Handbrake

[Guest rhetorical-oracle]

Hi all,

 

As you probably know one of the main achilles heels with the RH design is the position of the handbrake in the passenger footwell.

 

I'm not happy with the positioning of the handbrake on my SuperSpec, plus in order to get it through the SVA I had to manufacture braketry underneath the car in order to allow the cable to be kept away from the bodywork whilst operating with the raised handbrake mechanism I had to make in order to reach the handbrake from the drivers seat, and this scapes on the driveway everytime I back out due to the low ground clearance!

 

I've been contemplating the idea of changing the handbrake to an electronic mechanism using a linear actuator to pull on the handbrake yoke under the car and replacing the lever with a switch in the cockpit.

 

Has anyone considered doing this before, or got an electronic setup if so what, how, when, where and who?!?

 

Phill.

[Guest Bazwaz]

I'm pretty sure Jamie (Turbo) had one on his.

 

Barry

[Mitch]

Yes Jamie did this,

 

he had a button on the dash or tunnel top.

 

Mitch

[Guest rhetorical-oracle]

Yes I've tried PMing him, but his inbox is full, and he's not been on the site since last August.

 

There is a picture of the mod in his garage, but it's not altogether clear as to what he's used in terms of an actuator to pull and release the cable.

 

Phill.

[Mitch]

try emailing, if you look into his profile box, there should be a email option as well as a pm one

 

HTH

Mitch

[Guest Ian & Carole]

Hi all

 

Even if you do wake Jamie up he won't share his electricery secret with you all.

 

I tried for nearly a year when he was still playing, and all i got was a repeat of his huge scotish smile every time I asked.

 

Seems he has been quiet since his planned Highlands trip last year fell around his ears

 

After lots of promises nothing happened.

 

Ian J

[sylvia.fry2]

Been down that route ; can't find enough info to even start a electric mod--so how about moving the handbrake to the top of the tunnel-- this is what I have done-- take Sierra h'brake apart-- handle from toothed mounting-- using a greased splitting chisel (or 2) open-up a gap between the 2 tunnel top tubes to allow re-assembly of h'brake complete-- drill & bolt h'brake thru tubes from underside (I welded 2 extra ears on to make 4 fixings in total ) rest of handbrake gear will fit in tunnel & will be near horizontal. For inner cable adjustment I fabricated a split tube for the plastic outer nuts (1 new 1 from donor) 1 short piece of outer from handbrake end to adjuster tube 2nd piece from adjuster to brake back plate-- other side goes from handbrake direct to backplate-- this give much greater take-up of inner slack; sorry so wordy but can't do computor graphics;hope it helps.

[E.Hunt]

I also didn't like the hand brake down the passangers side so I've done this

 

 

brolly handle brake from a Mazda pickup.(bottom right)

 

not passed the sva yet but very easy to reach and apply.

[sylvia.fry2]

Brolly-brake is probably a better fix than my idea-- pity I didn't think of it (Tape measure on dash to see how far you've gone???)

[Guest Jabberwocky]

just speculating here, as I have never looked into it before, but I would of thought that you could use 2 central locking solinoides to pull the handbrake

[Guest rhetorical-oracle]

just speculating here, as I have never looked into it before, but I would of thought that you could use 2 central locking solinoides to pull the handbrake

 

Not sure that a central locking solenoid would have the power to pull a handbrake mechanism. I did have a look online at linear actuators, but they tend to have quite long strokes, so would need some switch mechanism to limit the throw, also you'd need one with a reasonable stroke rate too about 40mm/s?!?

 

Phill

[Guest Jabberwocky]

releasing the handbrake to bump start it if the battey ever goes flat could also be a problem.

 

just woundering why would the throw have to be so fast?

[miikae]

Why not go hydraulic , use a line lock valve that way it could be done manually or even electricaly opperated if so required . But not certain of SVA requirements regarding this approach as they may want a separate system as it is supposed to be an emergency brake afterall .

 

Mike

[agent_zed]

i was under the impression that you cannot legally use hydraulic handbrakes on road going cars. If it leaks it will disengage...goodbye parked car

[Guest rhetorical-oracle]

Why not go hydraulic , use a line lock valve that way it could be done manually or even electricaly opperated if so required .

 

As far as I know a hydraulic line lock would not pass SVA or an MOT, as the handbrake must be separate from the normal braking system.