Saftey

Post by **gordiechris** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:38 pm

Although i bought this lovely classic for the shear fum of driving an old car, i would like to know the saftey side of things are there i.e. brakes etc.

i've no idea what will fit etc but i would like to uprate the brakes to discs and also change the seat belts ti the reel one (interia i think they are called)

again all bits of help would be great!!

Cheers
Chris

Post by **alex_holden** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:44 pm

Static three-point seat belts are safe as long as you take the time to adjust them. The only real advantage of inertia reel is convenience - you don't need to manually adjust them and you can lean forward without undoing them.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:48 pm

There is a much easier way to upgrade the brakes (regular readers are all groaning now) - chase up a set of the bigger 9" front brakes from a Wolseley 1500 - these just bolt straight on and give fantastic braking power!! No need for a servo, or any fiddling with the master cylinder, or drilling out holes in the suspension uprights - or worrying about maybe needing remote brake fluid reservoir etc etc. Just - remove the old brake drum and the hub, undo the flexi brake pipe, remove 4 bolts and pull off the old brakes, push on the new bigger brakes and re-fit the 4 bolts/hub/brake drum/ flexi pipe - bleed the brakes and that's one side done. It's an hour tops per side.

Post by **gordiechris** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:37 pm

great!!, will get hold of a set of those! cheers

Post by **aupickup** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:56 pm

search on ebay there are some on there now

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:35 pm

Ssshhh - don't tell everyone !!

Post by **minor_hickup** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 11:41 pm

The ones on e-bay are from a riley, do these not need different flexible hoses? I think I've found a pair locally so should be joining the elite 'big drum' club soon

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 7:19 am

Yes -the Riley ones are very different - they do indeed need a different flexi hose, replacement cylinders and shoes are very expensive too - and I am told they give a very heavy pedal - because of cylinder sizes V even larger shoes. The Wolseley ones are 'just right'.

Post by **RogerRust** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 8:21 am

I've got a set of Wolseley one ready to go on Sophie to repace the standard early 7 inch ones I've just taken off. Now that will make a real difference.

Look out, be carefull, any moment now we will be raided by the disc brake thought police!

Post by **246gts** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:04 am

I have to declare an interest so hope this is allowed

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... %3AIT&rd=1

Dave

Post by **minor_hickup** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:30 pm

I didn't see those, I saw the riley ones though. I wouldn't even consider discs as its not a 'period' mod. A heavy pedal shouldn't be problem and should deter the girlfriend from driving it!

Is it easy enough to convert to minor wheel cylinders?

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:36 pm

Easy to convert the Wolseley to Minor cylinders - the Riley is completely different. Many a Minor was fitted with Spridget discs in the old days - I just couldn't afford it, and Wolseley brakes came along free!

Post by **minor_hickup** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:16 pm

Nice one. I'll see how cheap i can get the riley drums and if they need any attention. If its not viable I'll keep an eye out for wolsey drums.

Post by **rayofleamington** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:43 pm

My Land Rover has 10" drums!! Who'd have though anyone needed more than 9" ;-)

Post by **alex_holden** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:54 pm

I upgraded my SWB Landy to 11" twin leading shoe front drums. Never suffered from fade under any circumstances, but the lack of servo meant I needed to really stamp on the pedal to stop quickly, like when idiots used to pull out right in front of me on a 60MPH road - "oh it's only a Land Rover - they don't go fast."

Post by **jonathon** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:59 pm

Carefull you'll have the servo thought police posting!!!

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 11:07 pm

Tch tch - my Landy never had a servo and it stopped just fine !

Post by **jonathon** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 11:09 pm

Must have been converted to Riley drums ehhh!!!

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 7:26 am

Noooo - far too small for a Landy.

Post by **alex_holden** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 9:13 am

bmcecosse wrote:Tch tch - my Landy never had a servo and it stopped just fine !

I didn't say it couldn't stop quickly in an emergency, just that you had to give it some serious welly. Then after you've got used to driving a Landy, you get into a modern car and nearly throw yourself through the windscreen the first time you try to slow down for a junction