Miata Parking Brake

[skidd]

*Posted Edited* Altered bracket design from first layout. Thanks to a fellow forum member with mechanical engineering knowledge, a few issues were identified and corrected.

Just finished installing my parking brake a few hours ago. It turned out really well.. so I just had to share.
In short.. I found a pretty easy way to install a used Mazda Miata parking brake into the top of the trans tunnel. Avoiding that long-reach of the mustang brake handle.
I have the basic measurements of the brackets I built, which I'll post up in here a little latter.. but for now.. some picks of it installed.
All in all.. total spent $25. I already had the angle steel and Grade8 bolts on hand. But.. those are not expensive anyway. Call it $35 if you had to buy it all.

The $20 eBay 1995 Mazda Miata parking brake handle and $5 for the pull cable




The 2 pieces of flat steel that make up the primary mounting brackets. The rear plate has a pair of washers for added spacers, to push the whole handle under the side of the tunnel just a little more.



The balance bar is made from a piece of angle iron. Cut to shape, and then folded closed on the main pull Ferrell.








All photos
https://www.ludicrous-speed.com/zp/Shanes%20Cobra/MiataParkingBrake/

[CraigS]

Looks great. Pls update us as to how it works once you get on the road.

[skidd]

Will do. I can tell you this much. It easily holds the go-kart on my driveway which has a bit of a hill to it. And has no trouble stalling out my motor in 1st or reverse. So... I'm pretty confident it'll be a winner.

*edited with new photos of new design*

The handle, now mounted much more forward, better clearance to the shifter.


The bottom bolt on the front bracket has a 1/2" spacer to push it away from the frame for alignment.



The Balance bar in full slack, and full pull. As you can see, the pull is not dead straight, but it's not really on a big angle either. I suspect I'll be wearing through brake cables a little faster than normal, but at on $20 each, I'm not really worried about it.

[skidd]

Just a friendly update... thanks to a fellow forum member who helped me identify a couple of minor deficiencies in my design... a minor rework is underway.
Should actually result in far simpler brackets (all straight, no angles) and mounting points, as well as a more reliable and efficient pull.
I also realized that the handle is so close to my shifter, that easily installing my shifter boot will be an issue, so the whole thing is going to be moved forward almost 2 inches.
*edit: thread pics above updated with fix*

[skidd]

First post updated with new bracket and balance bar design.

[erstanl]

I see this is an old thread, but is there a finished picture on this project? Looks nice, and right now I am looking for options on a parking brake. Not really thrilled with any of the solutions so far.

[skidd]

You bet.
Here are a couple of them.
I really like this mod.. dead simple to reach the brake when ever I need.

[FirstFactoryFive]

Looks great. Also, where did you get your headrests?

[Cutter 54]

Just a friendly update... thanks to a fellow forum member who helped me identify a couple of minor deficiencies in my design... a minor rework is underway.
Should actually result in far simpler brackets (all straight, no angles) and mounting points, as well as a more reliable and efficient pull.
I also realized that the handle is so close to my shifter, that easily installing my shifter boot will be an issue, so the whole thing is going to be moved forward almost 2 inches. FROM 8/25/2017.

I see this is an old thread, but is there a finished picture on this project? Looks nice, and right now I am looking for options on a parking brake. Not really thrilled with any of the solutions so far.

Hi skidd; I'm glad someone (erstanl) contacted you recently on the Miata handbrake and you revived the thread. I am in my first MK4 build and really like this brake mod. Some questions if you don't mind.

1- Can you share the final mods you made at the suggestion of another forum member, as mentioned in the first quote?? I am concerned about the angle of the cable pull as you discussed.
2- Did you, or anyone else, ever consider installing the ebrake on the DRIVER SIDE of the trans tunnel? Maybe a silly question, but I don't even have my drivetrain in so I have no reference about space issues.
3- What year or series of Miata (NA, NB, etc) did you select for the brake handle?

Thanks in advance. Nice, clever work.
If you don't want to repeat the details to me, maybe you could just forward your recent response to erstanl if in fact, he asked similar questions.

Ed Klein, Long Island, NY

[skidd]

Glad you like this mod... I'm pretty pleased with it still. To date, my brake has worked flawlessly, and I pull it every time I park.

1. Everything I have in this thread is the most up to date info... the "update" the engineer mentioned was how I had designed the balance bar. The one posted here is the updated version of that balance bar. The original one I had designed put the main single ferrule in front of the 2 brake ferrules. It resulted in an un-even force between the 2 brake cables. The new updated one pictured already in this thread more-or-less fixed the issue. The other updated was simply to push the handle forward closer to the dash. Providing a little added clearance between the handle and the shifter.
2. I personally didn't want the handle closer to me. So, I never considered putting it on the driver side. The way my setup is designed, and the way the miata handles mounting points are positioned, I'm not sure there would be room on the drivers side either.
3. All I know is it came for a 1995' Miata from ebay, and included the cable.

The only mod I neglected to post in here was the beauty ring. It's 3D printed with some flat black ABS plastic, and has the "name" of my car in it (Jolene). I kept the STL file for this ring, so I could one day look at having someone with a water jet machine cut me a piece from Aluminum or something. But, the 3D printed ABS has been holding up perfectly. So.. not too worried about it yet.

[GThompson]

Very similar to the one I made for my Daytona using a parking brake lever from a Subaru Impreza. Good job!

[Cutter 54]

Thanks for reply.