Another Noob Question - Useless Handbrake

First off, a little more info, please:

I'm assuming that the handle is between the seats on top of the central tunnel?

And from fully at rest, how many "clicks" does it take to firmly stop when pulled up (like when you're applying the e-brake)?

Yes, you can adjust the cables tighter with those two stds on either side of the handle, but how far it moves when engaging the e-brake is important, too.

Coarse adjustment of the e-brake is done at the rear wheels, and fine adjustment is done at the cockpit handle.

Thanks in advance

Oh, and when properly adjusted, the e-brake should hold well enough to cause the engine to stall if the e-brake has been applied.  We'll get you there....

I'm assuming your newer Vintage Speedster has disc brakes all around? If so, the only adjustment is at the handle. Yes, snug the cables up so that the car won't roll on flat ground with 2-3 clicks of the handle. You can pull it harder on a hill and it will hold from that adjustment.

Make sure you snug the jam nuts after you finish adjusting the cables.

If drum brakes, listen to Gordon. You'll need to adjust the star wheels beneath the drums first, then the cable.

I'll update here as I think there may be more people like me here: those of us who are just starting a vintage car journey and haven't spent much/any time wrenching. People who are trying to learn as much as they can via Youtube/forums/etc.

Spoke to Greg about the issue. He's been so darn patient with me, as i've bugged him a few times for (what must be to him) silly issues, and each time he's been more than happy to help. Even late at night or weekends. I can't say enough good things about him and Anna at VMC. The post-sale communication has really been top notch.

He knows this is my first vintage/analog car and has helped me tremendously throughout, even with questions I'm ashamed to be asking him.

He told me that my rear pads are not yet seated and will require more miles for hill-holding parking brake.

@LBoogie

First, there are no dumb questions on this forum.  Each and every one of us either came up through the ranks of working on cars since we were (pre-)teens, or we are new to all this and learning from those more experienced by asking questions. Please don’t apologize for trying to learn how to do the right thing.

Second, I apologize for not remembering that Greg is building new cars with rear disk brakes (give me some slack - I’m OLD).  As soon as I saw that I slapped myself side the head and thought, “$#!+, Yeah!  Rear Disks”!  Then it all made sense.  It takes a while to “bed in” the rear brakes, because when you stop, 80% of your stopping power is in the front brakes, so the rears don’t get as hot as fast and take longer to “wear in”.  It might take a month or more, depending on how hard you drive.  It’s kind of like baking a cake, and your rear brake pads aren’t “cooked” yet.

The “mechanic approved” way to speed up the “wearing in” process is to get the car up to 45-50mph on an open road, step on the brake pedal until you feel it nicely dragging, give it some more gas (still holding the brake pedal) to recover your speed and then hold both of them for 20-30 seconds (just count in your head).  Let the brake off for 30 seconds and repeat the process four times.  There is some finesse involved, but not much.

If you feel that is intimidating and don’t want to go through all that (I’m being nice - You don’t want to consciously break anything, either), then just live with it for a month or so and your brakes will bed in all by themselves.  Even then, with rear disk brakes it might take a very strong pull on the handle to get the rears to hold securely, but they should, eventually.

Somewhere the cables were shortened about 10 inches - either at the brake handle or at the wheels.  The shortener could have slipped, or the cable stretched.

You can easily bed in the back brakes by being forgetful enough to pull the brake (not super tight), then backing out the driveway and driving a half mile, wondering why the car isn’t pulling better, and what that smell is. Actually, by the time you smell that smell, it’ll be done.

Release the brake, drive home. Your parking brake should work.

^^THAT^^

Is something I should-a thought of.

Professional Pipefitters (and car guys) are so practical.