This is probably a dumb idea, but when I put the disk brakes on the rear of the Dart, I elected not to use calipers with an e-brake. There have been many times when I have regretted that choice. I was wondering it it was a bad idea to put a line lock in the rear brake line and use the calipers and fluid pressure to act as an e-brake? There are three listed in the Summit catalog. All have electric solenoids, which would apparently pose a battery drain if left long term.

The Hurst roll control has a button on the shifter, which would make it inappropriate for e-brake, but would make it useful as a hill holder for starting up on a hill with the manual tranny. I suppose if the very idea of using a line lock for an e-brake is not totally stupid, one could wire in another switch to turn it on and leave it for awhile.

Thoughts on this? Thanks.

Sam

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First, I'm no expert so take this as it is. There are manual shut off valves that will do just what you want. I remember having one on a tow truck. It was dash mounted and was controlled by a red push pull button. You apply the brakes with the pedal, pull the button out, and release the pedal.
Summit has a manual type.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-a ... /overview/
But if you look you will probably find one that will work nicely.

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Mattelderca
78 NYB (gone now), two S series, three old Snow Cruisers and a Doo.

Thanks Matt. It sounds like your tow truck had an electrically actuated line lock of some sort. I was wondering if long term application of this type of line lock would create problems in the brake system? Would it eventually force fluid past the seals or damage them in some way?

Sam

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Sam, treat that brake pedal like a lady, be genital with a light touch when parking just like the old days... And no gaskets will be blown, perhaps I could find a better phraseology there, hummm, no leaks, nope another poor choice of words...

Trust me here you maybe pleasantly surprised by putting the brakes on, no permanent damage will result.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

I thought that the line lock solonoids were for momentary application, and not for constant apply. In other words I thought it would burn up the solonoid if it has constant current.

Rick

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

So maybe the manual switch Matt linked us to with a remote cable and bell cranks to engage. I do like the idea of a hill holder done with the roll control. Maybe both. Just brainstorming here.

Sam

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Did some googling and found the following. Seems this is a go!
http://www.abcodistributors.ca/
This is a PDF of the install manual, electric and draws no power when set.
http://www.abcodistributors.ca/wp-conte ... e-Lock.pdf

This subject renewed a project I was interested in so this is a good find for myself. The truck had the manual valve listed above. Should work a treat just be genital as wjajr has said. ( love the typo!)

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Mattelderca
78 NYB (gone now), two S series, three old Snow Cruisers and a Doo.

Hydraulic brake locks are a poor idea for parking and frequently are not legal as an emergency brake as they are not a seprate means of braking the vehicle. In other words, hydraulic brake locks still require the normal service brakes to function and thererfore provide no redundency.

Studebaker and Subaru both used hill holders which integrated with the clutch linkage. Neither are emergency/parking brakes.

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Joshua

I had an M715 Jeep that had the parking brake on the driveshaft. A drum/Band set-up. It worked very well.

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1964 Dart GT

I agree with Josh, and I even wanted a manual emergency brake on my race car.

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Maybe they are not legal, but my car has none now. This has to be better than nothing. I understand most real men do not use the e-brake most of the time. Explain why it is a "poor idea". This is the reason I asked.

I like the idea of the band on the drive shaft. Is that Jeep something very old? I think I found one once which was a small brake disk on the input shaft of the rear. There was something about it that either would not work in my case, or that I did not like.

I will look into ordering the electrically operated one. I guess it uses current to release. I suppose if the battery died after setting, the e- brake would be stuck on. Thanks Matt.

Sam

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Sam
In MD you don't have to worry about an inspection once you own the car. In Pa we have annual inspections and the e-brake has to work. You have nothing now, so if you add something to help keep the car "parked" that is better, but it is not an emergency brake in case you have some hydraulic failure. I know you keep up on your cars and that is unlikely, but if you did have a failure it sure would be nice to pull the handle to get stopped.
Rick
I believe most real men did not wear seat belts 20 years ago too.. I got into the habit of setting the emergency brake because there is no good reason not too. It becomes second nature just like wearing a seat belt. I have driven plenty of the guys cars who do not use their e-brake, and most of them don't work because they never used them. Then when they need them they lock up and stick and won't release. I'd rather use mine and know it works!

Rick

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Sam,

It's not a good idea because the tiniest of leaks will render the hydraulic lock useless in a short time. A mechanical caliper and rotor on the rear end yoke would do the same job as the old drum brake on-the-tailshaft, but would likely require fabrication as the 8 1/4 is not a popular axle in the street rod community.

What disc brakes did you put on the 8 1/4? If it were the Jeep setup you could use those parking brakes. You mentioned not buying parking-brake-equipped calipers so I'm thinking you have an aftermarket setup. So what calipers do you use now and what's the resistance, other than cost, to buying parking-brake-equipped calipers?

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Joshua

Yeah, it was an old Jeep.(1969), but it was a Great ride!

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1964 Dart GT

Good logic there. I was not actually taking the word emergency literally. I was thinking "parking" more than "emergency". You guys are probably right.

The calipers are from a street rod kit utilizing Chevy Monte Carlo calipers. The only way to ad e-brake to this kit is to replace the calipers with Cadillac units. The stock cables could not be used because of other things under the dash now, so would have to apply a universal lever on the tunnel. All of this is possible. I just thought if a line lock was possible, it would be simpler by far.

Thanks as always for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Sam
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