Guide: Making a fly off handbrake

[Jonny81191]

First of all remove the handbrake assembly from the car, then using an angle grinder, you need to grind the small end off the pin that the ratchet mechanism pivots around. Knock the pin out with a punch or screwdriver.

You should now be able to remove the mechanism, leaving you with this:
(the rod will be straight, I took the photo after I'd bent it)

   

Now you need to bend the rod, I simply heated it with a blowtorch until I could bend it, then held it while it set again.

   

Then remove the catch from the end, just file or sand it.

   

And drill a hole in the end of the rod and also in the ratchet arm, as pictured.

   

Now you'll need to make some plates to join the two pieces together, like this:

   

In order for this to work, you'll need to grind the handbrake lever a bit to get enough clearance for your new pivot.

   

Clean up the cut you made to gain clearance, then assemble the lever, I used a bolt for the pivot and some hammer in rivets for the plates.

   

Refit the lever to the car and spend some time getting used to how it operates!