Never saw myself as much of a mechanic, but here I am replacing a handbrake in a motor vehicle. This is chapter one of a five-part series on the VY Series II. I tried a few things to get it working as best as possible. Some things I succeeded at, others I didn’t. Join me on a journey of retro car repair!

The problem with this VY Series II Commodore was the handbrake mechanism, specifically a little yellow plastic part that had decided it wasn’t interested in doing its job anymore. The replacement was a second-hand assembly I picked up on eBay for around $50. Hopefully it’ll last a little longer than the previous one.

Getting the old assembly out wasn’t particularly complicated in theory, but the bolts were tucked away in some rather inconvenient places. There were two larger fasteners with 15 mm heads and a smaller 10 mm one that was especially awkward to reach. Naturally, I’d decided an adjustable spanner would do the job rather than buying a more suitable tool. That was fun.

The trim around the handbrake has a little hook underneath it, so it needs some care when being removed. One of the guides I’d found suggested removing the button, but that wasn’t necessary for this particular VY. I learned that after making a bit of a mess of the original cover. Not every guide on the internet is quite as helpful as it first appears!

There is also a cable for the parking-brake warning light, which needs to be connected correctly when everything goes back together. I put a little ceramic grease on the mechanism where plastic and metal meet, and gave the replacement ratchet some attention too.

One particularly embarrassing moment involved a pot plant and a quantity of dirt ending up around the mechanism. Out came the toothbrush to clean everything before applying the grease again. Whoops! At least the replacement was looking considerably better than the broken assembly.

The adjustment was another interesting part of the job. I paid attention to how much of the threaded cable was exposed before taking everything apart, then tried to get the replacement back to a similar position. When testing the lever, I was getting around eight clicks rather than the five or six I was aiming for.

There may also be adjustment available further back in the car, but that’s something I’d rather leave to a mechanic. I’ve never worked on cars for a living, and I’m not about to pretend otherwise. This was mainly about replacing the broken handbrake assembly and understanding how the mechanism fitted together.

The Commodore is also due for work on the inlet manifold gaskets, so there’s still plenty to keep me occupied. For now, the replacement handbrake assembly is installed and we’ve made some progress. Not bad for my first adventure into this particular corner of automotive repair!

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