I am currenly rebuilding a coupe's panel and wondering about the hand brake. I have a foot brake that I step on when landing and doing run-ups. This hydraulic brake has a cable that runs up behind the panel to the hand brake, so it is really hydraulic, not mechanical. Since I am doing nothing special with my feet during run-up I use the foot brake for this.
I am not supposed to put on the hand brake, get out of the coupe to hand prop it. Tempting as it may be, that is dangerous. If I leave it parked with the hand brake on it will bleed through after a while and not be effective and may even mess up my brakes in the process if my return spring is weak. I have chocks and tie-downs for parking. The hand brake takes up panel space, adds a little weight and over the last 10 years has not been of much use for anything. I don't even hang my cell phone on it. So why put it back?... Anybody have any good reasosn why I should have it? Alan fairclough. n87333
