Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello all. Not a place where many of us will have been is inside the handbrake umbrella, but I am looking for some help from anyone who is familiar with that area of our cars. The ratchet mechanism that holds the handbrake on comprises a lever with that is normally sprung outwards by an integral spring around its pivot. My sprung broke during the Le Mans Classic trip (fantastic weekend). I have the whole assembey dismantled except for I just cant work out how to get the pivot out. It doesnt seem to want to budge when hit with a drift. The pin is of a diameter in the square section of the handbrake that is larger than that in which the spring sits around.

Has anyone been there already to change this spring and have any ideas to help me please?? There doesnt seem to be anything in the archives

Ta

Dave

Dave

Not been there for a while but I seem to remember the spring just falls out...whatever help that is...

John

Do you have the pull hand-brake with the white release "button" like wot I 'ad on my 68 S4SE or the pull and twist to release handbrake, like wot I are got on my 72 Sprint?

It has the white release button

I am just glad to see that someone has a handbrake that works (well normally works)..... I think I may have handbrake envy

I just checked out Brian Buckland's book and whilst he deals with the handbrake in some detail, I can't find anything about dismantling the lever. Mine is the twist type, which I have taken to pieces (actually it fell to pieces when I was changing the chassis), so I can't help, I'm afraid.

I'm sure that someone on here must have done the rebuild at some time, just a matter of them seeing this thread.

Good luck.

Hi Dave,

If your lever is the same as my S4 the pivot pin screws in. I must say I don't recall there being a spring on my lever though, I seem to remember a compression spring around a rod which released a wedge arrangement holding the ratchet engaged. Could be wrong though - it was a while ago and the memory isn't what it was!

Regards,

Thank you Roger - yes that is the sort of handbrake I have, and I am talking about the pivot that is on the lever below the push rod (whch does has a compression spring on it). The pivot has a torsion spring around it that has broke on mine - so the lever doesnt spring out to hold the handbrake.

Anyhow - I have got the pin out today using a bigger hammer . The pin is about 1/8" diameter and is peened down to a wider diameter to hold it in the square section of the handbrake. I'm confident that I can get it all back together and working again now with some piano wire to make a new spring and a new bit of 1/8" rod.

Dave