Hi all, I'm 6 foot 1, 230 lb, with a 32 inch inseam. The emergency brake arm on the 1923 touring/pickup I bought a month or so ago really restricts where I can move my left leg.
I see in the forum that several folks have bent their emergency brake arms to the left to give more leg room, can it be done in the car, or do you have to remove the arm and do it on the bench? How much force is required? What tools if any have folks used?
Thanks.
You can easily bend it cold, in the car. A couple of huge crescent wrenches work well.
Worked like a charm, thanks Royce!
When he says huge wrenches, he means HUGE, that arm is pretty stiff!
Does anybody have a picture of a bent brake lever? I'd like to try bending mine, but don't know how far I can bend it, without breaking the thing!
Here's a picture of the one I just did today. Instead of vertical, the arm is now bent about 15 degrees to the left of vertical, which brings the top of the arm within 3 inches of the inside of the body on the driver's side. The arm still has plenty of clearance to the body in the forward position. I only made one bend near the floor, but I have seen some pictures of others who made two bends to bring the top of the arm back to the vertical position. I might have been able to bend mine further, but this was enough to make a big difference in room for my left leg.
Thanks for the picture! I was thinking a dog-leg bend, but that just might work. I was planning on just having my left leg amputated, but then I realized I wouldn't be able to work the clutch...
Strange, mine was folded flat from when something ran the chassis over at the dump and even heating it red/yellow hot it still too 2 people to barely straiten it.
straighten
My Tudor lever is bent about like yours Mark.
Makes a huge difference for the left leg!