...the hand brake of my Morgan 4/4 -1989 has developed problems. When I  pull the handbrake it is working, but it does not stay fixed in that  position after I let the knob go.

Joop van Haga,
Haarlem. The Netherlands,

Hi Joop,

Mechanical diagnosis is difficult from afar but this is an excellent opportunity to muse about Morgan hand brakes. Though most first impressions of it are less than noteworthy, over time us Left Hand drivers can grow to love it because it is a very flexible driving aid and can make the car perform some fascinating tricks. My understanding is that the positioning of the lever for Right Hand drivers limits its use.

For your problem I would first check the knob itself. If you unscrew the chrome button on top of the hand brake and pull it up you will find that it threads into a rod which has a spring around it. Insure that the spring is not broken and the rod is threaded tightly to the operating pin. If everything is fine button to screw on snuggly but not too too (2) tight.

(BTW, it is a great Morgan security system to simply set your hand brake tightly and unscrew the chrome button and put it in your pocket when you leave the car..)

The second area to check is the brake assembly at the rear. Do the cables and rods tighten evenly when the brake is applied? If not this can also create your symptoms. You check this by looking at the way the system functions at the rear axle when someone applies the hand brake. The adjustment for cable slack on your model is the nuts on cable just in front of the rear axle. First make sure your rear brakes are adjusted properly...very important. (If you don't know how to do this...ask. It should be done once every few thousand miles). Then place the hand brake lever on the first notch and adjust out the slack at the axle.

The last area to check is the wear on the ratchet quadrant and the lower part operating rod/pin. This quadrant looks like a wedge of pie with teeth on the arc's edge. If these teeth are slightly worn (and they will wear pretty quick) or the rod/pin poking down to the hand brake has got a little chewed up, it won't "catch".

The best solution is to clean up the quadrant and the operating pin with a file or change the components for new! The first solution will normally work..it has for me.

The access to this area is not fun. It is underneath the gearbox cover. Sometimes you can access it by the hole in front of it..but more probably you will have to remove your leather cover, unscrew the metal gearbox cover and lift it from the back until you can deal with the hand brake lever. You will not have to remove the metal cover completely...just lift it and prop it up.

Lastly, here is a present from the amazing Maurice Owen, Morgan's designer for 30 years. He discovered that if you wrap a small expanding spring around the hand brake cable in that little 3 inch area between the rear axle bracket and "t" mechanism at the back..the hand brake's effectiveness increases a minimum of 35%.

Lorne