New handbrake cable. Need lubricant?

[MrWampus]

I just bought a shiney new handbrake cable and return springs. The cable does not appear to have any sort of lubrication in it. Should it? I was thinking of putting a few drops of bike lube in each end mainly just to help prevent rust which is what I'm sure did my old cable in. Is that a good idea or a bad one (because of proximity to the exhaust)?

[GeorgeT]

Lubricate the ends, especially where it connects to the calipers. Also I would lightly grease the guides under the car.

[MrWampus]

Thanks for the advice. I finally had time to replace the cable this weekend. Like almost everything on these cars, it was a bit more involved than it looked. First, it is really a tight squeeze under there when all you have is a floor jack and jack stands. Second, the old cable was really corroded on the driver side and was actually stuck almost closed. I wound up having to just cut it right at the caliper to get it to release and give me enough slack to get it out.

When it came to installing the new cable I put some anti-seize grease on both ends and around the contact points at the brackets. Hopefully that will help for the future. The big problem was trying to get the cable to reach back to the threaded screw. I couldn't pull hard enough on it to get it on. I lacked about a half inch. I noticed that the metal ends of the covered part of the cable were not seating all the way into the brackets and I had to use a light hammer tap on a long needle-nose plier on the ring to make the ends seat into the brackets. Even then I was still just barely short of connecting to the screw. My solution was to attach a ratcheting tie down strap between the cross member and the cable and wench it together until I could get the nut on. I was worried that it would tension the calipers too much but the wheels seem to roll freely with the handle down. I did not have enough room to put the locking nut on but the return spring will keep the nut from coming off the screw. I presume the cable will stretch a bit over time and when I tighten the nut I'll have room for the lock nut behind it.

Glad to have it finished and now I have a hand brake that actually holds on an incline! (My first spider once rolled down the driveway of a girlfriend's house into the middle of a 4-lane busy street. A policeman rang the doorbell and asked if I had left my car in the street. I said, "No! I left it in the driveway, in gear and with the handbrake on!" It had apparently flopped out of gear and rolled into the road. He could see that the handle was all the way up. No ticket and fortunately no one hit it.)

Now, I'm looking to get my $25 fiberglass hardtop restored so I can extend the driving season.