ianhoward Posted December 8, 2006 Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 Greetings learned ones! Can anyone explain why my TR5 has a 'normal' handbrake, whereas my old TR4 and recently acquired TR6 (CP) has a Fly-Off type??? I'm puzzled! (nothing new there then!) Many thanks for all the (constructive) comments... Rgds Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnC Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 What's a 'Fly-Off' handbrake? My CP series has one on the tunnel which ratchets up & has a button to release the ratchet. I assume this is 'normal'... Cheers, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnC Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Many thanks for the enlightening reply Alec You may well be right about TR6s for the Oz market - I wouldn't know as I brought mine with me from the UK. I'd still like to know what a 'Fly-Off' handbrake is. It sounds like a valuable mod to my car, particuarly in the summer months when flies are quite prevalent... Cheers, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Wyn Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 A fly off hanbrake is a lever you can lift up and down without depressing the button. If you want to leave the hanbrake up you can press the button and it will stay up (I think anyway) I used to have one on my Escort when I did some road rallying many years ago, handy for the handbrake turns. If my mind serves me correctly, all that was done to mine was to reverse the 'cog' withing the handle. Not much chance of a successful handbrake turn with the efficiency og the 5 or 6 handbrake though! Hill starts are fun enough, especially when someone is right up your backside. Wyn p.s. to any NL group on the forum today, have a great night and keep Harry on the shandy!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bald Rick Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Many thanks for the enlightening reply Alec You may well be right about TR6s for the Oz market - I wouldn't know as I brought mine with me from the UK. I'd still like to know what a 'Fly-Off' handbrake is. It sounds like a valuable mod to my car, particuarly in the summer months when flies are quite prevalent... Cheers, John Hi John Handbrakes have a pawl and ratchet device which locks the handbrake lever in position when the handbrake is applied. With a normal handbrake the pawl is spring loaded to engage with the ratchet. Therefore when you pull up the lever it locks in position. To release the handbrake you pull the lever and press and hold in the button on the end disengaging the pawl. Lower the lever and the handbrake is off. With a fly off handbrake the pawl is spring loaded to release from the ratchet therefore: To apply the handbrake you pull up the lever and press the button on the end to engage the pawl in the ratchet locking the lever in position. To release the handbrake you just yank on the lever (the button pops out and the pawl disengages from the ratchet) and let it go, and the handbrake "flies off". "Flyoff" is the earlier type of handbrake & I think was in general use on early cars with cable brakes, as the hand brake and footbrake were both mounted on the same actuating rod. So, a "normal" hand brake would not have worked as every time you applied pressure to the brake pedal the handbrake would have engaged. With the "flyoff" type this problem is overcome and you can even release the handbrake by stamping in the brake pedal. Only when hydraulic brakes were introduced and the hand and footbrakes had seperate operating mechanisms was it possible to have the modern or "normal" type of handbrake. Fitting "flyoff" handbrakes on fifties cars was, I think, for reasons of tradition rather than necessity. Please don't ask about umbrella handbrakes ! Hope this helps. Tony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
graeme Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Ian, My understanding is that the 'fly off' handbrake was deleted from the TR6 and probably from the TR5. Of course some owners of the later cars, will have modified their handbrake to be a 'fly off' type. Graeme Quote Link to post Share on other sites
North London Mike Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Greetings learned ones! Can anyone explain why my TR5 has a 'normal' handbrake, whereas my old TR4 and recently acquired TR6 (CP) has a Fly-Off type??? I'm puzzled! (nothing new there then!) Many thanks for all the (constructive) comments... Rgds Ian My learned colleagues can give you the tech stuff, the other info may be this: TR2/3/4 had fly offs. Found in the drivers footwell attached to the transmission tunnel. Pull it up with the thumb button pressed to lock it and to release just pull it again (no button) and it 'flys off', good for a quick get away! The TR4 rally cars had the lever moved to the transmission tunnel to aid hand break turns (more leverage) and also didn't like the way the original fly off cut into their legs during long stages. This 'mod' was adopted for the 4a and carried through to the 5 & 6................or so I thought. Is somebody saying that 5 & 6's went back to fly offs? Maybe your 4a was a cross over or early model or was 'converted' Hope some of this helped Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianhoward Posted December 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Evening all! My old TR4 was a US spec reimported in 1990... this has a Fly-Off H/brake which I liked... I subsequently purchased a 1974 TR6 that had a 'normal' handbrake and a year later was given the opportunity of purchasing my TR5 (so the 6 was sold) - also with a 'normal' handbrake. However, my recently acquired 1972 model CP series TR6 has the fly off type. My query is that I am 'quizzy' as to the 'whys' of the differing types and whether things have been modified over the years... However, I believe that the 6 is pretty original in ist features(?) Cheers again! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Jellybelly Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Evening all! My old TR4 was a US spec reimported in 1990... this has a Fly-Off H/brake which I liked... I subsequently purchased a 1974 TR6 that had a 'normal' handbrake and a year later was given the opportunity of purchasing my TR5 (so the 6 was sold) - also with a 'normal' handbrake. However, my recently acquired 1972 model CP series TR6 has the fly off type. My query is that I am 'quizzy' as to the 'whys' of the differing types and whether things have been modified over the years... However, I believe that the 6 is pretty original in ist features(?) Cheers again! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Jellybelly Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Bit of an error above; apologies......I`ll begin again First and only time I bought a new car; August 1st 1967 and it was a Mk 3 Spitfire. Of course didn`t read any hand book before shooting off down the high street in Wishaw to the first set of lights on a hill and on red. You can imagine not realising that model had a fly off handbrake.......slipping backwards and then not being able to release the damn thing.......those were the days when there was little traffic on the roads. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jean Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 If you ever drove a LHD car you will probably understand why the hand brake was moved to the tunnel, it's a pain in your a** to reach the handle in unlock position from the left seat not to speak if you carry seatbelts. In this case the fly-off capability gives some relief when you release the brake. Seen the fact that about 85% of all TRs were LHD I wonder why they put that handle on the right site at the beginning.... Jean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roger H Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Many thanks for the enlightening reply Alec You may well be right about TR6s for the Oz market - I wouldn't know as I brought mine with me from the UK. I'd still like to know what a 'Fly-Off' handbrake is. It sounds like a valuable mod to my car, particuarly in the summer months when flies are quite prevalent... Cheers, John You made me laugh. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jerrytr5 Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 My old 4A was fitted with a fly-off lever, my 5 came with a non fly-off. Can't guarantee that neither had been changed in the past. Logic would seem to imply that most 5's and presumably all 6's had the non fly-off type. They are easily interchangeable. Jerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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