Hydraulic Handbrake guide

h701micra

h701micra

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I'm replumbing my brake set up and incorporating a hydraulic handbrake. Will it be on any interest to anyone if I make a step by step guide.
Otherwise I'll do my usual start, skip the middle and end pictures in my blog. I'll be doing it later this week :)
 
h701micra said:
I'm replumbing my brake set up and incorporating a hydraulic handbrake. Will it be on any interest to anyone if I make a step by step guide.
Otherwise I'll do my usual start, skip the middle and end pictures in my blog. I'll be doing it later this week :)
Click to expand...

Would be nice if you could, been trying to decide if it'd be worth doing for Charlie
 
karlj said:
I'll say yes just so it's comprehensive, but don't you normally get most of what you need with the hand brake
Click to expand...
Nope you get the handbrake unit and possibly the master cylinder. The rest you have to source yourself
l_jonez said:
Will be nice to see a guide but what's the legality? I'm fairly sure a fly off style won't be road legal
Click to expand...
As for road legality. Your cable handbrake has to remain. Got to have 2 forms of braking. Hydraulic and cable :)
People say get a locking one and that'll cover it but it won't
My advice is get a vertical one and mount close to the driver and forward :)
 
You can retain it with a twin cylinder system :)
But on the rally car we remade the original split braking system inside the car. Then double banjo'd the hydraulic handbrake into the rear calipers :)
Im redoing my micra in a non split system. With the pipes inside the car they should be ok. Unless I can do the double banjo system on drums :confused: worth looking into :) people just T into the brake pipe... but the fluid doesnt go towards the caliper it goes back through the main brake system.. but they wont be told :rolleyes:
 
l_jonez said:
Will be nice to see a guide but what's the legality? I'm fairly sure a fly off style won't be road legal
Click to expand...

A fly-off handbrake, in the general sense, is road legal as it's mechanical. A lot of people will try and pass of hydraulic brakes for MOTs and some do get away with it, but they are all illegal and must be backed up with a mechanical system for road use.

As for the plumbing, I'd opt for the simpler method of plumbing it in-line with the rear brake circuit, unless Group N regs apply.
 
h701micra said:
I'm replumbing my brake set up and incorporating a hydraulic handbrake. Will it be on any interest to anyone if I make a step by step guide.
Otherwise I'll do my usual start, skip the middle and end pictures in my blog. I'll be doing it later this week :)
Click to expand...
Dooooo hooooo ittt!! :)
 
So ive almost completed my hydraulic install. All I've left to do is install my pipes into the master cylinder and rear brakes :)
Thjs method is the simple cheap method of doing it however still safe and reliable :)
I'll continue a bit further and start the guide :)
For now I'll stick up pictures and parts lists so you can all get ordering the relevant bits n bobs :)
 
I was looking at the exhaust tunnel for the k11 and where the gear stick and handbrake is there isn't much room for much else,is the k10 the same? It's been awhile since I looked at one
 
20130704_142448_zps616691a7.jpg

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Here's your parts required
You need:
-Hydraulic Handbrake
-Master cylinder (0.625 is plenty big enough)
-Brake pipe. I opted for 3/16" copper
-Fittings
--1x T-piece
--Male and Female 'brake nuts' (I opted for the M10 x 1mm a pack of ten is more than enough)
-7/16 to 3/16 male reducer nut
-PTFE tape (to seal your joints.. because why skimp on something like the brakes?.. its 90p a roll)
- 2 metres of 3/16" I.D brake pipe (doesnt have to be braided)(must definitely be brake pipe not fuel pipe. Standard ones can be used, as can universally made lengths)
- 9-11mm jubilee clips
- Rubber grommet assortment
- P-Clips
-Banjo bolt & eye for each caliper

Tools
- Pipe flarer. Absolute must
- Pipe bender (optional really)
- Pipe cutter (or fine toothed hacksaw)
- Marker pen
- String (absolutely invaluable)
-Thread lock
- Your usual car toolbox (you need an 11mm / 7/16 spanner in there)

I must stress about the rubber hoses. These brakes operates at 1000psi+ (hence no fuel pipe) if you're not comfortable take them to a garage or have someone make you a set up. In terms of my micra I need 4 at 500mm long each with an m10 banjo eye and m10 femal fitting.
This way you can bolt the pipes to the hoses

I'll edit and update anything I've missed
 
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karlj said:
I was looking at the exhaust tunnel for the k11 and where the gear stick and handbrake is there isn't much room for much else,is the k10 the same? It's been awhile since I looked at one
Click to expand...
Can I ask why your looking there? :)
Edit: in answer to your question though the k10 tunnel is fairly wide around the handbrake/gearstick area :)
Bearing in mind brake pipe is 6mm wide
 
karlj said:
Cause I'm not looking at putting it on the floor :)
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That's fair enough not everyone's car is like mine I appreciate that :)
As for mounting it underneath the car, you want to mount it on the drivers side of the tunnel.
The method is still the same and mine will look just the same as yours would just on the other side of the floorpan :)
 
PTFE on hydraulic fittings is banned for aerospace applications, dunno the whys of it though but just thought I'd give you food for thought :)
 
Enuo said:
PTFE on hydraulic fittings is banned for aerospace applications, dunno the whys of it though but just thought I'd give you food for thought :)
Click to expand...
That's all good. Didn't know that but its handy to keep in my mind. I will be upgrading to full aeroquip gear early next year.
For now though I'll add the ptfe in as the brake nuts aren't made to the same exacting standard as aerospace gear :)
 
Also Loktite do a specific thread sealant for hydraulic fittings, will be better than threadlock at sealing, might be a bit tougher to crack it off again though
 
Enuo said:
Also Loktite do a specific thread sealant for hydraulic fittings, will be better than threadlock at sealing, might be a bit tougher to crack it off again though
Click to expand...
It was more for the jubilee clips :) the ptfe should hold the hydraulic fittings ok as they're under conpression from the pipe flare iirc :)
Though again... Thanks for that nugget of info ;)
 
Enuo said:
PTFE on hydraulic fittings is banned for aerospace applications, dunno the whys of it though but just thought I'd give you food for thought :)
Click to expand...


