PoF // Ep 35 - Install A Handbrake the Right Way

In this episode, I go through the install of a Lokar handbrake and make some modifications to avoid driveshaft interference and also make use of the OEM parking brake cables by shortening them and adding an adjustable center block.

[@daniellewise6840]

Thank you for making this content! I don’t know much about working on cars myself but I just purchased a manual fusion that came ONLY with an e-break. Being that it is my first manual, I didn’t realize how important a manual park break is for hill starts! This is definitely the project for this summer!

[@PistonsofFury]

Thanks Danielle! As you get a better feel for the clutch in your car, you'll get better at balancing the car for hill starts. But sometimes a handbrake really helps. Good luck with the project and feel free to drop questions back here!

[@johnallenrichter]

Thanks for making this video. I'm looking to do something a little different and watching your creativity is inspiring. I want to install a handbrake similar to yours that will pull down the brake pedal with a cable. I have leg neuropathy and need a hand brake to stop the car. I don't like or trust the cheap "push" type portable controls. Anyway here's a piece of advice: You drilled holes into the piece of tube steel to run your cables through. Those holes are rough and over time could scrape against the cable and damage or break it. I would use metal cable sleeves through the tube to prevent friction on the cables.

[@PistonsofFury]

Thanks John! And, noted. Another viewer recommended using a solid steel block instead of the square tube, so I'll definitely be revisiting. Good luck with your hand controls - one of my old friends/business partners is a paraplegic, so i'm familiar with the struggles of the portable vs. installed controls. One thing you might look into are the hydraulic e-brakes that all the serious drift cars are using now - I would definitely want to go hydraulic if it were my only means of stopping the car.

[@johnallenrichter]

@@PistonsofFury yes I did look into hydraulic drift brakes. They come with a small hydraulic cylinder which only works on the rear wheels. Configuring a new 4-wheel master cylinder on a hand brake like that requires an engineer. It's too dangerous. Each car has it's own weight and dynamics for the braking system. Front brakes are the stopping brakes, the rear brakes are used as counter-drift only for fast stops. The master cylinder applies much greater pressure to the front than the rear. In fact under normal stopping the master cylinder should never completely lock up the rear wheels. (Pre ABS) So I prefer using the cars own master cylinder for braking because it's designed for the car. I'm thinking of running a cable forward through eyelets or pulleys in the center console down to the driver side floor pan, then run it through eyelets along the floor pan to behind the brake pedal stem. Then using a small pulley and tightening spring welded to floor pan attach the end of the cable to the brake pedal stem. The end result (I'm hoping) would be a vertical drift style handle that the driver could pull back to stop the car. The challenge is to get a back-pulling handle to pull a cable from the front instead of from the rear, which is how most brake handles are designed. That's why I like your video. Overcoming the obstacles often come from custom one-off solutions like yours.

[@MichaelEd]

Thanks for making this video, and showing how to install the hand brake! I’m working on a custom console for my 65’ and wanted to put in this style of hand brake instead of the pull handle under the dash. This video helped tremendously.

[@maxnortheast7700]

Hey michael was wondering how this conversion went for you... looking to do something similar.

[@pappabob29]

Nice job. A couple of suggestions from a "old guy" with lots of practice. ;o) When you have the money, purchase a vise for your drill press. Allows for much more precise work to be done on your drill press and it's much safer as a side benefit. Use "solid" stock for your 1" square piece. That way you can drill through holes for the cables. Turn the square piece over 90 degrees and drill two "intersecting" holes into the cable passages and tap those two holes for (Allan) set screws. Those set screws can hold your cables any place you want them with ease. For this kind of work, the drill press vise really helps since it allows you to perfectly align the cross holes. You would also need to purchase a drill bit, tap, and "bottom tap" for the set screw holes. You would spend a little more money on tools but you would have them when you're done.

[@PistonsofFury]

That's a great idea - thanks! A drill vice is almost at the top of my list for "next tool to buy". I'll likely revisit this project and redo it the way you suggest. The brake is currently functional but it could use a little bit more leverage and I think having the precision of the allen set screws and solid stock would probably help.

[@santoscamacho3361]

Just what I was looking for!..Thanks bro!...I have a gbody and wanted kick panel speakers and my foot brake is in the way and wanted to convert to hand brake

[@PistonsofFury]

Glad to hear this helped!! Good luck with your build!

[@santoscamacho3361]

@@PistonsofFury thanks boss man..keep up the videos and hope your builds are successful!..God bless you

[@kjelljohannessen8827]

Great video! Did you cover the the hole in the floor more? Looked to be missing a seal there?

[@noampitlik2332]

Good video. Thanks. Nice fro, too. You gotta be part black to get that?

[@PistonsofFury]

Haha, thanks. Not black, just half Puerto Rican ;)