Fly off handbrake

[shane]

I would like to put a period-looking fly-off handbrake onto a single seat special with an offset rear axle. Has anyone done this before?

[Greig Smith]

We fitted a simple pull hand brake to our offset single seater, but there's no reason why a bracket to suit a fly-off handbrake couldn't be made / adapted.

The hand brake was positioned on the chassis rail where it was most comfortable to reach it - It actuates the cross shaft via a short linkage as can be seen in the picture below. It moves fore & aft with the brake pedal as it's linked to the cross shaft. We modified the ends of the cross shaft to take rod rears instead of cables and Dad re-made a Bowdenex conversion for the fronts. The hand brake came out of the parts bin as we re-purposed a lot of stuff. 


Aye
Greig

[stuartu]

Two of my cars have fly off handbrakes, one of which I made myself. The cars are occasionally used in mild competition. I presume your single seater will not be a road car.

Both cars have a system which uses a button on top of the lever to push the pawl into the ratchet. This works perfectly well in relatively unstressed conditions (road use, parking etc.).

I am not the only person to find that in conditions of greater stress, such as on a start line however humble, the habit of a lifetime in other road cars takes over and one presses the button down in a mistaken attempt to disengage the ratchet. I'm sure you would never do this.

If I used a car solely for competition I would eschew the fly off feature and contrive a simple detente for use when parking. Or use a chock.

Regards,

Stuart

[shane]

Thanks for the advice guys

[Alan]

In 40 odd years of hill climbing, I can’t remember ever using my handbrake off the start. I wouldn’t worry about it.

[Erich]

You could also go the 'Nash route and fit a handle but use a leather strap to set the brakes.

Erich in Mukilteo