Thread: Exhaust vs. Parking brake

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It's me again. I drive a 70 nova 4door.

83' 305 v8, full headers, 2spd pwrgld.

My current issue is the parking brake cable and the exhaust i'm trying to run.

Ive found a nice setup, but with the criss-cross parking brake cable being in the way, it bounces off the muffler/tailpipe and it makes a horrible metal on metal rattling noise. On the driver side it's the little cable connector, on the passanger side, it's the actual cable.

My question is, Can anyone think of something I could use that doesn't cost $40 and won't disable/impair the ebrake performance. I live in FL, so there aren't hardly any hills, but I'd rather do it to where it doesn't leave the brake useless.

I was thinking rubberized undercoating, but I don't know how it'll hold up to the heat or if it'll freeze the cable.

Any thoughts? I was thinking the Sparkplug wire/tubing loom that is made to withstand heat, but then i'd have to ziptie it, and that would make it useless!

There aren't any holes (subframe car) to ziptie the cable to either!

Thanks
Dallas

Runs quiet, but rattles like hell.

I've seen parking cables kept up close to the floor panels by running them though some simple devices incorporating a short length of pipe and a strap screwed to the floor panels with the cable running through the pipe.

Just keep the cable off the exaust pipes. I've busted a couple cables due to rubbing on hot exaust pipes in my '69 Camaro.

Could you mount something like these anywhere?

i have a 73 nova and i ran into problems with the location of the e-brake cables when trying to run just glass packs. But since i installed an actual exhaust system I haven't had any problems. Hope it works for you. 305 with a powerglide? strange combination. lol

Looks like Paul has the answer. That's what I'd be thinkin' anyway. Pelligrini's solution will work too and it's cheap, especially if you have scrap layin' around like I do.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions guys.

ChevyOrange, I am planning on building my own exhaust system one day (mandrel bent of course) but my problem is, exhaust work is my favorite thing to do! So i'm ALWAYS changing it.

The 305/powerglide actually works pretty well. Very consistent, The TH350 made the car quicker, but it burned out within 2 weeks, so I'm going to buy a rebuilt one from TCI or someone. I know what the powerglide is worth, and how desirable it is, so i want to get it outta the car asap. lol. With a 305 (a 700+ cfm carb..a little much huh lol) and headers with thrush turbo muffler right after the collectors, I can keep up with mildly modified 93 5.0HO 5spd stangs with ease. He had a full exhaust system, headers, cold air intake, and some sticky tires, a shift kit and an accel ignition system.

Mine is a 305 with headers, stock intake, huge carb, 5/16" fuel lines lol, a 2spd auto...and well..that's all. heh. Not bad in my opinion..but a TH350 would help me keep up alot easier!


The eyebolt is a great idea, except i'd have to take the system apart, unless i take a chunk out with a grinder big enough for the cable to fit through but make the cut inbetween the top and side so the cable still has a place to sit in. So i'm going to check into it. The pipe/strap is also a good idea. I'll get it done and let you guys know what i did and how it worked! thanks for the ideas guys!

Dallas


Any of you guys have an estimate on what my E.T. would be on the 1/4?

You can buy eye bolts at any hardware store that are not solid in construction. They are more like "G" bolts. Just slide your cable into it, and then close the eye with a big pair of Vise Grips. They cost about $0.20 each and come in many sizes.

There can be a lot of strain on the E-brake cable proper if they're strung through an eye bolt resulting in a sharp bend.

Better is to make up a short length of tubing, flared at each end or at least smoothed over where the cable enters and leaves.
Bend the tubing a bit after you make it so as to put a very gentle bend into the cable spreading the bending load over several inches.

I've seen simple open-faced shoes made from 1/8" or so, a curve bent into it for the cable to feed across.
These shoes also have one or two tabs for bolting them down.

Depending on the situation you may be able to connect a light spring from one cable to the other so that there is tension on the cable, but not too much.
Alternatively, a couple light springs pulling each cable outward individually.

A little tension will go a long way toward getting rid of cable slap.

Right Now I can get about 2" play from setup without any stress, i guess 35 years has kinda loosened it up.

I'm gonna try the eyebolt first and if it causes a problem then i'll go with something else. Just gonna suck having a nut on each side of the rear floor pan. Guess that's what carpeting will be for lofl.

Gotta love the rubber mats...no really..it's so easy to clean! especially when it's torn and you can pull it out in big chunks haha.

Dallas

If you could find pipe loops at a hardware store, they may work.

Right Now I can get about 2" play from setup without any stress, i guess 35 years has kinda loosened it up.

is there no adj. on the cable? most of the time if the cables are adj. properly thay want or cant rattle.