handbrake help?!

[ecoangel]

OK so the engine is in and runs beautifully.

Car is booked in for MoT for thursday 3 April.

Trouble is the handbrake lever doesn't seem to hold postion.

I have adjusted the handbrake as per (S1) Dunlop advice elsewhere on the forum and Dunlop manual.

The pulley system behind the lever alos adjusted to improve "throw" but now find that although the handbrake works I have to keep holding it!

Could this be a ratchet issue?

How to fix?

Best Regards

[Neil Cundy]

Possibly. I never tried to adjust mine, but I have it in bits at the moment so if you want some photos of the guts of the system to help with any diagnosis let me know.
Neil

[ecoangel]

Thanks Neil - any chance you could email some to: info at lukafoto dot com ?

Best Rgds

[Tony Kovacevic]

It's not uncommon for the ratchet teeth to wear. To repair, we dismantled the handbrake mechanism and then welded the worn teeth using a 'Hard Face" welding rod. (these rods are used to repair road grader scraper blades and earthmover buckets). After some filing to restore the correct shape, the ratchet is as good as new. Of course, one should always depress the handbrake release button when applying the handbrake to minimise further wear.

[ecoangel]

Good information Tony - will investigate teeth wear today

[Stephan Protzen]

25 years ago I had a Fiat 600 where all the teeth were worn off the ratchet mechanism, since then I always depress the button when engaging the parking brake to save the wear on the mechanism.