Hi,
In trying to get my car ready for roadworthy inspection, I took my car out for the first ever drive that I have had - it's first time on a public road under it's own power for nearly 30 years. I was allowed to do this to test the car prior to the inspection, but although I had a grin as wide as a Cheshire cat when I returned (!), it wasn't all roses, since the handbrake was next to useless. Whilst it would hold the car on a gentle slope, anything else was beyond it.
Anyway, investigation on this forum revealed that the current batch of handbrake cables have a fork which is too long and which limits the 'pull' of the cable in operation. Some conjecture was offered that the cable could be modified by cutting the fork down and re-drilling, but that a JEC sourced cable would also cure the problem. Now I forget who started the thread, but he actually did buy a JEC cable, which did indeed solve the problem.
Well, checking my car proved that I had one of the undesireable 'long fork' cables and, being down under with an inspection booked for tomorrow, I had no time to await a JEC cable, so I set about removing and modifying the incorrect reproduction.
I drilled a hole further down the fork, then trimmed it to length. The swage which secures the fork to the cable was rather long, but had a short length of cable protruding, which I carefully trimmed. I also, with great care, trimmed about 1cm from the outer cable, using a grinding disc on a Dremel and taking great care not to damage the inner cable. This is easier than it sounds, since there is an inner liner between the metal spiral (which forms the outer cable) and the inner cable. Reinstallation increased the number of available clicks on the handbrake from 4 to 7 with much more effort on the brakes.
I am sorry, but I took no photos, to do the job I had to remove the radio, console and centre console, the exhaust and heatshield, plus the cable itself of course. With only an evening to complete the whole job, including rebuilding, photos did not feature high on my priority list!
If anyone would like more details, I'm sure I can post them or send them to you. Repro cables are cheaper than JEC ones, but the work is quite an effort to shorten and modify, but if you are under time or even money pressure, this is a viable alternative.
Regards,