

With the mechanism cleaned up and freed to move, I removed the paint via a paint stripper and cleaned again. This also removed the little surface rust that was present. With the parts cleaned and dried I masked up the handle and inner mechanism. I sprayed two good coats of red lead primer and allowed to dry. While I was waiting for the primer to dry I cleaned the wheel and clips ready for fitting.

With the primer dried I added a few layers of satin black spray top coat.

Reassemble:

Before you put any of this back together I checked the cable for kinks. The end by the wheel was kinked as if it was pulled hard and got jammed in place. As a result the retraction of the handle into the shaft is not smooth. I took the cable into the vice and straightened up the cable bit by bit with the pliers until it was straight. The cable is then feed up the bottom of the shaft and move the handle back a few inches to expose the hole which is big enough for the ball to fit through.

Pull the ball through the shaft hole and push the handle back down. There will be an opening at the bottom to of the inner shaft to allow the cable to pass through. Pull the cable a little tighter out the bottom of the shaft until the inner corresponding hole is in place with the outer hole. Press the ball back into the inner shaft. with the cable laid out at the bottom, place the wheel level with the shaft holes and insert the centre pin. With the pin pushed through slip the clip through the centre pin hole into place. You can of course remove the bolt clips at the top of the bracket by the handle and clean up as I did. These will not bee seen from under the dash so is optional. Clip the bolt clips back into the bracket and you are done.

Results:

The end result is amazing. It looks clean and crisp yet still old school. The centre part of the shaft that has the notches on it had a little over spray from the red oxide. But to be honest it wont hurt and will protect it anyway. The only part I need to finish is the lettering. Do I paint or do I leave it for now. I suspect I will leave it until the car is done and then make my mind up later.  The handle itself has rubbed up pretty well and doesn’t look to bad at all. Especially as it will be under the dash in a dark place so it won’t be readily visible and feels comfortable in the hand. The cable cleaned up well and looks as good as new.