The MGA handbrake is a fly-off type fitted on the right-hand side of the propeller shaft tunnel, sitting horizontally and out of the way in the off position. It operates the rear brakes by cable. The lever is chrome-plated with a plain black handgrip (no finger holds), and the setting button is chrome-plated to match. The lever and cable arrangement is common across every MGA variant; what differs at the rear end is how the cable acts on the brakes, drum shoe expanders on pushrod cars, or special pad carriers on the rear disc calipers of Twin Cam and De Luxe.
The handbrake mechanism was largely carried over from the 1500 to the 1600 and 1600 Mk II and was not subject to production-change modifications on the later pushrod cars.
Handbrake cables, wheel-type specific
The handbrake cable on pushrod MGAs is wheel-type specific. Cars fitted with steel disc wheels and cars fitted with wire wheels use different cable specifications to suit the different rear hub and axle arrangements.
When ordering a replacement handbrake cable, the wheel type must be confirmed, a steel-wheel cable is not interchangeable with a wire-wheel cable, and fitting the wrong cable will give incorrect free play, poor adjustment or insufficient travel at the lever.
Twin Cam and De Luxe, disc-caliper handbrake
On Twin Cam and De Luxe cars, the handbrake cable operates special pad carriers attached to the rear Dunlop disc calipers rather than drum shoe expanders. This arrangement is notoriously difficult to set up effectively and is described in the Identification Guide as "not terribly effective and troublesome to set up", a well-known characteristic of the Twin Cam and De Luxe brake system rather than a fault of individual cars. Adjustment requires the pad carriers, the cable tension and the caliper position to be set together; renewing the cable alone without attending to the pad carrier specification is unlikely to restore effective handbrake function on a Twin Cam or De Luxe that has been giving trouble.
Handbrake hardware and fittings
Associated handbrake hardware covers the fulcrum pin (the pivot point for the handbrake lever at the tunnel), the cable banjo fittings for cable end-termination at the wheel cylinders or pad carriers, the P-clips that secure the cable run under the car, and the various UNF pan-head screws, plain nuts and spring washers that retain these items. Handbrake cable clips sit at specific routing points to prevent the cable from fouling the propshaft or exhaust.
Ordering considerations
For pushrod cars, the handbrake cable is selected by wheel type (steel disc wheel or wire wheel); confirm the wheel type before ordering. For Twin Cam and De Luxe, the disc-caliper handbrake cable is specific to the Dunlop installation and is not interchangeable with pushrod items. Cable clips, P-clips and fittings are common service items shared across the MGA range. Fulcrum pin and handbrake lever hardware are common to pushrod variants; the Twin Cam and De Luxe inherit the same lever and tunnel arrangement.