How does a hydro e work?

The basic principle is that you can easily yank the brake without messing with a button to engage it like on stock cars. The vertical orientation makes it very accessible. Unfortunately I can’t go into mechanical details.

There are lot of vids on youtube and I think that videos can help you better then some lond text

If i understand it correctly you just hook up a separate brake master cylinder to your rear brakes. So you can use 100% of the pressure instead of 25%. Also its much more ergonomic and easier to use.

Almost all cars’ (maybe not super new ones idk) e-brakes are cable-operated. That is to say, when you pull it, you’re pulling a physical cable that tightens the shoes on the brake drum. Buttons are there for parking, so you can leave it engaged. Easy to delete them for free.
The advantage of the hydraulic e-brake is, well - hydraulics. They make it a hell of a lot easier on your arm to pull the brake, so you can pull it harder, faster, and more efficiently.

Presumably you have cable operated handbrake at the moment (I’m British, so you might need to translate!). This works by pulling a lever, which pulls a cable through a secured outer sleeve, operating more levers inside the drum that push the shoes out onto the braking surface (in this case, the inside of the drum).

Separately (and this is important) the service brake (hydraulically operated from the foot pedal, probably via a servo and proportioning valve) operates a brake cylinder inside the drum that is also able to push the shoes onto the braking surface.

These two systems are completely independent, for the very good reason that should the service brake fail, the handbrake can still stop the car.

Adding a hydraulic handbrake is sadly not straightforward if needing to retain standard brake parts. For the reasons above, the hydraulic handbrake must be on a completely separate system from the service brake, meaning a second brake cylinder is needed inside the drum. For a rear disc, this either means a separate caliper or a small drum brake mounted in the centre of the bell of the disc.

So I would say that although the hydraulic handbrake is better (you can have a much higher leverage advantage with hydraulics), it’s not worth the extra effort over a properly adjusted cable handbrake with drums on the rear.

For reference, I’m running twice the power and tyres 4 sizes wider on my mg, and I still run standard drums on the back with a cable handbrake. It can still lock the rear wheels with this setup.

Thank you to everyone who commented Rob A in particular.

I will watch a couple of vids and reconsider my aim :)

I guess you could build an hydraulic handbrake by fixing up a second brake cylinder to the rear drum brakes but it needs custom brake parts entirely so new brake pads will be always custom made.

The normal cable handbrake works with a bunch of solid metal pieces that are spring loaded. When you pull the cable, it tensions the metal pieces and forces the brake shoes outwards without the help of the brake cylinder and mechanically brakes the rear wheels..

If you decide to make a completely customized rear brake system and finally attach that brake cylinder, you’ll need seperate brake fluid piping next to the exsisting one that is routed to your handbrake.

I’d not do this just for a “better feel” as i yank the lever..
Mechanic spring loaded cable is reliable as long as it doesn’t rust.

ProjectCabby(VWSquad)(CustomHotwheelsSquad)(#CTthegame) the answers in here lol