RA## Celica handbrake fix.

[willwal98]

Hi guys,

Recently I had a little bit of trouble with the handbrake in my RA28. I pulled up, turned the car off and pulled the handbrake through the floor. I had also had the same problem in my RA23. Now I can't vouch for previous owners of my cars but I have never abused the handbrake and it's always kept well adjusted. It seems this is just a design weakness that can cause problems with age.

The actual failure was of the sheet metal where the mounting nuts are welded to. (Where the bolts that hold the handbrake in screw into). The sheet metal had given way and the nuts just pull through.

The fix: I made up a 6mm plate that had an inside size of 30mm x 75mm and add 25mm for the outside dia. I used the handbrake to mark where to make the holes for the bolts and drilled them out.
Now you have some choices here:
1. You can either drill a hole and tap a thread for the bolt.
2. Drill a 10mm hole and re-weld nuts underneath. This requires you to enlarge the original holes on the car to accomidate the nut.
3. Drill a slightly smaller hole (the same size as the shaft of the original bolts, don't remember the size), cut the head off the bolt and weld the shaft part into the plate so you have a stud. Instead of screwing in a bolt you can now screw on a nut. I like this the best because IMO it's stronger than taping a thread and you don't need to go to the effort of making the extra holes in the floof.

Once you have done this bit, position the plate over the original handbrake hole and weld it in place. Now you have a very solid mount for you handbrake lever.

Now the second problem I had noticed while the Hbrake lever was out, it had bent in a couple of places slightly which made it a little sloppy. On the back of the lever where the gear goes through and on the underside where the teeth grip the gear. This also made it so one of the teeth no longer sat on the gear but rubbed on the side.

The fix for this was easy, I cut some plates out of 1mm sheet steel and welded them on each side of the lever to give extra strenght on the back and sides. I also run a weld underneath the lever along the join and the little flap bit that is folded over.

Now my handbrake feels great, nice and solid, no play in it. It acutally feels better than the new corollas at work. It's a pleasure pulling that lever when I get out of the car instead of worrying that it will break.

I hope this helps anyone having the same problem. I can get some pics if anyone needs them for clarification.

[Damo82]

Excellent write up +rep for you

Pics would be good, just for reference.

[ace]

Nice, +rep, and pics of the plate etc at least.

[willwal98]

thanks for the rep guys. I'll take some snaps this weekend if I can.

[willwal98]

Just adding a pic. Sorry this has taken so long.

You can see the two pieces of sheet metal I have put on in the two circles. This is repeated on the opposite side. And the plate welded to the floor where the arrow points.

Didn't get any shots of the studs I welded in but it's pretty easy to do.



If anyone has any questions just post em up and i'll help as much as I can.

[timbosaurus]

Recently I had a little bit of trouble with the handbrake in my RA28. I pulled up, turned the car off and pulled the handbrake through the floor. I had also had the same problem in my RA23. Now I can't vouch for previous owners of my cars but I have never abused the handbrake and it's always kept well adjusted. It seems this is just a design weakness that can cause problems with age.

lol. I had this problem a coupla weeks ago, so been driving round without a park brake since

I have a feeling if the nuts get a tad loose, that's when it pulls through so easily. If they stay tightened, it is usually ok.

Thanks for the tips, it was kinda what i hoped to do (sans strentghing the handle), so good to know there are no hidden traps!

+ Rep from Timbo

[willwal98]

It was pretty easy to do and made it feel a lot sturdier. I guess the only trouble I had was the tar on the floor makes the job a little messy, try and chisle some of it out of the way before you weld. And the sheet metal there is a little thin which can make the welding a little tricky. The rest was very easy.

[willwal98]

Just a small update. o_man_ra23 has made a suggestion to put the plate under the floor instead of on top to make the install a bit neater. This is an excellent idea for anyone who has their car apart or willing to make it that way. Would make a nice stealthy upgrade. Personally I it was more difficult for me to do that and it's under the carpet and soon a console so it doesn't bother me that it's a bit ugly. But non the less a great idea and i'll have to find one of his posts so I can + rep him for it