I recently discovered that KARR's e-brake (aka parking brake) was not holding properly. In fact, it was not hard at all to push the car when the parking brake was engaged. I took KARR into Troy's shop to have Troy check it out. Once up on the lift, we determined the 32-year-old e-brake cables are beyond stretched out. They have been adjusted as tight as they can go and are still not tight enough.
And if that wasn't enough...in a very KARR-like act of defiance he decided he didn't want to start when I wanted him to...only when he felt like it. It would take two sometimes three attempts to get him to start and I often had to try to stroke his ego a bit. It seemed as if the engine wasn't getting gas. With practically the entire fuel system having already been replaced, Troy and I are betting on the fuel pressure regulator as the culprit. This would be the only thing aside from the stainless steel fuel lines that was not replaced. The fuel pressure regulator is an original now 32-year-old part.
I ordered replacement cables, one for each of the rear brakes and the main cable running up to the parking brake handle. I also ordered a new e-brake equalizer (adjuster). I am having Troy order the fuel pressure regulator.
Troy will install these for me, but it will require getting underneath the B-pillar trim as well as the trim surround for the parking brake handle. Since this trim is tricky to remove due to its age, I told Troy I would prep the car for him by removing all of this ahead of time. I started by removing the driver side seat so I could gain access to the panels.
The seat is held in place by four 13mm nuts attached to bolts in the car's floor.
The trim that surrounds the parking brake handle is the first piece that needs to be removed.
With all of the screws removed, I just had to navigate the trim piece over and off the parking brake handle.
There is a leather boot covering the lower part of the parking brake handle. This leather also fits inside the trim piece. You can see in the picture below that part of the metal of the parking brake handle is starting to wear on the leather boot. I am pointing to the spot in the picture below.
This is the metal portion that is wearing on the leather. It is the stopping point for the handle as it is lowered. Since it has not worn through the leather, I had an idea to cover it with some self-adhesive Velcro (the loop side).
With the lower trim piece removed, it was time to start working on the B-pillar trim. You have to remove the upper seat belt mounting point and one screw at the point where the door meets the B-pillar trim. There is just one other Christmas-tree style push clip that secures this panel and it can be popped off.
With the panel removed, I re-secured the seat belt so the car can be driven.
You can see where the cable comes through the back firewall and attaches to the e-brake handle. This is one of the three cables that will be replaced.
Here are the two trim pieces we removed.
The last step was to place the seat back in the car and loosely secure it down so it could be driven to Troy's shop.
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