The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline E brake mod on a '37

I have a '61 261 stovebolt set in a '37 2 dr sedan. Am conteplating backing it up with a T5 tranny and as such, the original emergency brake lever, bracketry, etc. will not work. Would appreciate very much some ideas on e brake set ups so this doesn't become a line stopper. Thanks in advance for your input.

Well.....I wrote out a nice answer to your question and then saw you are asking a question about a 37 car on The Stovebolt Site.
Sorry, I can't help you. This is a truck site.

I hope the "car" thing is not an issue in responding to my query. This site has been extremely helpful during my successful rebuild of the '61-261 and I was hoping any ideas posted, be it car or truck would help me over this major bump in the road.

What rear are you using, does it have e-brakes? It's hard to help without all of the info. Lokar makes systems for hotrods, have you looked online?

Mike B

You might want to have a look on the Chevy Talk site. You might find some answers there.

ryanz, lesson learned, don't use the word car when on a help forum for trucks. Easy cure, just post your question in the Greasy Spoon Forum. Most of the guys visit there and are willing to help with car questions. Believe me you will get just as much help for your car there as you get for trucks in the regular forums. Ya,I know it's being picky and at least a couple of the Mods will slap us on the wrist for being purists but it is what it is.

What does the car use for a lever? In my truck, '37 1/2 ton, I have a turbo 350 automatic with a Lokar floor shifter. I mounted the OEM style park brake lever off the side of the Lokar shifter bracket. It only took a couple of holes, bolts, and a few spacers to get it to align with the brake rod that runs towards the rear axle. At the axle I had custom cables made with '37 ends on '79 cables. The Trans Am rear axle uses standard drums brakes with pull cable parking brake set up. I would think building a bracket shouldn't be all that hard.

Joe

Ryanz,

A Lokar E-brake handle would not be a good choice. I have one on my '32 Ford roadster street rod and there are 2 things about it that I really dislike. First, it has 2 separate cable pull clevises that don't balance the force of the pull nicely like your OEM setup does. They can be adjusted but even that is less effective than your 80 year old E-brake cable design. I know how well your OEM setup works because I have the same thing on my restored '36 Chevy pickup. Second, the Lokar ratchet is very coarse so when you pull the handle one ratchet stop is not quite tight enough to hold the car on a hill and the handle can't be pulled far enough to reach the next ratchet tooth.

Lokar stuff is beautifully made but this particular item doesn't work well because of the coarse ratchet.

I would second Joe's suggestion. It should be easy to do.

Sorry again for my comments regarding a 37 car vs. a 37 truck emergency brake. I made a real nice bracket for my truck emergency brake that placed the emergency not far from the stock position. I was going to share it, but knew that a car isn't like a truck. So, I stated so.
For that I get a "nice note" under "My Stuff". Again, sorry. I try to be truthful here and get along with everybody - always have. Didn't mean to offend, but this is a truck site.