New style e-brake install

[John4337]

Looking for some help on this. I have the passenger side floor in (temporarily) and trying to fit the e brake handle assembly, but no matter how I move it, it rubs the aluminum and it sure looks like there won't be room for insulation and carpet. Anyone out there seeing this?

Thanks,

John

[pjdavis]

Yes - I had the same problem - although I have not yet attached the right side aluminum to the frame with rivits yet. I just cut the out pieces of the aluminum as needed and plan to patch it when I attached to frame as it will draw the panel in a bit.

PJ

[SirAustin]

I am currently experiencing this myself!! I moved the nuts around on the handle that helped some but it still is rubbing so much that I can not put the handle down all the way.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Austin,
I think the Mk4 I did was one of the first with the new FFR spec handle rather than the OEM Mustang mechanism and needed a bit of "re-engineering/improvising" but in the end it works fine and does clear (barely!) insulation & carpet.

The hole in the tunnel aluminum had to be opened up and reshaped for clearance. No worries, as long as you don't get carried away when reshaping the cutout in the aluminum the boot covers it.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_1881.jpg

As delivered the lever does not provide a means to adjust slack out of the cables without disassembling the linkage to thread in or out the male & female rod ends. It can be used as is but is pretty inconvenient and time consuming so I picked up a hardware store turnbuckle and installed it between the two so that it can be adjusted while assembled:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_1887.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_1886.jpg

FFR states that you can use cables for the year of the rear end...True, but not straight from the box! When mounted on the side of the tunnel this lever wants to pull the cables from under the 4" cross tube, with the sheath attached into the chassis mounts a few inches above. The inner cable is only 6-7" longer than the outer sheath but the outer is plenty long. I cut the end off of the inner and pulled it out. After mocking up the sheath from the wheels to the anchor point I determined that they needed to be shortened by ~20". Pulled the end off, cut the sheath, reinstalled the end and fed the cables back thru. With that done I could now route the cables and determine where to swedge on new ends to meet the links at the turnbuckle. Like so much with these cars you sometimes have to make it up as you go! Here is a look at the cables running under the 4" cross tube:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_2430.jpg

I tapped the frame for three short 1/4-28 bolts and installed them with nylon spacers to serve as guides keeping the cables in place and seperated.

BTW, the teeth and pawl of the ratcheting mechanism are not hardened like an OEM lever and will wear with use. I recommend that when you are applying the brake you get in the habit of pushing the button to release the pawl, pulling the lever tight and then releasing the button to catch on the tooth. That method will keep the pawl from dragging over the teeth across the full range of travel.

Hope that helps,
Jeff

[SirAustin]

I went out and took photos of the e-brake installed and marked were it rubs with a sharpie. Should I just trim off the area's marked in my photos?
7822

[WIS89]

Sir A-

An ignorant question, because I have no first hand knowledge, so please forgive me...

However, do you have room on the bolts to put a nylon spacer on the hardware that secures the handle to the frame behind the metal?

This would allow the emergency brake to stand proud of the sheet metal, and avoid the scraping that you are experiencing.

Sorry for the ignorance, but perhaps this could be done. I hope I have helped.

Regards,

Steve

[John4337]

Sir A,

Once I fiddled with it for a while, (a really long while) and cleco'd the panel to the diagonal 3/4 tube, it cleared without cutting, but it's still close.

[FMJ]

Read the following post and take special note of post #4 from Brian at FFR.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?4812-New-style-e-brake-install&highlight=brake

-Fred

[AC Bill]

Not familiar with the frame mounting bracket on the MKIV, but on my MKIII 3.1 I found that if you elongate the holes on the bracket, you could then mount the handle, out towards the passenger seat slightly.

Under FFR vinyl boot, I first installed a rubber boot, to keep out water, and road debris, which can find it's way into the FFR boot. I used a section of a large inner tube rubber, cut a hole for the handle to slip through, and then glued and riveted in place. Carpet and insulation was then installed, then the vinyl boot.

[FritoBandito]

Read the following post and take special note of post #4 from Brian at FFR.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?4812-New-style-e-brake-install&highlight=brake

-Fred
Good post Fred. Committing this info to memory.

Mario

[SirAustin]

I umm tried a bunch of things got frustrated decided to do things my way!!

[SirAustin]

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