I just purchased my 1985 GSL-SE as a "flooded no-start" car, got it home, roll started it and have had no further issues with "flooding." However, I did notice that the car does have an issue with interference from the handbrake contacting the shifter, especially when in second and the handbrake has an issue with spacing when the shifter is in neutral.

Two questions here:

Is this normal? Is there a solution beside buying a different handbrake?

I did search and couldn't find anything anywhere on it (may have missed it in the build threads).

 

pictures will help

 

Ok, I'll try and get them tomorrow.

 

http://imgur.com/a/9v4a4 Here are those pictures. Sorry it took so long, school was not kind this week. You'll probably have to use the link beings there are multiples, but yeah, it's the best I can do with not knowing this forum yet. Also, photo 1 is idle position at neutral with handbrake up. 2 is in second, trying to pull handbrake up. 3 is putting the handbrake down with the shifter in neutral. 4 is accessing the handbrake in the up position with the shifter in fourth. 5 shows you positioning at the pivot point with the handbrake up. 6 is same positioning view but with the hand brake down. 7 and 8 are both clearance shots in first. In all shots where my hand is in the picture, the shifter impacts my knuckles or squeezes my fingers when actuating the handbrake.

 

When I set my hand brake, I use first gear or neutral and never had a problem. Does the hand brake interfere when you shift? If so you might need to adjust the cable.

 

I wonder if the handbrake bracket is tweaked? Like it got bent closer to the shifter from someone leaning on it or something. That looks way too close to me.

~T.J.

EDIT: Here are a couple pictures I found of what it SHOULD look like. Just eyeballing it here, but I think the first picture is neutral, the second is first gear. Obviously the brake handle is down in both pictures, but even if it was up, you can tell there would be a lot more room than you are seeing.

I think something in yours is bent/tweaked. You could probably give it a good tug and get it straightened out. If it was me, I would try putting the brake handle up, then from outside the drivers door, give it a pull to bend it towards the drivers seat. Or, conversely, push from the passenger side. That should get it away from the shifter.

 

RotorMotorDriver, I was kind of thinking it was probably tweaked. Now I'm 99.9999% certain that it's tweaked. If I were to replicate those photos, the end of the brake lever would be over the plate, almost touching the shifter boot. I'll have to get in and see if I can straighten it without breaking anything.

KansasCityREPU, it doesn't interfere with shifting, but when I park, I'm inevitably in second and smash my hand.

 

Driving to lunch in mine today made me think about this again. My only other thought might be a worn engine and/or transmission mount letting the transmission (and shifter) rotate towards the drivers side. However, if you use the center console as a frame of reference, it looks to me like the problem lies more in where the handbrake lever is than where the shifter is, but it could be a combination of both. The mount on the transmission is in the rear center and I have seen plenty that have worn and are completely torn. That leaves the front two mounts which also allow some rotation. It's good to look into those either way.

Good luck!

~T.J.

 

I have a good 2 inches of clearance between stick in 2nd and the handbrake. Something is wrong. When I read this I wondered what would happen if the rear left side of the transmission mount was hanging but I think you would notice that in other ways.

 

Exactly. Looking at the pictures, the shifter is centered where it should be, the brake lever is just too far right. Most likely from being bent.

~T.J.

 

I went through it today and it was definitely pushed over compared to the other pictures. I pulled on it a little at the base and it moved over so there's clearance now. I just didn't want to start pulling on things without making sure that something pushed it over there to begin with. It's almost aligned right where RotorMotor's picture shows it being at now. Thank you guys.

Registration happens tomorrow, then the clutch is getting replaced on Tuesday, and then she'll be ready to be driven... Hopefully. I need to get some brakes, suspension components, and wheels for autocross, but as a daily it should do just fine.