Handbrake Lever move, and options

[Drew355]

Dave, I would hold off fixing it until you have the extreme interior panels. I cant remember exactly how they return to the mr2, but they could get in the way between the seat and the sill if its tight. Obviously they could be modded if required.

If I remember tonight, I will take some pics of mine in that area with the interior panel for comparison.

[davecymru]

Cheers for the heads up matey, i'm not rushing into this so i'll hold off on any permanent fitting for the time being.

TBH i'm considering removing the front seat adjuster knob or replacing the seats altogether, but that's another thread

[Drew355]

Checked last night and the interior trim doesnt come down the side of the seat, it drops vertically and touches the MR2 just on the inside of where the rubber sealing trim runs around the door. This shouldnt cause any fouling problems. i.e if you can get the handbrake to work in the standard MR2 with the door closed, it will work in the Murci. I did take some photos, but cant get photobucket to accept them from my mobile. Will post pics once it decides to play.

[davecymru]

i finally got around to taking some pics and having a tinker.

Pic of the standalone XK8 unit and the oem leather gaiter that i got thrown in:

 
The existing carpet by the drivers seat is v.baggy and when i cut it with a Stanley knife i realised that there is tons of room for this!
This is just balanced in place with a socket supporting the front, but you can see that with minor tweaks in alignment this should be fine!


It even lines up with the existing release switch block, keeping things quite visually pleasing!
Although i didn't really try it for fouling etc.  so those switches may yet be moved.

[nick355]

thanks for posting those pics, in fact it does look ideal !

One thing i wonder about though is the up / down travel. So when the handbrake is on - how much does it stick up ? I presume in your pics, it is released ?

[davecymru]

ahhh, now that's the good part and the reason i went for the XK one! 

The position shown in those pictures is where the lever sits when it's on AND off!!

Basically...
You pull it up to engage, then when you let go the lever drops back to that position.
To disengage it, you pull the lever up, then press the button and lower it and it goes off!

It's one of the features that they always demonstrate to new XK owners as it always catches people out, and even then I've driven away a few times with it engaged as i didn't notice the warning light on the dash as the dash hadn't finished cycling through the setup checks before i started moving <doh>

[Drew355]

Yep same as on the fiero, only if I try setting off with the handbrake on in that it just stalls! (Its not the most powerful car on earth!)

It doesnt take long to get used to it.

For some reason I had imagined the jag one mounting onto the floor, but the side mount should make it fit better. The interior panel of the murci comes to the carpet side of the vertical metal seam between the inner and outer sills, so ther should be no probs with it fitting.

Good find!

Have you had a look at how easy it is to re route the cables & how much longer/shorter they will need to be yet? I think you get the new cables in the kit (mine were included when I got it off scott) so once its all fitted, it may be worth extreme sourcing different length ones for future kits.

[davecymru]

I'm still slowly stripping away (that sounds SO wrong!) so when i finally get all of the interior out I'll start looking at the cable re-routing.

From some of the products I've seen in the kit car mags and sites, I'm sure getting a cable to fit won't be a massive issue, unless anyone can tell me any different?

[Drew355]

Agreed, hopefully should just be a case of moving the bracket that holds the end of the two cables to the side of the car rather than the middle & buying one longer cable & one shorter.... Although I have to admit it has been a while since I have been under an MR2!!!!