1973 Emergency Brake Handle Repair

[Timothy K.]

Morning All;

Yesterday I was parking the Corvette at a show and when I went to pull up the E/brake handle, the release button and spring shot out like a bullet... I resembled it looking quickly for anything broken but didn't see any apparent problems. Later when I used in again, it did the same thing. Before I start really looking into it, is there a correct repair on this?
Perhaps there's something in a past Restorer but can't remember.
Any thoughts on correctly repairing this would be appreciated.

Many thanks,
Tim (26883)

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: 1973 Emergency Brake Handle Repair

Tim,
You don't need to remove or disassemble anything to make a permanent repair. The button is pressed on a knurled shaft on manufacture. Over the years of operation, the plastic wears and will not hold to the ribs on the rod. Raise the handle to the highest position possible. This lessens the pressure exerted by the spring. Put a dab of JB Weld in the hole in the button. Put the spring and then the button on. If you like, you can strap some tape over the assembly to hold the button in place while the epoxy sets. Once set the likelyhood of the button flying off is very low. Hope this helps.
Jeff

[Timothy K.]

Re: 1973 Emergency Brake Handle Repair

Tim,
You don't need to remove or disassemble anything to make a permanent repair. The button is pressed on a knurled shaft on manufacture. Over the years of operation, the plastic wears and will not hold to the ribs on the rod. Raise the handle to the highest position possible. This lessens the pressure exerted by the spring. Put a dab of JB Weld in the hole in the button. Put the spring and then the button on. If you like, you can strap some tape over the assembly to hold the button in place while the epoxy sets. Once set the likelyhood of the button flying off is very low. Hope this helps.
Jeff

Many thanks Jeff,
I thought this might be the case but I wanted to make sure before I started gluing when I shouldn't.

Tim