Handbrake

AK Handbrake performance is pretty marginal according to the various forums. There are many accounts of folks having bad experiences at IVA. I managed to get the standard setup working reasonably effectively by spending a lot of time adjusting the various pivots and the brake shoe adjusters, however it took a mighty pull on the lever to lock up the wheels and would be difficult for the wife to operate. Now in many ways that wouldn't be a bad thing however as I'm technically building this car for her I needed a solution.
A number of guys have gone down the route of fitting electric actuators, however I didn't fancy that route as I prefer to be able to hold the car on the handbrake during hill starts which is a right pain if you have to jab buttons, plus the handbrake is very much on or off.
Now as luck would have it, AK have been working on this problem and have modified the system for new builds. Fortunately they have a kit available for retro fit for £30 excl VAT.

The new system implements a pulley wheel on the end of the actuation lever which allows the cable from the actuation lever to the handbrake lever to exert double effort, thus halving the pull needed on the handbrake.

The kit comprises  a modified handbrake cable, a couple of angled steel ferules and the pulley wheel and shoulder bolt.

This is the installed kit. The installation requires drilling a 12mm hole at an angle through the chassis plate to achieve a suitable angle for the cable to wrap around the pulley. The pulley fits into the hole on the actuating lever where the original cable pull located.. The threaded cable end  is inserted through the two angled ferules which are then clamped in place using the two nuts. This is quite clever in that it avoids the need for any welding. 

 The cable end needs to sit in a locating recess on the chassis plate. I found the easiest way to achieve this was to simply drill a small recess as above.

The net result is a much improved handbrake action with much lower effort. Well worth the cost.