Handbrake lever quiz question...

[Wedg1e]

Well here I am, brain the size of a planet, access to the biggest internet since internets were invented yet I can't find a single reference to the donor vehicle of the Wedge handbrake (not the SEAC umbrella type, that's easy)
Apart from the early Lotus Esprit, can you identify what it was from (there are no makers marks to help you!)...?

Answers on a postcard - oh, to save you time, it's not Ford, Vauxhall, Jaguar, Reliant, Jensen or anything BL (Triumph, Rover, Austin, Sherpa etc.)...

[marcus1875]

Perhaps mines has been changed previously but this looks the same to mine.
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/car-parts/2345...

From the mk2 cortina
Marcus

[Wedg1e]

marcus1875 said:

Perhaps mines has been changed previously but this looks the same to mine.
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/car-parts/2345...

From the mk2 cortina
Marcus

Aha yes, you're right, the early cars did use that - I think it was the almost-vertical type that was eventually changed for something a bit more visually appealing

[Wedg1e]

This is the one I'm on about; as you can see it differs from most in being pivoted on a bolt from one side, with the ratchet being restrained from rotating by a single bolt parallel to the pivot - most handbrake designs have the ratchet secured to the floor.
It also has a bit of steel tacked on the side to operate the brake warning switch.
It was changed on the later Esprits to a design that allowed the lever to be folded down flat even when the handbrake was applied, as the lever was in the sill rather than the centre tunnel and tended to snag the driver's leg when getting in or out.





I'm working on a modification to improve the handbrake's efficiency but would rather chop up a spare than the one on the car - but as usual, as soon as you want something, nobody has any for sale

[hallsie]

you had better call me!!

I took one from a 390 last year and its hiding in the garage somewhere, its very expensive though, as there were only ever ___ made!!



free to a good home/pioneer/fabricator/maker of improvements,erer!!

Stu

[mrzigazaga]

Wedg1e said:

I'm working on a modification to improve the handbrake's efficiency.

What you mean one that actually works....Ill have one please...

[cirks]

Does the new efficient design you're working on stop the pads over heating and falling out then? Excellent, I'll have two please

[Wedg1e]

cirks said:

Does the new efficient design you're working on stop the pads over heating and falling out then? Excellent, I'll have two please

If the pads are overheating then they must be dragging on the discs, which is more due to the way the calipers are setup than to anything the lever's doing.

What I found when I stripped and rebuilt my handbrake calipers was that the self-adjusters were too bloody efficient: you often hear people saying they've seized, well maybe it's best that they do because as I discovered, you can get the pads to run just clearing the discs, then you pull the handbrake on a few times, the ratchets kick in and wind the pads into contact with the discs.

So I've removed the self-adjusters and set the pads up with new pull-off springs (the forked ones) and just used the large slotted-head screw to get the clearance as close as possible. In theory the handbrake pads should never wear as they don't contact the rotating disc - of course in the USA it's not just a handbrake but an 'emergency brake', but christ knows how those 50p-pieces would stop a 2 tonne Jag - so I don't envisage having to adjust the clearance very often. Probably never again in my lifetime, with luck...

Another issue concerns the other pull-off springs, the coiled ones that pull the mechanisms themselves back as you release the handbrake. If you study pics of the Jag rear axle beam, the springs tie the handbrake arms to the pressed-steel beam. Of course the TVR not only doesn't have the beam but doesn't have the bloody springs either, which is why the Wedge handbrake is usually as floppy as Ken Dodd's hair. I've retro-fitted the correct springs to my car with some custom bracketry and now the handbrake lever goes down like a Middlesbrough schoolie after two J2Os.

The remaining issue is that even with the pads running as close to the discs as I can get them, the handbrake lever has more travel than Michael Palin; most MOT testers like to see full efficiency by 6 clicks. The TVR's handbrake only has 9 clicks by which time it's pointing upwards in a manner reminiscent of me watching Rachel Riley and Lucy Verasamy in wetsuits, sat on a washing machine on full spin (them, not me). If you adjust the handbrake cable to improve this, guess what, it pulls the pads onto the discs.

