'47 Plymouth SD Club Coupe - Parking Brake Assembly

[fedoragent]

Folks,

First, I'm a new person so please be gentle.

This is my first official posting on P15-D24. Within the last two weeks I have purchased my first ever MoPAR after being in the VW world for far too long. I am a bit skiddish but am learning all about these cars. A recent visit over to the wheel and brake place that I've taken my car to made a discovery about my new car. The parking brake handle is there, but nothing else leading up to where the parking brake 'should' be is there. It's just plain missing. I've seen parts on Andy Bermbaum today but not sure of what I should get.

My questions are two fold:

1. If the entire parking brake assembly including cable and such are gone, where do I find these parts?

2. Has an aftermarket part or parts been made to fashion a parking/emergency brake?

Any assistance would be appreciated.

-FedoraGent

[55 Fargo]

Hi, and welcome to the forum, this place is a wealth of old Moapr info, specifically with a P15 in mind.

I take it your missing the e brake assembly on the rear of the transmission, the e brake cable are aailable, from some sources, maybe even on Ebay.

I would suggest getting in touch with some wrecking yard places like Moores, in South Dakota.

You need to find the ebrake assembly, and install back onto the rear of the trans, and new brake shoe band for this too.

What have you got right now, anything left from the e brake assembly.

A suggestion, maybe fill in your profile with your Location, there may be other forum members near by who may have the parts, and/or can assist you.

Let us know exactly where your at, what you need, and hopefully, someone may be able to sell you what you need, and can help you out.

What conditon is your car in at this point, is it road worthy, is it running, do you have brakes working the car now.......................Fred

[49roadster]

The first thing that comes to mind is Did the Brake place know what they were looking for? Unlike most cars the parking brake on your MOPAR is on the rear of the transmission, not cables runing to the rear brake shoes. If the guys in the brake shop were born after 1960 they may have never seen one of these.

Just a thought.

[T120]

Hi,Welcome to the forum.Below is an exploded view of the hand brake.The numbers on the drawing are part type numbers,not the actual part numbers.If there is a lot missing ,it would probably be best to try and get a complete assembly,rather than individual parts (used).Probably cost less.As Fred mentioned there may be someone in your area that deals in parting out cars.

- click on drawing to enlarge

[Young Ed]

Ive got a used handle and cable available if investigatio turns out yours is truely missing.

[fedoragent]

Young Ed,

I have the handle, but I'll need the cable and everything after that. Please PM your info so that I can contact you.

Thanks,

FG.

[carls 49]

hi fedora and welcome. good to have you here. might want to pick up a shop manual (if you don't have), will come in handy. maybe talk with them at bermbaum and see what they have. have helped me in the past.

[fedoragent]

Rockwood said:

Hi, and welcome to the forum, this place is a wealth of old Moapr info, specifically with a P15 in mind.

I take it your missing the e brake assembly on the rear of the transmission, the e brake cable are aailable, from some sources, maybe even on Ebay.

I would suggest getting in touch with some wrecking yard places like Moores, in South Dakota.

Thank you for this, I'll call them on Tuesday morning, East Coast time. This is helpful indeed.

You need to find the ebrake assembly, and install back onto the rear of the trans, and new brake shoe band for this too.

[INDENT]I've found that Andy Bermbaum has the shoes and such but i need much more than that.[/indent]

What have you got right now, anything left from the e brake assembly.

A suggestion, maybe fill in your profile with your Location,

I updated my location. I have the emergency/parking brake handle and that is it. . .

there may be other forum members near by who may have the parts, and/or can assist you.

Let us know exactly where your at, what you need, and hopefully, someone may be able to sell you what you need, and can help you out.

All I have is the handle. The rest of it is gone and I have a feeling that some hot rodder just tossed it out. They put in a custom exhaust and they were probably figuring that they wouldn't need it. Hindsight being 20/20 and now I'm the gent that has to find one. I live in LA now but I will need to have the car in SF occasionally as I am born and raised there.

What conditon is your car in at this point, is it road worthy, is it running, do you have brakes working the car now.......................Fred

The car is almost road worthy except for the brakes and the brake lights. There is a problem with the king pins, so I'm having that replaced. The rear axle has play in it and I have acquired the parts from Kanters to resolve that situation.

There is one other question that I had, apparently my entire electrical block for the stop light switch and appropriate wiring is just not there. I find this particularly curious as the turn signals work just fine. My service manual doesn't show anything that would indicate how the rear of the car would be wired. Also, the doggone hot rodders also shaved off the holes for the 3rd brake light, trunk lock/handle. It is a mystery to me whether there were reverse lights to begin with.

Any help would be appreciated and I'm already humbled at the fact that there has been a great response.

Happy 4th of July to us Americans...and to the rest of you...have a great weekend.

Regards,

FG.

Edited July 5, 2010 by fedoragent

[fedoragent]

hi fedora and welcome. good to have you here. might want to pick up a shop manual (if you don't have), will come in handy. maybe talk with them at bermbaum and see what they have. have helped me in the past.

Carls,

Thanks sir! I did indeed get one and had one in two days since there is a place here in California (Faxon) that sells the print reproduction for $19.99. I could have received it on CD, but I didn't feel that would have been appropriate.

Grins,

FG.

[fedoragent]

The first thing that comes to mind is Did the Brake place know what they were looking for? Unlike most cars the parking brake on your MOPAR is on the rear of the transmission, not cables runing to the rear brake shoes. If the guys in the brake shop were born after 1960 they may have never seen one of these.

Just a thought.

I am lucky and blessed at the same time that I have a gent that has been in the brake business since 1963. He cut his teeth on older cars and also services the brakes on a 46 Plymouth Deluxe Businessmans coupe. So he has alot of knowledge regarding these MoPars. He knew already about the brakes and the parking brake. He is just at a loss where to get the parts. And that is supposed to be where I come in.

