Parking brake interchangability

[Limey57]

Most of the parking brake system is missing from my Ranchero, I know Mac's list most parts but I can't locate the equalizer bar, but there's some on EBay for 57 T-birds.  Are they the same?  The supplier says they're unique to 57 T-birds, but they look similar to the ones in my manual.  Also, how/where do they attach to the chassis?  I've managed to find one picture on the internet & they appear to locate on the gearbox mount, but the picture wasn't clear.

I now realise why people tell you to steer clear of buying a car that has already been stripped!!!!

[Frankenstein57]

Gary, I believe it hangs off the trans cross member.It has a threaded rod for adjustment and both cables pull off of it. I should have an extra, you should research the best shipping option, last time was a bit pricey.  Mark

[Ford Blue blood]

or is he talking about the horse shoe shaped "thingy".....

[Limey57]

Thanks guys.  I don't normally have much good luck, but yesterday I opened one of the boxes that came with my car that was marked as "oily junk" and in the bottom I found it!!!:



Just got to refurbish it and figure out how to attach it to the new gearbox crossmember.  My car came from the US with a badly made angle-iron crossmember so a new one was fabricated from box section to mount the new AOD gearbox.  Does the mechanism simply attach to the middle of the stock crossmember?  If so, I'll fabricate a bracket to bolt it into place.

[Frankenstein57]

Gary, glad you found it. The loop style bracket with the bolt in it mounts to the cross member below the trans mount, with the flat arm with twist pointing towards the drivers side. That is where the parking brake cable hooks on. Then the two cables from the rear brakes hook into the tee with the rod adjustment. For fabbing up your mount you will want to have your cables installed, so you have some adjustment. Maybe someone can post a picture, my car is on the ground right now.

[Limey57]

Thanks, I did a search on EBay 57 Fords for sale and some of the cars listed had good clear underside shots so I now have a good idea of what goes where.  Hope to get in the garage later this week & get it sorted.