There are certain components that never seem to make it onto some project builds, but really should. I'm thinking stuff like wipers and windshield washers, especially on cars built in the drier, Southwestern states. An emergency brake is another item that seems to be missing on an alarming number of projects. If you've ever had your brake system fail totally, you'll appreciate the value of a back-up system, especially with an automatic transmission!
Of course an e-brake is not just for use in emergencies, but useful when parking, especially on a hill, or to stop a car from moving when it's started in gear because there's no neutral safety switch fitted-another item often overlooked! Add in the fact that the Purple Pig project Chevy will carry children-hence the seatbelts in the back-and there's no way I wasn't going to fit an e-brake.
On the left is a pair of Lokar...
On the left is a pair of Lokar universal emergency brake cables. The ends with the springs locate in the e-brake mechanism inside the rear brakes, while the other end is cut to length to suit each application. Also included is the adjuster bracket, as well as the junction block and clevis to attach to the lever. On the right is the cable that connects the first two cables to an under-dash e-brake lever.
Lokar very kindly supplied me with both a floor-mount handbrake and their under-dash emergency brake lever, so I could trial fit each and see which worked best for me. I really wanted to use the under-dash version to keep the floor uncluttered, but there was no way I could see to make it fit the Chevy easily and be unobtrusive. Checking STREET RODDER magazine's Road Tour '52 Chevy, which happened to be in our Tech Center at the time, revealed that though it had an under-dash e-brake, it's foot-operated, plus the builder had cut into the footwell panel and created a box for it to fit into. I'm too far down the road to start cutting my car up at this point, plus my fuse panel is mounted there so that would need moving too. Sure, I could have planned for this earlier, but it's hard to remember everything, and my head still hurts from packaging the fuel, air, and brake lines, wiring, and exhausts to fit over and around the rearend! So I elected to use the floor-mounted e-brake lever.
Obviously the e-brake lever needs to be easily reached from the driver's seat, and bearing in mind the whole top of the trans tunnel is removable in a '49 Chevy, I was left with three options for a suitable mounting position: to the left or right of the tunnel, or to the left of the seat, just inboard of the rocker panel. The most unobtrusive position would have been to the left of the tunnel, immediately behind my right foot when sat in the car, but even a cursory glance underneath revealed there was simply no room for the cables and bracketry, as the exhaust, brake master cylinder, and shifter arm take up all available space there. I could have fitted it by the rocker panel, and clearance the chassis outriggers to run the cables, but decided I'd end up tripping over the lever on a regular basis when exiting the car. Not how I like to arrive at shows! The third option proved to be the easiest in terms of mounting the lever and running the cables, and is still accessible from the driver seat, though I'd ideally not wanted the lever on the passenger side of the car, it was a small compromise for safety.
Here's Lokar's under-dash...
Here's Lokar's under-dash lever on the left, and the floor-mount lever on the right. Associated bracketry and mounting hardware is included for each. I opted for the floor-mount lever for reasons described in the text.
Here's the position in which...
Here's the position in which I eventually chose to mount the lever, to the right of the trans tunnel, and as close to it as possible on the flat section of floor.
After checking that the lever...
After checking that the lever cleared the seat in its fully up position, even with the seat as far forward as it could move on the sliders, I marked and cut a slot in the floor. I placed a fire-retardant blanket under the seat.
Removing the cotter pin and...
Removing the cotter pin and pivot releases the clevis supplied with the lever. This way the slot in the floor only needs to be as wide as the chromed lever handle.
Though supplied with nyloc...
Though supplied with nyloc hardware, I used regular nuts and bolts for trial fitting, using the nylocs for final assembly. Note some holes are larger than others on the L-brackets. The smaller holes are for the bolts shown here, the larger ones to mount to the floor. I rectified this prior to installation.
Seen from underneath the car,...
Seen from underneath the car, I chose to mount the lever here as the rearmost two mounting holes could be drilled through the front of a body crossmember, as well as the floor, offering increased strength as the bolts pass through two layers of steel and not just the floor.
Packaging everything under...
Packaging everything under this car has become something of a nightmare, and the e-brake cables should be routed as straight, and with as few bends as possible, and definitely no tight kinks. Ideally, I'd have routed the cables parallel with the exhaust shown here, but as it passes through the crossmember shown, the exhaust immediately turns to the right, so I elected to run the cables down at an angle through the crossmember and under the exhaust. Here I'm planning the route and measuring the length of what will be the cable adjuster bracket.
After fabricating the bracket,...
After fabricating the bracket, I used Rotabroaches to drill mounting holes, as well as these two holes for the cables to pass through the Classic Performance Products (CPP) crossmember.
Here's the bracket fabricated...
Here's the bracket fabricated and installed. The route the cables will take should now be clear to see, with easy access to the cable adjusters.