Trouble with step-down Emergency Brake Installation

Aaron D. IL

Hey guys. I was working on my 50 P today and my Emergency Brake Cable had been locked up. Not only that but when I pulled I noticed that the cable itself had slacked up under the dash. So I figured, no problem, I'll replace it with a spare one I got.
So I got the spare out of storage and lubricated it and worked it on a vice and made sure the cable was nice and loose several times. Figured it was good to go. So I removed the old pull cable mechanism and put in the new one.

I'm guessing the rear wheel cables might be locked up too but I figured I got this far, I'll test the replacement one now that it's installed. I pull the lever under the dash after installing it and guess what happened.....same thing, it slacked up under the dash and I couldn't push or pull it back through the sheath. I couldn't pull the slack out from under the car either.

What did I do wrong?

Matt1950

The Cables on a Hudson as well as other cars need the springs to pull them back to there original location. Check that your E-Brake handle and spring are working and then start working your way back through the system. The pivot points on my car under the vehicle were frozen/rusted to the point that no spring was going to pull them back so I had to free up the rod and joints as well as the cables.

Aaron D. IL

Thanks for the replay and the diagram. I'll add that spring I don't think it's on the car. still I hope I didn't kink the cable.

Richard E.

Take the cable back out and straighten out all of the kinks, you don't need a new cable, check all of the pivot points and springs (as recommended above) and lubricate well, it will work. I just went through this with my '50C6 and I managed to get it working after it was all balled up under the dash.