Parking Brake/Roll Cage Combo (968 & Probably 944)
 

So, I'm digging around in the new 968 this past weekend to further determine what I need to do with it. I realized that the cage is right down where the parking brake handle would normally go on a 944/968. At the moment, I'm looking for ideas on how to make this setup work and keep it road legal.

What have some of you guys done with your caged 944s to put in a parking brake and make it function? I did find this link and article:

https://www.pca.org/news/2015-03-31/...rally-spec-944

The key paragraph is this one:

There’s one rally-specific performance upgrade that also makes Charlie’s 944 street-legal in his state: a hand brake. “Everybody knows that a 944, when they come from the factory, the parking brake is on the left-hand side down by the door sill,” he says. “Well, when you put a cage into these cars, and you put in your sub-bar, you have to take out the e-brake. In Pennsylvania, we have to have a working, functioning hand-brake for inspection,” so he installed a hydraulic hand brake and mounted the lever to the right of the steering wheel and shifter.

That sounds like a perfect solution, but I have no idea how to go about doing it. Any ideas on how to do this fix, or anything else you've tried that worked?

Thanks!

Most ebrakes aren't allowed to be hydraulic (federal law I believe) as a leak = disaster. Might sneak by an inspector though.

914's have the same problem. Ebrake systems are typ cables = easy to move just about anywhere. A little forward and over to miss the cage leg or even to the center tunnel like 'normal' cars. Might need different length cables but those are pretty easy to order.

My 944Cup has gutted doors, and the way the driver side NASCAR style bars protrude into the door cavities, the hand brake is still accessible & usable. So if you can gut the doors, you can still keep the parking brake.

Another alternative, especially if you're not having to "comply" with a sanctioning body's set of rules, you may be able to install the door bars with sleeves, per bolt in cage kits. For decades, bolt-in cage kits were allowed by all the racing organizations, but not so much anymore. The idea is for the bar to be cut so that it still is almost 100% all there, but you sleeve the cut section with another snug fitting larger tubing, and then you run bolts at either end of the cut. This would allow you to fully remove the bars between track events.

Apparently, bolted/sleeved door bars are still available on the other side of the pond.

http://www.ybracing.com/omp-aa204-eb...approved1.html

http://images.esellerpro.com/2489/I/...YPIC-NOFIA.jpg

First of all, a car with a roll cage should not be driven on the street so getting inspected and being street legal is not an issue. But if you must, if you tinker with the parking brake and get it adjusted just right, it will fully engage and hold with only one or two clicks on the handle and not have to come up too high. It will still be difficult to use with the door closed but still functioning. Adjusting is a pain in the butt though. There is a slack adjuster on the back side of the brake handle that will take up the slack for both side cables and a balancing cable slack adjuster where the cable splits for both sides up around the torsion tube. From there you will need to adjust each wheel separately by turning the serrated adjuster that sets the spreading distance of the pads through the back of the hub.
I kind of like Tony's idea of cutting the door bars and using a sleeve for easy removal when using the car for street duty. And there is always this http://www.jegs.com/i/Competition-En.../3182/10002/-1 but I would check for legality if you ever plan to race it. And most race cars don't have parking brakes.....

Re: Roll car shouldn't be driven on the street.

Then how do you get it to the track?
This is just to have a plate to drive to the track, have some fun, then drive home.

As Steve said, cage is not good for street, too many nasty pieces of metal to bang up against. Race car needs to be track only and trailered. DE car without cage is marginally OK.
Dirk

Removable door bars. Our '84 has them and I take them out for around town driving. Car is old enough to escape yearly inspections but still have 3 point into so VA and other cops wouldn't hazel me over harnesses.

Also the lower bar doesn't have to be that low.

This is HIGHLY debatable (and has been ad nauseam). I've said it before: I'm on the side that a proper cage is no more dangerous.

IMO, If you cage a car don't use removable sections. You want door bars as strong as possible. When people get killed, its more often than not from a side impact. I'm in the camp of preferring a kicked out X over nascar bars too. That has also been discussed here to death.

I see the point in trailering and making it track only, but I figure that money is better spent finishing up my garage and upgrading the kitchen so the SO doesn't kill me. I justified the car by telling her that it was cheaper than the engine rebuild if I blew up the 930. The trailer, etc. would be a little tougher to sell. As that's the only option, I need to have it street legal.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. If you have any more, I'm always interested in hearing about them!

Ok I'll agree and rephrase my comment to, "Cars with roll cages are less than desirable to be driven on the street due to the difficulty of ingress/egress and the higher likelihood of banging your noggin on a lower mounted halo/A-pillar bar or window net mount just getting in and out of the damn thing going to pick up bread and milk."

I too prefer door bars to be welded in but the sleeves Tony suggests would more than likely be pretty strong and in the event of a side impact would probably have similar failure as a weld.