Handbrake adjustment quandary.

[SimonR]

Hello again all,

I wonder if there's a simple answer to this question - hope so.

The last thing left to connect up after the IRS refurb that I've done is the handbrake cable, but it's currently about an inch too short. This wouldn't be an issue normally as the instructions to adjust the cable are straight forward, however, I can't get access to the adjuster. The instructions just say to lift the sill carpet behind the driver's seat, but don't account for the fact that the seatbelt rail bolt holding it in place is most likely rusted to the floor pan. I've tried to get it out but am worried that I'll round it off, or damage the car's floor - certainly I got to the point where the handle of a very sturdy ring spanner was beginning to deflect so stopped.

This leaves two options as far as I can tell - either peel the carpet down from under the stainless tread plate, or adjust the long screw on the handbrake callipers to give more movement.

I'm favouring the first but wondered if there's any other solution that I've not considered!

[PaulGover]

I'd be more worried about the rusty seat belt mount! It will probably fail the MOT.
It seems to be a common issue (though my car is totally free of it), as a quick search on "XJS seat belt mount" throws up lots of people selling replacement captive nuts!

[poprivet]

Its been a long time since I attended to mine but I think it involved removing the seat?

[SimonR]

Thanks for the replies, gents. Thankfully it's not the case that my floorpan is rusty, but that bolt that's screwed into it, with its end open to the elements for 34 years seems to have sealed itself in place.

The manuals require the removal of the driver's seat to replace the cable and remove the lever but it looks like the cable adjuster is accessible if you can peel the carpet back from the sill, behind the seat.

I wonder if getting the seat out may help me though... If the bolts aren't similarly stuck in place!

I'm going to give it a more thorough seeing to tomorrow, after I've got the car back down on its wheels and moved it into a better position with more space on the driver's side.

[JimMann]

Hi Simon, it has been quite a while since I last took bolts out of the XJS so the memory is a bit fuzzy. If you can access the outside face of the bolt in the captive nut, then get lots of proper penetrating fluid splashed around it. Plus Gas or similar works and leave it for another day - dosing regularly whilst you work on other stuff. Also, with the seat in a reasonable position, use a 2lb hammer and a good punch to get some serious shock blows on the bolt head. Work the bolt by tightening as well as loosening, don't put all of the force on trying to slacken it, just little movements will break the seal and allow the penetrating fluid to get in and do its task.

Jim Mann

[SimonR]

Hi Jim - thanks for the reply

I got some plusgas on the threaded end last night and will re-apply this morning.

Great advice about taking a hammer to it - I'll do that in a bit and then give it a bit more plus gas, before trying to work it out.

I'll report back - hopefully with good news!

[SimonR]

Well, I can report success on this matter, but not perhaps in the way I intended to do it.

I'd soaked the bolt with dismantling lubricant over night and also gave it a few sharp taps with a big hammer before treating it again this morning. By this afternoon, it still wasn't budging, with a socket, spanner or impact wrench. By this time, a friend had come over to help me with it and we decided to remove the driver's seat to get a look at the handbrake assembly. Maybe there would be a way of accessing the adjuster. The seat came out without any problem and we lay it gently on the rear seats to keep it safe and clean. We found £1.11 under the black plastic finisher on the handbrake assembly but nothing more helpful than that. Only the 1p was still legal tender!

At this stage we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and changed our approach - rather than getting the bolt out of the way of the carpet, I made a very small cut in the carpet and moved that out from behind the bolt. I should have done this from the start! With that out of the way we backed off the handbrake adjuster (the locknut and adjuster were both loose) and finally got the cable located into the callipers at the rear end of the car.

With the cable in situ, re-adjusting the handbrake was child's play - it now engages on the third click and is fully-on on the fifth. The cut in the carpet is invisible as the over-mat that sits in the foot well covers it - only you, me and the rest of the English-speaking world need know about it!

Thanks for all the suggestions and helpful replies chaps - I got there in the end, hopefully if anyone else is in the same situation they'll have a solution when all else fails.