Airpilot16

ok, I have another problem with my z...it's falling apart...

well, yesterday, I drove my Z home from school and pulled it into the driveway. I shut it off, and pulled on the emergency brake to keep it from rolling down the driveway in case one of my sibs got in the car and knocked it out of gear. So, I pull on the emergency brake. The normal sound an emergency brake makes is "click click click click" until it gets to where it is fully engaged. So, I pulled on the brake, and it goes "click click SNAP!" Usually when pulling on the brake, there is some kind of resistance. This time, it went from some resistance to none whatsoever. My father says I broke the linkage for the brake...how does the linkage attach to the handle, and how do I fix it?

ZR8ED

ya need to get underneath the car man.

jack it up safely.. use jack stand ok?.. wood.. even.. no cement blocks.. ok? .. cool..

There are two cables actually. one that goes from the handle to a yoke and the cables split off, one to each wheel. ya need to get under there, and see where it broke.. if it just snaped the cable, you'll need a new cable.. check to see if it is seized somewhere before getting too carried away... use lots of lube..

BTW.. did the cable work before?.. did it work well?

The handle attaches to a lever that is under the car in the tranny tunnel (by the driveshaft).. check it out..

Airpilot16

well, it worked fine before, better than the e-brake in my other cars, but it just snapped all of the sudden. My dad says it is snapped up by the handle, and I'm just praying that something came loose instead of the cable snapping

Airpilot16

I just jacked the car off of the ground, and here's what I found. the rod assembly coming off of the hand brake lever is intact. The cable coming from the wheels that meets in the middle has broken off of the rod. What do I do?

jevil

The simple thing to do is get a new cable. The complete assembly goes for about $100 for a 240 or 280z, 150 for a 260. Or, you can rebuild the cable by simply replacing the internal cable with 1/4" nylon-covered steel cable from the hardware store (about $15 in parts). I rebuilt mine, and it works fine. You have to improvise the cable ends (buy some bolt-on cable ends at the hardware store) and loosen the adjuster as far as possible before you start, because it's hard to get it exactly the right length. If this were real brakes there's no way I'd jurry-rig it like this, but it's a parking break, and it's worked very well for me.

Airpilot16

hey, thanks everyone, I appreciate the help. I got under the car and checked out what was wrong. the rod that went from the hand brake to the wires was snapped, so I get to go buy a new one. Thanks!