Handbrake Rebuild Tutorial

[Greg Scallon]

Hello Hugo,
I found it! Here is the correct photo for #24.

"This photo shows the mechanism as it would be when the t-handle is turned clockwise in the car, locking the hand brake. Note that the crease line of the v-washer is vertical to the photo.(if this doesn't make sense in photos, it will when you have the unit out and in your hands"

[Brad Ripley]

BTW, the washers and spring in this assembly are not available from Porsche. However, Sierra Madre has a kit of such parts under their number: 644.242.31S about $85.

Those parts are the same for the 356C but all the other parts differ plus the addition of the light switch. The end of the tube is enlarged and has a bushing to center the cable.

[Scott McAdams]

Hi Greg. I just wanted to thank you for your May ‘09 post on the handbrake rebuild. Also thanks to the fellows that helped you - Alan K., Bruce B., and John F. I finally got a chance to tackle mine. The original cable had a kink in it, which had prevented it from working properly for the past 5 years that I’ve had the car. I got a new cable/spindle piece from Sierra Madre, and installed it this past weekend. With the help of your instructions and pics, it went great. The hardest part was installing the roll-pin that holds the brake handle onto the spindle. The brake release mechanism now works like it should! Here is a pic of my original cable with the kink:

[Greg Scallon]

Scott,
I'm so happy my post helped you out. It's been 10 years since I did it so it feels good people are still finding the write up and using it.

I'm still tinkering with my 356 and my VW bus, but not quite as much as I'd like due to kids and family stuff. They both get driven a ton though. Hopefully yours does too.

Thanks for the note and have a great Springtime.

Regards,
-Greg

[Paul Hemburrow]

This is brilliant. I wish I read this before I made a mess of reinstalling mine.

My car is a right hand drive and it looks like it’s installed mirror image. That is CW to release and the 10 and 4 o’clock.

[Paul Hemburrow]

For Right hand drive cars I thought I would add some detail.

The handbrake in the locked position is at 10 and 4 o’clock.
To release, the handbrake is rotated at least 90 degrees CW

The pointed washer has an R embossed on it and starts at the full CCW position (when viewed from drivers seat)

When the shaft is installed, the end of the cable has an embossed R on the end. To mount the cable into the brake lever, tension in applied by rotating the cable clevis CW when looking from the front of the car.

I found it useful during reassembly to mount the shaft in the vice in the correct orientation and then slide the housing over to align the pieces.

Another issue I found was that the hexagonal shaft had worn underneath. RHD ones are hard to find so I rotated the shaft 180 degrees and refitted. This solved the problem.

[Morgan Duncan]

The pointed washer has an R embossed on it and starts at the full CCW position (when viewed from drivers seat)

Hi Paul, just doing the same now.

Per above can you clarify, is the full CCW position you mention above on RHD handle at 10 and 4 ?

Also I received an extra item in my order from Sierra Madre. all the repair kits seem to have one more part than this thread shows ? any clues on why ?

[Hugo Karasawa]

Morgan,
Can you post a picture of the extra part you received ?
And/or a picture of the complete set ?
Thanks

[Morgan Duncan]

356 handbrake copy.png (151.51 KiB) Viewed 107 times

This is the kit and the one circled doesn't fit on the shaft.
The washer below it looks like it does the same thing and it does fit on the shaft.
PS: I have a right hand drive car.