Handbrake cable adjustment and securing

Since I have fitted the tunnel cover and the seats, it’s time to adjust the handbrake and finally secure the cable to the car.

Adjustment was very easy: I loosened off the back (locking) nylon thumb screw, and removed the slack using the front thumb screw. I kept the gap between the adjuster thumb screw and the locking thumb screw small, it becomes difficult to turn if the handbrake cable starts to bend between these thumb screws. I wanted all the slack removed between the handbrake cable and the rear brake calipers, and kept adjusting until I could only pull the handbrake up three clicks, but the brakes must not be holding the hub when the handbrake is down. It took a few attempts to get to this point as the cable adjusted and found its own centre.

To secure the handbrake cable to the car, I started with the tie wrap at the top of the differential on the left-hand side. I am sure there used to be a hole to make this easier to secure, but this time there was only a small gap to get a tie wrap fitted. This top differential tie wrap is only a guide for the handbrake cable, the securing is to the rear suspension A-frame.

When securing the handbrake to the A-frame I took inspiration from the brake hoses I had covered with fuel hose. So I cut a small piece of fuel hose, covered the handbrake cable with that and secured it to the A-frame with large tie wraps.

I actually prefer the securing method from my Sigma 150, which used two P clips, and to this day the P-clips are still called “Clip – Hand Brake Cable” on the Caterham Parts website (https://caterhamparts.co.uk), so it’s on my post IVA task list.

So, why didn’t I just use the rubber sleeve on the handbrake cable to secure the cable to the A frame? I took a photo of a factory build car before delivery, which clearly shows the factory is using that rubber sleeve to protect the chassis tube, so that was the approach I took.