Type 13 - Fake Gear Shift and Parking Brake
The Brescia uses two external levers to control the transmission gear shift and parking brake. They are located outside of the cockpit because it is pretty cramped inside; especially when you have two men inside the real car. In my build, both levers are fixed in one position and are for show only. The parking brake is realistic enough that I could tie it into the actual braking system via added mechanical linkage, but I’m already pressed for time to complete this build to make it to the Hunstville event so I decided to forego taking it any further.
Both levers are made from 1″ wide x 1/4″ thick aluminum bar. The parking brake has added realism via a 1/4″ diameter rod that runs down the lever to a 32 tooth sprocket that I cut 1/4 out of and welded it to the frame. Although not done yet, I plan on running another thin diameter rod from the bottom of the parking brake back to where the rear brake would be located for another step of realism.
All in all, I think they turned out pretty good. I am a little concerned that the parking brake lever may be too wobbly at the top when the car runs and induces vibration. If that happens, I will need to add additional support to mitigate that.