Just a general inquiry, but how difficult would it be to remove the handbrake as a DIY job? To put it back together?

You have to remove the passenger seat to get at a certain bolt - don't ask me how I know

like the parking brake? it pretty easy but it requires the removal of the passenger seat. its not too hard ill see if i can pull up the instructions i used

It's about a 30 min job...re/move the pass seat...and he center console....move aside the carpet...remove the bolts....RE/RE

quite easy.

Things to watch....disconnect the battery before the airbag plugs in the seat :)
Watch that you don't scratch the interior when you move the seat. You don't really need to take it out...just loosen it and move it aside a bit

LOL - yea real easy while I watched

You're way too hard on yourself :) You helped...provided the beer as I remember.

like the parking brake? it pretty easy but it requires the removal of the passenger seat. its not too hard ill see if i can pull up the instructions i used

Care to help me one of these days Niel? I'll provide... beverages. (You aren't old enough to drink after all.)

Care to help me one of these days Niel? I'll provide... beverages. (You aren't old enough to drink after all.)
sure ill help no prob. ill take a nice can of coke instead :)

i have a nice 12 pack of Fanta orange soda and we all know everyone loves orange soda! Or you can have any drink that Cisco stocks in their fridge!

On a more serious note, are the instructions posted online?

fanta? fanta? you know i want ta!

i have a set of mazda instructions down in salinas. BTW why are you doing this?

Because I'm obsessive and want to get a nut out that I dropped behind the handbrake. I've tried picks, magnets, etc. and nothing works so I figure if I want it out it's time to bite the bullet and remove the handbrake.

So does anyone have a diagram that I can use for a guide so I don't end up SOL?

It's easy...just do it.....

LOL - yea real easy while I watched

hey nem can you restore this link:

http://www.hausers.com/nemesis8/leather-e-brake.pdf

that came up when i was searching to help.



here is some other stuff i found

Don't sweat it, okay? It doesn't look complicated at all.

Just think of it in 3 steps:

1.remove the seat (very easy, if you can remove a bolt you can do this.)

2.remove the center console (this is not that hard, perhaps a bit more involved but very doable. When I installed my MP3 player, I was very nervous about having to snap out the front part of the center console, but after having done it, it was actually very straight forward in retrospect. This one will take a bit longer since you're actually removing the entire center console cover, not just he front part. Keep things orderly and there should be no problem. And remember to put plastic tape over the screwdriver when snapping out the console cover, so as to not scratch it. Be diligent--if you're overly cautious you'll never get it off since the cover snaps on quite firmly).

3. remove and replace the handbrake. Again very easy since it is only a few bolts to remove and reattach the new handle..

Then go backwards and put everything back and you're done.

I would suspect to put off about 3 hours of my free time to do this with extreme care. A pro could easily do this under an hour.

BTW, thank you for posting a closeup of the handbrake, it looks absolutely gorgeous, compared to the DIY jobs I saw in the posted links. I rarely see DIY projects that live up to OEM installs. Those DIY leather covers were no exception. IMO, they give off the impression that the owner is a cheapskate.

It sucks that the leather handbrake wasn't part with the leather seat option. I felt the look wouldn't be complete without it. I've been wanting order one and install it myself but I don't have time at the moment. But I plan to when I take some time off after the holidays.

Let us know how it goes!

http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37723&d=1104709366

Thanks guys. I got the nut and it turned out I didn't even need to go through the trouble of removing the handbrake.