Originally Posted by John Brown (Post 1481162)

Back when these came out, some drag strips weren't quite as flat as they are now. Some had dips that made a car roll if you weren't on the brake when staged. Some were flat for the quarter mile, but the staging area just behind or right at the starting line were uphill or downhill. Edgewater in Ohio was a prime example, especially if you were staging a long wheelbase car, like a dragster. Quaker City was another. That's why Brannan rigged up a Studebaker hillholder on his 62 and 63 Fords back in 62 and 63. When you travel to backwoods strips, you never know what to expect. It's best to at least be prepared for situations you have encountered before.

Originally Posted by ZAPPER68 (Post 1481144)

I believe race brakes were used before line locks came on the scene. As mentioned in my case, with a 4 speed the brake is particularly useful at traffic lights where I live in the mountains...it works exceptionally well and I used it all the time.

I never used the brake at the track because I had a line lock for that exercise. However, without a line lock it would be useful to 'take out the slack' easily by clutch/race brake coordination...thereby possibly preventing a hard launch (& broken parts) clutch cars are notorious for. As we all know, sidestepping the clutch is brutal on the drivetrain which is something we're all guilty of at one time or another :-)

When properly adjusted it will not overcenter and you must hold the lever (in my case the old Hurst shifter handle) to apply the brake. Easy peasy... Over centering will definately be an issue, especially in traffic for the folks lined up behind you with the traffic lights on green and your brakes are jammed. Not a good situation!

Without exception, whenever I was at a car event people always asked me 'what the heck does that lever up by the dash do'? Once they understood the mechanics of the device they thought it was pretty cool and asked where I got it from. With a couple of modifications, I made mine using the same picture as a guide in your initial post.

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore (Post 1481164)

Thank you for the additional detail -

K