That'll undoubtedly be down to the shredding risk and related risk of it entering and damaging the hydraulic system.
 
Low Rider said:
That'll undoubtedly be down to the shredding risk of the tape and related risk of it entering and damaging the hydraulic system.
Click to expand...
Probably the reduced friction on the threads too, a couple of tons of pressure and an effectively lubricated thread might see a fitting unwind itself...
 
I'm happy with my ptfe :) never failed. Though I should mention I only wrap the 3/4 threads closest to the bolt head :)
 
So let's begin.
First up mount the handbrake. This I can't help much with as every car is different but post me a picture up and I can try and advise where to put it :)
Here's mine
20130704_142200_zps98c1b966.jpg

Quick bit of info for you about the master cylinder
20130704_142150_zpsb9360f82.jpg

The rear hole is the feed side and the front hole is the output side. Its backwards but thats how it is :)
Once its mounted you need to pop your 7/16s reducer on and flare your pipe
20130701_075905_zpsb15b62a6.jpg

Then wrap the first 3 or 4 threads closest to the bolt head in PTFE. Or whatever you prefer. And bolt it into the feed side of the your master cylinder
20130704_144759_zps5615cb05.jpg

Then bend the pipes how you need em
20130704_144438_zps6f912f73.jpg


Now wielding 25ft of copper pipe isnt easy so time to cut it down. I had mine poking out the firewall through a grommet. So I measured from this grommet back to a point I picked at random.
I then laid the tape out and cut the string at this length
20130704_145219_zps2316dc10.jpg

Then tape the string at the point you measured to.. mine was here
20130704_145318_zpsbe35aaff.jpg

Then trace the string along the copper pipe... slow and steady and dont pull the string off the pipe or it will throw the measurement out. Then mark the end
20130704_145700_zps122db1b9.jpg

Prepare to cut
20130704_145552_zpsd5dc6752.jpg

There's a knack to this... dont just wind it tight and turn or you'll end up pushing the sidewall creating a D shape. Wind it so it bites and do a quarter turn. Spin the cutter... quarter turn... spin the cutter etc until you end up with a clean cut
20130704_145849_zpsc68afeb7.jpg

Then trace your pipe through your selected grommet. Then flare a fitting on. I used a female fitting :)
20130704_150616_zps16327a69.jpg

Repeat the flaring process for your outlet pipe
20130704_174736_zpsa1dfcdcf.jpg

20130704_193002_zpsb1db129d.jpg

I ran my outlet pipe into a T-Piece
20130704_174739_zps83412c4a.jpg

Then I continued to trace my pipework to the rear
20130704_175109_zps873e3f22.jpg

I drilled holes behind the fuel tank. Take care to definitely avoid the fuel tank
20130704_200613_zps1b7369c9.jpg

Pop grommets in the holes and bend your pipe with a 90 up then a 180 down. One single 90 down wont work it puts too much stressed on the pipe and you risk kinking it.
My grommets went walkies so I put some polyurethane vac pipe around my copper pipe temporarily. Hopefully you've got the grommets to be used ;)
Next attach your brake pipe on the end and and tighten it up (my little fittings haven't turned up so I've used jubilee clips for now to replicate it
20130704_213650_zpsdbb5349f.jpg

That's as far as I've got... it got too dark to be messing with attaching the pipes up so that's tomorrow. But it's a start

For those mounting their pipes under the car. Its the exact same principles. Except you'll go around your tank not over it like me :)
The pipes will want mounting on the drivers side of the tunnel. Use pop rivets and p-clips. You wont want self tapping screws poking through your floor
 
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Looks good, only question I have is why are you using PTFE tape?

With those fittings it relies on the flared end getting crushed to create a seal. The threads dont play any role in sealing the joint, if the tape is needed then there is something wrong.
 
Wow been a while. A whole month but its finished so I shall share the rest of the hydraulic handbrake/ brake line install... I'm just gathering photos now update in a mo
 
Ok here we go
Last time we left the feed pipe hanging through the firewall.
We also left the rear pipes with hoses on left dangling
To finish the rears a small length of pipe with one male fitting on needs making with a flare bead either end
Had a picture but cant find it. Will edit and update when I do :)

Next up the front pipes


And we'll pause there dont have permission to add bloody pictures. This apps doing my nut in :(
 
on the topic f bending brake pipes, if you dont have a pipe bender, a socket or similar of the right size will help prevent the pipe kinking if you bend it round socket or what you use :)
 
Belly93 said:
on the topic f bending brake pipes, if you dont have a pipe bender, a socket or similar of the right size will help prevent the pipe kinking if you bend it round socket or what you use :)
Click to expand...
Its true. I rarely used my pipe bender but the bend radius cannot be less than 15mm if its an angle over 90degrees. I.e use a 30mm socket to bend pipes around
If its a more obtuse angle (sub 90) you can use alot smaller of a radius of your bend :)
 
h701micra said:
Its true. I rarely used my pipe bender but the bend radius cannot be less than 15mm if its an angle over 90degrees. Ie use a 30mm socket to bend pipes around
If its a more obtuse angle (sub 90) you can use alot smaller radius of you bend :)
Click to expand...
i kind of understand that your using technical terms lol
 

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