I parked up on my from put the handbrake on looked around for my phone then realised that my handbrake was messed up.

IMG_0115 by Face Eator, on Flickr

IMG_0116 by Face Eator, on Flickr

IMG_0117 by Face Eator, on Flickr

IMG_0118 by Face Eator, on Flickr

How would this broke just age or what? Doesn't look rusty.

settle down popeye

It will purely be down to heavy use, just bang it down drill through it and wack some bolts in there...

What you are showing us there is typical of fatigue cracking, in this case, where the captive nuts join the floorpan.

This type of thing always happens where a strong or more rigid section joins to a weaker or more flexible section and is initiated by constant flexing, in your case by repeatedly applying the hand brake.

If you look at the third picture, you can see the typical cracking around where the captive nuts once were - the edge of the holes shows this to good effect.

We had another case on here earlier this week, but from how that one was described, more of the floorpan had been affected.

You need to take care when carrying out the repair, or you could find that the problem repeats itself in the future. Simply putting washers underneath or even welding up the holes and simply re drilling is NOT a good idea.

I would be inclined to obtain a piece of mild steel sheet of about 16 S.W.G. cut slightly larger than the hand brake base plate and 'scoop' it in on the longest sides, like a very shallow figure '8'. ( This is in order to spread the load over a greater area.)

Weld up the holes and grind off flush with the floorpan on both upper and under sides.

'Stitch weld' the patch around its edge welding for say 15 - 18 mm, leaving a gap of maybe 20 mm and another weld of 15 - 18 mm, continue this all the way round the patch, this will leave it strong but also give some flexibility, spreading the load over a greater area than the original.

Use the handbrake base plate as a template and re drill the mounting holes. Bolt the handbrake and base plate back in, using high tensile bolts and Nylock nuts.

WARNING: Before welding, clean off the under body protection from the underside and move any pipework or wiring and of course, the carpets well out of the way. Have someone keep fire watch underneath whilst the welding is in progress.

As I have said, there are more simple methods, but these may not be permanent and may not keep the MoT man happy.

Regards.