Improvement of Brakes

[Coolie]

I still have Drum Brakes on my Morris Minor 1000 (was built in december 1961, but has 1098cc engine and an alternator).

Which is the best way of improving the brakes? I'd prefer to put disc brakes on as opposed to a Servo, given the huge amount of work that would go into fitting a servo.

Any ideas?

[bmcecosse]

Well - the first move will be to determine if your car has the early 7" drums at the front - or the later 8" drums which were standard with the 1098 engine. So - find out if the brakes were upgraded when the later engine/box were fitted. If you don't have 8" drums - that's the way forward! They work well - and don't need a servo. A servo by the way doesn't make brakes any better - it just drops the pedal load slightly. IF you decide to fit disc brakes you WILL very likely also need to fit a servo - someone recently was quoted something like £1000 to do the whole job. Really really not necessary unless you plan Racing or Rallying the car.

[MarkyB]

You have to make allowances for the age of the car.
It wasn't built less than 37 years ago and a LOT has changed since then.
Motorways didn't even exist until 1959, so time after the Minor was designed.
You can improve everything given time and money, but always bear this fact in mind.

I have drum brakes on my car and they work OK, it doesn't have ABS and never will, I drive within their limitations and just chill, why sit on someone else's bumper? I'm not in a mad rush.

Having said this, the brakes need to work at least OK, another Minor owner should be able to tell the difference, even as a passenger.
Check out your local branch and see.

Minors aren't modern, they need a lot of input from you to keep them at their best.

[aupickup]

moggie brakes are or were ok when it was driven in the 60 s and 70 s when most other cars had simialar braking systems

today we have much increased traffic so needs better braking

[bmcecosse]

No - they don't. Minor brakes in good working order will lock the wheels - that's all that's necessary in 'modern traffic'. The difference may come if wanting to hammer down mountain passes - repeatedly using the brakes in short time - then some 'fade' may set in, but it was ever so. Just back then folks expected it and made due allowance with their driving style - now folks don't expect it and can get caught out!

[aupickup]

the minor would not stop as quick as a modern car in front of you if he braked hard at 60
with discs you would and i have stood a better chance

[MarkyB]

What about in the wet?

Locking the wheels isn't the be all and end all of good braking.

The simple fact is that a modern car will out perform a Minor in the braking department.
Unless you are willing to upgrade everything, including the width of tyres, and all the gubbins for ABS then that statement will be true.

It is much easier on the wallet and your nerves to just drive within the limitations of the car you are in.

[bmcecosse]

Ahh - now we are getting to it! The modern car of course has much better wheels/tyres - and generally now ABS - so yes - of course it will beat the old drums on narrow Minor wheels/tyres! I'm not suggesting that 'locking the wheels' is the way to get best braking - of course it's not - but if the brakes can lock the wheels - they can also be used to feather the braking so the wheels are 'not quite' locking - which is the best you can hope for. Fitting discs won't help at all - if the car still has narrow wheels/tyres. Unless someone has come up with an ABS set-up for the Minor ??

[MarkyB]

The ABS in your leg sounds better than that fitted to modern cars.
Instead of 'not quite' locking it locks then releases the brakes really fast like computer driven cadence braking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-lock_braking_system

It still wont stop the car if there is no grip, and doesn't stop inattentive drivers running into things.

[bmcecosse]

And ABS is absolutely useless - in fact a complete menace - in snow! As I found out last winter - and very nearly ended in a hedge - only avoiding at the last second by coming off the brakes completely so I could steer the car into a broadside !

[MarkyB]

Wide tyres are a liability in the snow and ice too!

[moggiesgalore]

And ABS is absolutely useless - in fact a complete menace - in snow! As I found out last winter - and very nearly ended in a hedge - only avoiding at the last second by coming off the brakes completely so I could steer the car into a broadside !

Yep, I overshot a junction and ended up in the middle of a main road for the same reason. Luckily no-one was approaching... ABS is overrated and doesn't make you invincible. I reckon the BMC 1100/1300s were one the best cars ever in snow!

[Matt]

I pulled the ABS fuse out of the modern in the snow last winter

Snow tyres help too

[bmcecosse]

Didn't know I could pull a fuse to disable ABS ! Sounds good - now - to find the fuses in the modern horror.