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Hello- After 30 years without a sports car I have returned to the fold. I just purchased a 2006 Locost super 7 replica with Toyota 3T-C power and Toyota 5 speed tranny and corolla rear end. I have questions about the engine but will not bother you folks with those. I do need help with the hand brake. It is mounted diagonally on the trans tunnel just aft of the forward firewall. Sadly it ends there...that is I need to attach a cable from the handle to the rear disk brakes. Anyone with experience on this topic? Many thanks. SovrenFlagger (Go vintage racers!!!)

Pictures? Anything attached to the drums? Maybe best bet is try to find a set of Corolla hand brake cables and modify to suit. Would not surprise me if someone on here would have parts to help you out as lots of these cars are 'olla based.
Paul

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Parts left out cost nothing and cause no problems!!

Welcome. If you can, add your location to your member info. Perhaps somebody right down the street from you can inspect and advise if only they knew you were that close.

You will have to probably get a good look inside the rear brakes themselves to see what parts are missing such as springs, br@ckets etc. if any. Then will need to get the brake cable appropriate to your donor parts. Some bracketry may have to be added depending on the type of cable you get. It may even need to be shortened or lengthened. Without knowing your car, it is hard for anyone to suggest anything specific. I would not sit blindly and expect your system to use parts exactly as they were in the donor. especially cable length. For instance, on my build I did extensive mods internal and external to the rear calipers in order to get them to work.

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

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I ordered my hand brake and cables (and throttle and shifter cables) from http://www.controlcables.com/ and am very happy with the product. I had to tell them the required length of the cables and what kind of rear brake calipers I was using, then they took care of the rest. Pretty painless, actually. I would suggest giving them a call with what you need. They may ask for pictures of the components, but should be able to get you sorted.

In all probability you have Corolla rear calipers. Unfortunately I have never dealt with Corolla components (only Miata and Honda S2000). You will have to route the cables down the top or right side of the tranny tunnel (just above the driveshaft). They will probably exit at the rear of the tunnel just above the differential. From there they may go a number of directions depending which side of the caliper has the emergency brake actuator.

Zig wrote:



I would follow Zig's suggestion and give "Control Cables" a try. I wish I had seen their site before I designed my emergency brake systems. It would have solved many problems since I was trying to use the donors' cables and that sometimes won't work.

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Build log http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16510

If you are ordering new cables be aware that the stock LH and RH cables are not the same length. I would order the shorter cable. I had difficulty in making a sharp bend coming out of the tunnel with the stock cables. The bend added a lot of friction to the set-up. I ended up adding two small tabs to the top of the axle, and than attached a cable guide to the axle, to support the cables. This allowed me to make a large looping radius behind the axle, which smoothed out the cable movement. I would discard the stock connector cable and balance bar. Use a short threaded connector rod attached to the E-brake lever, with the stock balance bar. this will allow you more adjustment and the option of moving the lever further aft on the tunnel. I assume you mean the E-brake lever is parallel to the tunnel Vs diagonally mounted? I would look at grinding in a lower notch in the E-brake ratchet which will allow you the park the lever lower. In the attached photo you can see the cable looped behind the rear axle. You may want to "X" the cables coming out of the tunnel which would allow for even greater cable radius. I would not use the Toyota E-brake warning light switch. It is design for in cabin use, and not exposed to the weather.
Davew

Many thanks to those offering assistance on the "hand brake help" topic. This group has a problem solver mentality and I will followup on their ideas. This might sound silly but can I get by with a hand brake cable attached to just one rear wheel? After all the car weighs 1260 lbs. This would eliminate a lot of hardware.
Again thanks- SovrenFlagger

I would do both sides just to have an extra bit of safety when/if there is a failure in the rest of the home made brake system and the 2 foot high car is bearing down on the lifted pickup.
Maybe thats just me....
Paul

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Parts left out cost nothing and cause no problems!!