Hot Rods Emergency/park brake - Do you have one?

Emergency/parking brake should be mandatory.

 

When I built my Model A, I made sure it had a working emergency brake. I use the original model a handle to the Ford 9-inch with drums out back. I never thought anything of it until just last summer when my master cylinder failed while pulling up to an intersection. It was just Instinct, I grabbed that e-brake handle and pull it. I stopped in time. Will never drive a car without an e brake.

 

Short A to Q is no ! But I'm standardshift an never had a need,I can leve it in gear if parked or slow it down by down shifting etc. Never felt like adding one ether.

 

My 39 Ford coupe I used a lever from an early 70's dodge van, in the convertible I used the factory e-brake lever. I am a firm believer in an emergency brake, I guess that partly comes from being a NSRA safety inspector.

 

I am using the stock 40 handle with new hardware. Safety 23 every year.

 

I have two! One in each Deuce.

 

On everything we build with an 8 or 9 inch we use a pinion E-brake. With 2.73 gears you have a good brake and with 4.11's you have a great brake. Very simple one cable set up.

 

Never without one.
Always the tried and true left side of the dash pull type. If I need it I don’t want to be reaching around or bending down to find it.
Before choosing I recommend practicing emergency stops and seeing how hard it is to get and grab a imaginary lever in different locations. Should help narrow it down.

 

This is the one I use in my '32. The wife used some leather scraps from the seat to sew up a boot for the handle.

 

We call it an E Brake , but my rights it’s a PARKING BRAKE . Helps out a great deal when the N safety switch is out of adjustment or you for get to turn the wheel into the curb on a manual shift . I know you never need one , I never needed a dual MC either , but I never complete a build without one now that there is an available safety factor to use .

 

It is mandatory down here. Plus our local tech. inspections go a lot further than your NSRA safety checks insofar as safety etc so we're used to jumping through all sorts of legislative hoops as well as dotting the 'I's and crossing the 'T's. I'll also add that it's only a parking brake albeit often referred to as an emergency brake, a euphemism

 

No, it is an emergency brake, especially if you have, you know, an emergency.

"The emergency brake was originally intended for one particular emergency and that was "no other way to stop", as was the case when the footbrake suddenly failed due to a loss of hydraulic pressure or other issue. Drivers had to respond when brakes failed, so they were expected to learn how to stop a speeding vehicle using the emergency brake alone. Safety regulations became almost universal by 1980, so modern brake systems are very reliable, using dual-circuit hydraulics and more recently low-brake-fluid sensors.

As modern brakes no longer cause emergencies in normal contexts (a brake warning light comes on after the first sign of trouble), it is no longer necessary for the average driver to learn to use this brake for emergencies.

Some drivers benefiting from the "park" function on their automatic transmissions do not use this brake at all After a lack of recent braking emergencies automakers stopped using the term, and started referring it by its other use, the "parking brake", even though the ability to function at a high speed was still there.

On an increasing number of modern vehicles, the parking brake can only be engaged when the vehicle is at a stop, and they no longer have an emergency brake."

 

They really help when you've trashed a rear gear and you're loading the car on the trailer.

 

Did you guys use original or aftermarket cables? HRP

 

They are in Louisiana actually. Well they were I have not owned a car with a Louisiana tag in a few years. That was the main part of safety inspection in the '90s, the inspector took your car and rolled it out and used the E brake to lock up the rear wheels.

I may have two but I have at least one floor mount E brake handle from a late model Ford econobox that I am using in my current built. It will be mounted between the seats with the handle extending just beyond the front of the seat. Easy to grab and yank in a pinch.

 

X2

 

I too used the Control Cable set up in my 28. Ordered the handle and mounting brackets and installed them. Used 1/4" nylon tubing to mock up the cables and routing. Then used mocked up cable length to order custom cables from Control Cable. Fit and worked perfectly. Very pleased with ease of installation, effectiveness, and cost.

 

Had planned on just worrying about one later but I’m running an early chev single reservoir master cylinder, so common sense took over and I added a lokar emergency brake.
It’s the low floor mount style. It’s ok and does the job. Have some issues with the boot and trim, but for my beater is alright.

 

I used the E-brake from my Fox Mustang donor car. Fits nicely in my extremely tight cockpit.

Before teardown...……………..



During teardown...……………..

 

My '59 Ford is a stick so I have to have one, also a NY state inspection requirement. I had to replace the frozen up front cable, talk about tight quarters, I'm glad I could find a re-pop.

 

Danny, I had a E brake on my 56 Buick wagon but still used a rock under the tire because we live on a mountain top. LOL. Bruce. View attachment 4175256

 

I have a emergency/park rock but I think it's time to update! HRP

 

First used the original cables but did not like the way it turned out. Ended up with aftermarket ones.

 

Yes, My daily driver had a non functional parking/emergency brake, if it did work I could have used it when the pedal went to the floor. Down hill on a half way ice covered road, missed my street, and the next one, down shifting only changed the location of the lever, and the Y intersection was moving up fast. Hard left lock got me in a perfect dirt track Sprint Car four wheel slide, dirt banking stopped me. Drive home was even slower. It may get mentioned in the "What did you do today?" thread. Bob

 

Danny, on my Nova I used a combination of oem replacement (NAPA), aftermarket and Home Depot components, a bit of a hybrid system.
I won't say what the rearend is other than the axles are quite wobbly.
The (required) ones that attach to the e-brakes are the short oem "fitted" type that have rubber casings with an anchor on each end, they are somewhat more flexible than the standard spiral wrapped steel oem style allowing them to turn corners tighter.
On the handle end of the system I used some left over Lokar casings and got the cable from bulk stock at Home Depot, also found some real neat stainless steel cable connectors at Harbor Freight.
I may even use this combination on a regular project if I ever finish my three current ones.

 

The Pontiac Fiero lever was mounted to the left of the drivers seat. Because of the location you could set the ebrake and lower the lever back down so you did not have any trouble getting in our out of the car. These work well on other vehicles too.

 

Well I don’t have an emergency brake but do have a parking brake. I have a small ball valve plumbed into the brake line going to the rear wheels. When I press down on the brake pedal I then turn the ball valve to the off position. This locks the pressure into the line and clamps the brake calipers. Simply turning the valve open unclamps the calipers. In my application I really didn’t have room for an emergency brake. This set up holds car on hills, can be used to hold car on hill with out having to slip clutch while starting up. An added benefit is it can also be used as a security device locking rear wheels while away from the car. The car is an open roadster/sports car so I worry about someone just rolling it away or onto a trailer and stealing it.

 

I have one, use it frequently. Floor mounted. Now my neighbours "finished" '32 coupe was idling and rolled out of garage and hit retaining wall in driveway. His parking brake kit been on the shelf couple years.

 

They used to all be called ‘Emergency Brakes’ which seemed to elude to some sort of impending excitement. The term ‘Parking Brake’ seems so mundane by comparison. Either way you refer to the apparatus- I would not drive an old vehicle without one that works.


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I figured while the sedan is being gutted for the new interior now is the time to install the emergency/park brake so I took a little road trip to a hot rod shop to get one, I ended up with a chrome floor mounted aftermarket unit & cables. HRP