Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I have to remove the handbrake to be able to remove the pedal assembly & my memory isn't clear as to how I do this. I think that you have to pull the handbrake inner completely out of the outer sleeve in order to be able to remove the cable from it, am I correct?

I recently removed the pedal assembly on my street S4 (LHD though, but the procedure should be similar), and don't recall I had to remove the hand brake cable... I don't remember any specific difficulty (apart from laying on your back under the dash), I think I just undid 2 fasteners to be able to move the hand brake out of the way (some wiring to move out as well), the master cylinders, then the fastener of the pedal box (I left the outside axis holder attached to the body so that I would not mess with the shims and alignement). In any case I would think easier to remove the cable when the handle is pushed all the way rather than pulled.

Hi Keith my memory is foggy, but I thought that the cable could be un-clipped from the end of the handle while it is in the holder, and then the handle unbolted from the body. I can look and get back to you (assuming that S4 is the same as S2 and S3.) Where are you located Keith?

The handle has a rigid rod that is used to unlock the ratchet but I don't see any place the cable is attached to. I don't believe the cable is attached at the lower end of the handle as this would possibly allow it to become detached when the brake is released. The manual does say to slacken the cable & pull the lever out of the housing rearwards. I just can't remember if the opposite is how I assembled it. I do need to remove it in order to remove the pedal assy., as the cable goes through a hole in the pedal box mounting plate.
I live in Burlington, Ont.

This thread may help you....

lotus-suspension-f42/new-restoration-first-question-handbrake-cable-removal-t21249.html

Thanks Roger, that's what I thought you had to do, will give it another try when I get chance to go back in the garage.

I had a look at the assembly and a loose handle and it looks like the cable has a solder ball end which can come out of the end of the slider when the cable tension has been released, allowing a sort of quick removal of the cable from the end of the handle...now I realize I should have taken a picture...

i'd say you only have to unscrew the handbrake housing, let it hang there while you remove the pedals and once threy're ready to reinstall you do so and presto you put the hand brake back up there! sandy

Hi Sandy,
As I said earlier, in my car the handbrake cable goes through a hole in the pedal assy mounting bracket, so I have to remove the handbrake to be able to completely remove the pedal assy. I wonder if some cars had the bracket modified into a slot, which would allow removal of the assy without completely removing the handbrake?

you might have to remove the aluminum bit up front if there's not enough slack to pull it in, so it can hang on the cable sandy

Hi Keith,

Don't know if this helps but here's a couple of pics of my RHD S4. As you can see the lower end of the handbrake ratchet passes through the bulkhead very close to the RHS of the clutch master cylinder but not through the pedal mounting bracket itself which is between the two master cylinders and does not extend beyond their 4 mounting bolts.

Ok I see the problem, my mounting plate is different, see the attached photo. In your case you don't need to remove the handbrake at all, but in mine you will see that I have to. I wonder if Lotus made this change to try to reduce the flexing of the body under brake pedal loads?

With any luck it's a separate plate just sandwiched between pedal bracket and bulkhead .. maybe just to provide extra support for the handbrake ratchet ?