Safety isn't always a hot rodder's main priority, but an emergency brake is a must if you want to finish off your ride the right way. I've heard more than a few stories about freshly painted cars rolling down driveways and streets unattended, only stopping abruptly thanks to a damage-inducing solid object. Here's a solution.
There are plenty of options available for emergency brake installations. Lokar and Gennie Shifter, as well as other manufacturers, offer floor-mount (horizontal) handbrakes, original stickstyle (vertical) handbrakes in a variety of heights, and the foot pedal used here in a few different finishes. If you can find one, a stock '40 Ford handle works very well, too, and looks original to boot.
Lokar designed the foot brake we'll be using with built-in adjustments so it can fit most applications, but we wanted to achieve a precise fit in Roy Brizio's '55 Chevy. Though we could have made it fit without any modification, we changed a dimension or two and fabricated a few brackets. This allowed us to maximize the throw of the pedal, and to mount the release handle exactly where we wanted it.
Once installed and hooked up to the brakes with Lokar's cable kit, this pedal offers plenty of leverage. We may never be quite sure what's likely to happen when Roy is flying down the highway, but at least we're confident that his 3,800-pound Chevy is safe when it's parked in his driveway.
Here's what we started with....
Here's what we started with. Both ends of the mounting apparatus adjust in and out to fit the distance between the firewall and dashboard. The bracket on the right mounts vertically on the firewall, and the bracket on the left fits horizontally on the bottom lip of your dashboard.
Rather than just drill through...
Rather than just drill through the firewall, we decided to make a bracket with studs to mount the brake pedal to the firewall, thus eliminating unsightly bolts in the engine compartment. Starting with a piece of 3/16-inch strap, we marked the boltholes and the outline of the Lokar mounting flange.
With the screw holes done,...
With the screw holes done, we cut the bracket to size based on the lines we traced from the Lokar mounting flange. We waited to make these cuts so we would have something to grip while drilling and chamfering our stud holes. In order to weld in the mounting studs, we first secured them by tightening the Allen screws with nuts and washers to keep them straight. This will ensure the studs don't move as we weld them.
We checked the initial fit...
We checked the initial fit of the e-brake assembly. With our bracket still attached to the pedal firewall mount, we held the pedal assembly in so we could decide exactly where we wanted the pedal to be located. We made sure to leave enough room between the kick panel and the clutch pedal to avoid any conflict. We also checked the overall throw of the pedal at this point.
We marked a center line through...
We marked a center line through the holes to be precise and then centerpunched our hole marks. The Lokar bracket uses 5/16-inch bolts to mount the firewall flange, so we drilled our bracket for 5/16-inch studs. We used countersunk Allen screws since we wanted our stud bracket to sit flush against the firewall, which is also why we used 3/16-inch-thick plate instead of 1/8-inch.
We ground down our welds and...
We ground down our welds and made sure the Allen heads were flush so the bracket will sit flat against the firewall. We then checked the fit of our bracket to the Lokar flange. Lokar provides three mounting holes (there's another between these two), but two bolts are plenty.
The throw of our pedal was...
The throw of our pedal was limited by the angle of the toeboard. We had to move it farther toward the dashboard since we wanted to be sure we could depress it all the way.
We tacked our stud flange...
We tacked our stud flange in place on the firewall once we determined the assembly was in the proper location.
We bolted our new mounting...
We bolted our new mounting flange to the brake assembly. There are two differences here: First, this bracket will not lie flat against the dash so we don't need to weld in studs, and, second, you will notice in the photo that our flange is bigger than the Lokar flange. This gives us a lip to weld to the dashboard.
With our second flange bolted...
With our second flange bolted to the brake assembly, we mounted the brake to our firewall flange and tacked the dash mount plate in place. At this point, the brake assembly is secured and we can begin mounting the release handle.
We then turned our attention...
We then turned our attention toward the dash mount. Here, you can see the mounting flange, which Lokar intends to be bolted directly to the bottom lip of the dashboard. Again, we didn't want unsightly bolt heads in our dash, so we made another bracket the same way we did before but didn't need to countersink the holes this time.
We made sure the e-brake pedal...
We made sure the e-brake pedal was parallel with the other pedals before welding the dash bracket. There will be some side-to-side movement as the firewall flexes slightly.
The release handle consists...
The release handle consists of a rod with a pull knob mounted by a simple bracket to the underside of the dash. To continue our uncluttered underdash, we needed to fabricate another bracket to replace the Lokar bolt-on L-bracket (arrow).
We had the routine down at...
We had the routine down at this point. We traced this one out on 1/8-inch plate and left it long so we could adjust the height of its eventual mounting point under the dashboard. We drilled a hole the same diameter as the Lokar release lever shaft, since the shaft must move freely through the hole without binding.
With the release rod loosely...
With the release rod loosely mocked into place, we discovered the angle of the rod wasn't parallel with the floor of the car. By heating and bending the release rod, we achieved the proper angle so the release knob wouldn't be angled down. While we were at it, we also welded a washer onto the rod to prevent it from moving back and forth in the brake mechanism.
We welded in the release handle...
We welded in the release handle bracket once we were satisfied with our angles and mounting location. It is tied into the dash mount bracket of the pedal assembly, so it'll be sturdy. The last thing we had to do was cut the threaded portion of the release rod to length.
Now, we're ready to mock in...
Now, we're ready to mock in the release handle. The rod will slide back and forth through this slot and disengage the ratchet mechanism that locks the brake. The release lever was resting parallel to the floor of the car, so we'll be able to pull it straight out to unlock the brake.
It's crucial that the release...
It's crucial that the release rod be parallel with the brake mechanism. Since the rod pulls through a small hole in the dash mounting bracket, it'll bind if the angles are not exactly parallel. We marked the center of our dash mounting bracket with a black arrow.
Here's the finished product....
Here's the finished product. Our release lever was installed and ready for a trial test. you can see why the angles are so important. When you pull on the release knob, it must slide straight through the eye of the dash bracket.