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Thanks for the tip but we have wipes in the car and I plan on using them on gas pumps and anything else I will touch. The 'vert is still in Wisconsin and will be until this fall when I drive it down for it to stay. I have driven the 'vert on prior long trips [by myself] and believe me a Reatta is not a fun car to sleep in. However I drove a Miatta back from Phoenix for my daughter years ago and that was far worse. We have the Enclave here now and that is the vehicle I will be driving back. I will have the luggage so my wife won't have to carry anything on the plane. But as you might remember I put a camping mattress in the back with my pillow and a sleeping bag and I really was very comfortable. I had no problem sleeping 7 hours after about 12-14 hours driving. I'm not worried about being at risk either as I would either park in a Truck Stop or a out of town rest area. I've done it before and consider it part of the "adventure" Of course if there are no further posts from me then I was "wrong"...

I drove my Reatta yesterday for the first time in a long time. I didn't know it was going to get me in trouble but it almost did. I headed out toward Oak Ridge and I saw a new sign that said "The Heritage Center" at the old site of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion plant. That plant was part of the Manhattan Project, known as K-25, that enriched uranium for nuclear bombs in the '40s through the '80s. They have been tearing down buildings and decontaminating the site for years so they can turn it over to private industry. When I saw the new sign for the Heritage Center with an arrow pointing down the road through the site I thought it would be OK to take a drive down the newly paved road. As I drove down the road rubber necking I saw a visitor center that was closed but somehow I failed to see a sign that said "No visitors allowed beyond this point!" as I drove through a huge metal gate that was standing open where the new pavement ended. As I continued driving down the road looking at old buildings and stuff like you would see in an abandoned industrial park, I noticed a white car and a white truck coming up from behind really fast. I thought to myself, "Those fools are going to get in trouble going that fast on a road with a 25 mph speed limit." As soon as they caught up with me the car went flying by me but the truck fell in behind me and stayed there. The car went on about another 300 yards and stopped in the middle of the road and the driver got out. He was wearing an official looking uniform. ? There was a small parking lot beside where he had stopped and he was making hand gestures indicating he wanted me to turn around and get out of there. As I turned around in the parking lot I saw "U.S. Department of Energy" on the side of the vehicles. I'll bet this Covid-19 thing saved me from getting a good ass chewing or maybe even a ticket or something. They probably didn't want to get close to me and risk being infected any more than I wanted to have to try to explain what I was doing there. I'm glad it worked out that way. ?

this is from memory but I believe you have to pull the emergency cable spring back and then you can remove the end through the groove. This will allow you to remove the bracket to then be able to remove the caliper.

I am with you on simple and good value. I edited my post earlier after I saw the hole in the plastic bar. No doubt there are many creative ways to support, even a wire tie. Maybe even if hung vertically, but I know the factory ground cable has a mind of its own?

BTW, the tool fits on the end of a ratchet and extension as shown below.

Welcome to the forum! The problem may not be the parking brake but it could be that the piston adjuster screw may need to be screwed back in. There is a self adjusting feature built into the caliper piston that has to be screwed back in to give more room for the pads to slide in. Below is a photo showing what I mean and a photo of the tool needed. I think some other tool might be substituted to screw the piston in. The tool fits into the notches of the piston shown in the first photo.