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Hand brake cable question.

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John_Progess

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Moss lists two different hand brake cables, one for BN1, BN2 and one for all other cars. I have two cables which look the same except different lengths. I think I installed the longer one on my car. I have a BJ8 PH 1 and I cannot seem to get it adjusted so that the hand brake will stop the car from rolling back on a shallow slope. It is adjusted about as much as possible at the "balance lever" located on the differential. Perhaps I installed the wrong one? Thanks and have a good day!

John
 
Do you have a lot of foot travel when you apply the break? If so, adjust the square adjusting screw on the back breaks until it hard to rotate the wheel. Then back off one flat. If it is the cable you should be able to move the clip until you get less play. The system isn't that good to start with so most leave it in first gear when parked. I believe there should be 3 to 4 clicks until the break lever starts to hold. Sometimes there is a crack in the weld that holds the lever to the frame so watch out for that (under the tunnel).
 
If the handle flops around, the weld is broken. The key is to use Tahoe Healey's advice on the brake adjustment first.
 
John_Progess said:
Moss lists two different hand brake cables, one for BN1, BN2 and one for all other cars. I have two cables which look the same except different lengths. I think I installed the longer one on my car. I have a BJ8 PH 1 and I cannot seem to get it adjusted so that the hand brake will stop the car from rolling back on a shallow slope. It is adjusted about as much as possible at the "balance lever" located on the differential. Perhaps I installed the wrong one? Thanks and have a good day!

John
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Take Tahoe's advice on the adjustment. While you are in the handbrake area(if you have to make repairs), you'll probably find the "foam seal" needing replacement(available from BCS) and you'll also notice a gap around the fittin g that is about 1/8" to 3/16" of an inch. There's no seal available for this gap so use silicone sealer that you would normally use for doors and house windows. You'll want to clean both sides of the gap to properly seal it. A significant amount of heat comes through this gap!!
Not easy to do and you'll soon understand why people who have done frame-up restorations say that the first thing they put back on the car is the handbrake assembly before anything else.
Patrick
 
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