Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Handbrake cable moving

Hello all,

My handbrake doesn’t work at all (brakes are fine, all cleaned and serviced). When the lever is pushed the inner cable doesn’t move. The cable housing pushes out from the slot where it’s held in the Moss box casting (see picture). Once I disconnected the cable, the rest of it works fine. Any suggestions on what I must do to keep it firmly fixed in there? Should I loosen the other end, seat the front end firmly then tighten the front retaining bolt? Thanks in advance,

Nelson
‘66 plus 4 RHD.

Does the inner cable move freely in the outer?

Is it me or does the casting look like it takes a threaded insert/adjuster of some sort?

Check inner cable is not broken along its length?

I am able to move the cable in the outer jacket, but is a bit stiff- I am going to remove it, clean the thing and try to grease it.

Yes, the channel it fits into is threaded. But there’s a bolt that comes from the front that threads in from the other side. Looks like it goes most of the way if not all.

Nelson .... do you have a diagram for the handbrake? .... please excuse my ignorance, but I've never heard of a handbrake that works by pushing the cable????

K

It’s a standard handbrake- brakes on the pull, releases on the push.

Mine was not working at all, and the lever was really just moving the Bowden cable jacket in and out of its position. I removed and the cable was pretty frozen in the jacket. With some penetrating oil I got it moving again, but it’s well past it’s prime.

I have a fresh one on the way and will hopefully be back in business shortly.

This is the last thing between me and a road test (with wings/grill/bonnet still off).
I’ve replaced the crosshead (that’s a job and a half!), kingpins/springs, shocks. Removed oiler. Cleaned/painted front frame. Replaced front engine mounts. Timing chain/tensioner. Narrow pulley conversion. Cleaned/flushed painted radiator. New hoses, thermostat. Rebuilt water pump (send out), rebuilt Lucas C40 (myself), Girling 14 calipers, moved battery to behind passenger seat, added cut-off switch. Oh, new front braces (lower ones) out of 3/4” Docol, and a set of my own BRBs from the same stuff.

Hopefully once handbrake fixed I can hit all the grease points with fresh stuff, then drive it around my street and make sure no major challenges remain before putting the wings back on. Cheers!

-N

Impressed.

Hello all,

As several of you expected, the cable was frozen in the sheath. I think it had become stuck to both the tensioning nut as well. Once I got it out I was able to free it up a bit, but decided to replace it completely. I’ve got the new one in, and is working just fine.

At some point I’m hoping to make my own replacement, and put a grease fitting in the middle of the Bowden cable. Seems easy enough if you have a decent crimper to put the ferrules on the ends. I also saw a cool video on how to make barrell ends without using the screw-on version. No rush on that, will save until I get the sheet metal back on the front and enjoy it a bit.

Has anyone ever done the modification where they add a spring over the cable where it hooks up to the rear handbrake swivel unit? I think there’s a pic on Gomog, I’ll try and post it.

This is the suggested addition on Gomog here: Gomog Handbrake page

I’m just not understanding how Maurice can claim it improves the handbrakes’s effectiveness by about 35%. If it’s placed where it’s shown on the picture, the spring compresses when the brake lever is pulled. It therefore would spring back when the lever is released. Seems like it would only help by improving brake release. Am I missing something?