Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Dear All

After renewing the rear end all is well,the handbrake actually works....does anyone out there have an umbrella type handbrake to hand (so to say) and could they do me a favour...how many clicks are there on the ratchet?..in situ mine is 9 from fully off to fully on...how many do I have left in reserve..

Thanks
John

Hi John,
The ratchet itself has 22 clicks of total travel but on my car there are only 12 usable clicks once the cable is connected to the compensator - even with the cross rods disconnected. This is because as the compensator rotates it brings the cable into contact with the diff "ear".

There is a witness mark on the diff where the cable has rubbed it....makes me wonder if the arm on the compensator is too short. Anyone got a dimension for the arm length from the pivot to the cable hole centre ?

Edit......
John, Just re-read your earlier post in the "Hand Brake tree" thread and my compensator looks like your original pre update one, but my car is 1971 and for the Elan the update was supposedly introduced in October '68 ???? What length did you make your modified one ? A longer arm will give a higher ratio to the compensator and would clear the foul with the diff but will also increase the cable travel which is why I guess that you are concerned about your "clicks".

Also does you car have the plain pull handbrake with the release button or is it the twist to release type ? Mine is the former so if yours is the latter the travel may well be different from what I have quoted above.

Sorry for the delay,your reply was not flagged to me...anyway,the old arm was 115mm and my made up one 145mm,and the old cross-arm 51mm between centres and the new 65mm b/c,with nine clicks to lock the rear wheels...seems good so far

John

P.S. plain pull type umbrella

John, Thanks for the dimensions. My compensator is the same as your old one - still don't know if that's the "improved" one that the manual refers to though. On my original chassis the LH cross rod used to foul the tubular upright and I had a piece of rubber on it to stop it rattling, if I were to lengthen the cross arms I could well make that worse - might be different on the new chassis but I don't see why it should be. Is the rod anywhere near the tube on your +2 ?
Shame I didn't think about this while the body was off

Roger

Left hand rod-tube clearance approx 1/4 inch...

John

You could always cut an access hatch in the boot?