It occurs to me that what's needed is a longer 'short leg' on the handbrake, so it pulls the cable further for less rotational movement. There is room to do it (at least, on my car there is)... which takes us back to the top of the thread...

[Wedg1e]

hallsie said:

you had better call me!!

I took one from a 390 last year and its hiding in the garage somewhere, its very expensive though, as there were only ever ___ made!!



free to a good home/pioneer/fabricator/maker of improvements,erer!!

Stu

Be happy to come to some arrangement - if it's the same type as shown.

[Wedg1e]

Well, not the tidiest bit of fabrication, but I think this went well as an experiment...





... and it seems to work! Without adjusting the cable, it went from needing all 9 clicks of the ratchet to just about stop the wheels turning, to 5 clicks and the diff was trying to join me in the cabin

Next... the rattling steering column...

[RCK974X]

On mine, (2.8 '82) I just put a long coil spring between the levers, along/around the cable, to give a lot more push to release the levers. Cheap, but seems to help. Not had a dragging problem (yet).

[Wedg1e]

RCK974X said:

On mine, (2.8 '82) I just put a long coil spring between the levers, along/around the cable, to give a lot more push to release the levers. Cheap, but seems to help. Not had a dragging problem (yet).

Yes, that was the other option I explored... but the spring I ordered was too small to fit over the crimped section where the thread is attached to the cable end. It's certainly easier (and cheaper) than using the original Jag springs!
The spring needs to be about 11mm ID to stand a chance of fitting.

[RCK974X]

In case it helps anyone. I was trying to remember where springs came from ....Yeah, 11-15mm something like that..

I think (not sure) the spring came from a very old solid axle handbrake setup of an old Cortina, mk1 or 2 or Hillman Hunter or something like that. The old style with a steel rod and a single cable....those of use who are ancient will remember them, if our brains still work !

But yes, anything which will slide over the end crimps and add enough push to take the slack away, and make sure the levers return fully - on mine, I reckoned it wasn't the adjusters, but the levers not returning. I think actually it may have been two springs... er.....oh, and a couple of washers to keep the springs straighter.

Definitely better on mine, not claiming it will as good as a proper redesign, but a pretty quick and workable bodge !!

Edited by RCK974X on Sunday 22 February 19:18

[Jack Valiant]

So did we get to the bottom of what the donor car was then?

[Wedg1e]

Jack Valiant said:

So did we get to the bottom of what the donor car was then?

Car? Milk float, forklift truck...

[Jack Valiant]

My money is on the fork lift as there were some parts used as I recall!!

[hallsie]

Ian

I only have an old style, complete mechanism, and the plate with the ratchet for the new style, that I can find.

On the plus side, I have found the tie bar washers and bottom suspension bolts that Ive been trying to buy, so the rebuild can continue!

If I do find the newer one, you can have it and do an exchange service!!

Stu

[adam quantrill]

Wedg1e said:

Well, not the tidiest bit of fabrication, but I think this went well as an experiment...

So is that bracket shoring up the original vertical bracket attaching the lever to the tunnel? Yes that is quite a floppy piece of metal. I guess it's not surprising that some slack feel cones from this area.

[Wedg1e]

adam quantrill said:

So is that bracket shoring up the original vertical bracket attaching the lever to the tunnel? Yes that is quite a floppy piece of metal. I guess it's not surprising that some slack feel cones from this area.

No, it attaches to the handbrake lever (using the original clevis pin hole) and moves the clevis attachment point down a bit, so for a smaller arc of movement the lever moves the cable a greater linear distance. Thus the pads can clear the discs by a sensible amount to avoid them dragging but still allows them to pull on hard enough to be effective. With the adjuster ratchets also removed, in theory the bloody handbrake should never need adjusting again!

[adam quantrill]

Got you.

So now you've proved the concept, we can weld an extension on instead? It would probably be a bit lighter as it won't need the thick bracing lumps.