FG.

[1942cowdodge]

You might just advertise on Craigs list the Wanted part! or try stating that you want an assembly on car parts for sale side. You know there out there as guys put in big block engines in there old mopars and usually just toss the brake assembly away! Also I bet you that its the same assembly for a Dodge, Plymouth or Desoto that will work. Good luck!!!!!

[55 Fargo]

Fedoragent, someone on this forum, mught likely have th parts you need, If I had not sold my 47 Chrysler parts car, would pull the ebrake assembly off it, and get it to you, but it is a chrysler M5 trans, it may be different.

I am going to ask around, and see what I can find.

I am going to ask anyone on here if they can help you out, let Fedoragent know by PM.

I am sure the parts may be able to be scrounged up on this forum, with a little time and asking......Fred

[fedoragent]

You might just advertise on Craigs list the Wanted part! or try stating that you want an assembly on car parts for sale side. You know there out there as guys put in big block engines in there old mopars and usually just toss the brake assembly away! Also I bet you that its the same assembly for a Dodge, Plymouth or Desoto that will work. Good luck!!!!!

Great minds think alike sir. I've already done that. I also will be putting a call into the different yards that I know of including Moores as Ed suggested.

FG.

[fedoragent]

Fedoragent, someone on this forum, mught likely have th parts you need, If I had not sold my 47 Chrysler parts car, would pull the ebrake assembly off it, and get it to you, but it is a chrysler M5 trans, it may be different.

I am going to ask around, and see what I can find.

I am going to ask anyone on here if they can help you out, let Fedoragent know by PM.

I am sure the parts may be able to be scrounged up on this forum, with a little time and asking......Fred

Fred and Folks,

Thank you very much for the great help. When I was in the VW community, we used to help each other out like this as well. I wasn't sure if the community for MoPars would be the same and the reception has been astoundingly welcoming. Thank you folks again.

FG. (Jon)

[W.F. Brown- III]

Hello, Fedoragent. Would you happen to be the same "Fedoragent" on the Fedora Lounge board? If so, you may know me as "Big Man" from there.

You will find that the folks here are the best to answer your questions. I started driving a '48 Plymouth just a little over a month ago and have had several questions answered quickly here. The folks here are a great resource, especially to a new owner/driver of an old car.

I'm in almost the same boat as you with the e-brake. While all (as far as I can tell) of my parts are there, the brake will not hold. Fixing the e-brake will be my next "project".

[fedoragent]

Hello, Fedoragent. Would you happen to be the same "Fedoragent" on the Fedora Lounge board? If so, you may know me as "Big Man" from there.

You will find that the folks here are the best to answer your questions. I started driving a '48 Plymouth just a little over a month ago and have had several questions answered quickly here. The folks here are a great resource, especially to a new owner/driver of an old car.

I'm in almost the same boat as you with the e-brake. While all (as far as I can tell) of my parts are there, the brake will not hold. Fixing the e-brake will be my next "project".

Big Man,

I am indeed 'FedoraGent' of Fedora Lounge fame. Good to see you again old friend. It's been far too long. All I need are the parts and I know I can make it work. I have started a thread on "The Lounge" in the Golden Era. Take a look.

FG.

[W.F. Brown- III]

Big Man,

I am indeed 'FedoraGent' of Fedora Lounge fame. Good to see you again old friend. It's been far too long. All I need are the parts and I know I can make it work. I have started a thread on "The Lounge" in the Golden Era. Take a look.

FG.

It's a small world, isn't it.

WFB, III

[B-Watson]

.

There is one other question that I had, apparently my entire electrical block for the stop light switch and appropriate wiring is just not there. I find this particularly curious as the turn signals work just fine. My service manual doesn't show anything that would indicate how the rear of the car would be wired. Also, the doggone hot rodders also shaved off the holes for the 3rd brake light, trunk lock/handle. It is a mystery to me whether there were reverse lights to begin with.

Any help would be appreciated and I'm already humbled at the fact that there has been a great response.

Happy 4th of July to us Americans...and to the rest of you...have a great weekend.

Regards,

FG.

The brake light switch is a pressure switch that plugs into the master cylinder. There are two wires on it, one heads for the power source while the other goes to the brake light. Note that the 1941-48 Chrysler products has but one brake light - the one in the centre of the trunk lid.

On the older wiring diagrams the brake light was referred to as a "signal light". The power was taken from the headlamp switch, usually a red wire, to the signal switch on the master cylinder. The other wire, also red, ran back to the trunk. The wire ran to the signal (brake) light which in turn was grounded to the trunk lid. Applying the brakes put pressure onto the switch which connected the power to the two wires inside the switch.

The wire to the license plate light was black, as were the wires to each taillamp. The three were on the same circuit which ran from the headlamp switch.

Turn signals and reverse lights were optional and were usually dealer installed, although auto supply stores as Canadian Tire also sold and installed kits. The taillamps were wired for turn signals, usually, or a separate light installed for each side. Thus the turn signal and brake light circuits were separate in those days.

If the car did have reverse lights installed, it (usually only one) was a round stand alone light that mounted on the rear of the car on the driver's side.

Back in those days virtually everything was optional, turn signals, radio, reverse lamp, heater, outside mirrors. On the cheaper series even glove box lock, passenger side sun visor, arm rests, and cigar lighter were all optional.

Bill

Vancouver, BC

[randroid]

Jon,

Welcome! If the VW forum to which you belonged was "The Samba" you'll find that this forum is better yet. I was a member there for three years and found it very helpful and I although can't pin-point the differences you're in for a treat.

-Randy