Morris Minor Owners Club

Our series IIa used to have either 9 or 10" drums (if my memory serves correctly. It had very good brakes even when towing if not a little stiff, but then it saves on gym fees.

Easy to convert the Wolseley to Minor cylinders

Only if you have access to certain workshop facilities and can weld.

I wouldn't even consider discs as its not a 'period' mod.

Well BMC started fitting them in a big way from around 1962 so I wouldnt say it wasnt a period mod, and as bmcecosse says the Wolsley brake option was cheaper and easier to obtain in those days.

The 'welding' is not strictly necessary - but should be done if you can. Really only need to file the slot a bit deeper and drill a small hole at each cylinder. My first set of W brakes came free (40 years ago) when my brother (absolutely no idea about cars) foolishly bought a very rusty W 1500 - which he discovered after 3 months use could never pass another MOT. I 'borrowed' the brakes (front and rear) - scrap man came to tow it away - with absolutely no brakes on the car!!

Kevin wrote: Well BMC started fitting them in a big way from around 1962 so I wouldnt say it wasnt a period mod, and as bmcecosse says the Wolsley brake option was cheaper and easier to obtain in those days.

I hadn't considered a sprite disc conversion. I'm sure they must be a bit rare (even more so than wolsey drums?), I think I'd rather stay with drums TBH. Who knows if I ever get round to upgrading I may not like it!?

rather than upgrade, the cheapest improvement to your Minors brakes is simply to make sure that what you have is in tip top working order.

Since overhauling the front brakes (new wheel cylinders and shoes), with a hard shove (as when a Chelsea tractor pulled out on me last week into traffic on a main road) my Travellers standard brakes can lock the front wheels and skid the car to a halt. Its hard to see, other than by fitting ABS or using cadence braking that I can improve the braking over wheel lock up. If I overhaul the rear brakes as well (at maximum adjustment) then perhaps all 4 wheels could lock on heavy braking.

I found the standard Moggy brakes to be quite susceptible to fade, even when they're working well. If you're driving somewhere you've never been before and suddenly find yourself going too fast in too high a gear down a steep hill, you can get into trouble.

Not meaning to criticise your driving, however, when approached with going down a steep hill, I select lower gear (3rd) and slow down a bit. The standard brakes then cope fine. One of the great things about Minor ownership is it can teach you elements of advanced driving such as reading the road, looking far ahead, anticipating and adjusting your speed etc to match the conditions.

Modern cars make for dangerous drivers!

chickenjohn wrote:Not meaning to criticise your driving, however, when approached with going down a steep hill, I select lower gear (3rd) and slow down a bit. The standard brakes then cope fine. One of the great things about Minor ownership is it can teach you elements of advanced driving such as reading the road, looking far ahead, anticipating and adjusting your speed etc to match the conditions.

That's fine, but occasionally you might be caught out, as Alex says.

Modern cars make for dangerous drivers!

I don't think that's true. People who are dangerous in modern cars are no likely to be a better driver in an old car. An idiot behind the wheel is just an idiot, out of the car too. It has always been so and always will be so. It very hard to make an idiot drive better, because they will always be an idiot.

My personal opinion is that I will cheerfully take advantage of improvements made in the years since my Minor was built. Disc brakes, head restraints, etc. My main strategy for surviving crashes is not to have any

Yes - the standard brakes in top condition should lock the wheels - what more can you ask for ! The answer is - some folks have upgraded their engines and repeated use of the brakes whether on hills or for corners does very quickly fade the standard brakes - hence the need for upgrades. But standard drums should lock all 4 wheels for an emergency stop - if they don't - get them sorted!

JimK wrote:My main strategy for surviving crashes is not to have any

Unfortunately even driving sensibly isn't enough to guarantee you won't be involved in an accident when you're surrounded by idiots all trying to get to their destination a few seconds sooner

This is probably a non-PC thought, but, considering the proposal that:

Modern cars make for dangerous drivers!

Could it be that this is true, because now they survive to do it again, and think they can get away with it, whereas without the safety features of modern cars fewer got a second chance?

I suspect that a 12" steel spike fitted to the steering wheel boss would focus a lot of people's minds on safer driving.

Hmm, an early American car (the lightning) has 4" metal lightning bolt sticking out of the steering wheel boss, oddly they removed it later in the production run!

Could it be that this is true, because now they survive to do it again, and think they can get away with it, whereas without the safety features of modern cars fewer got a second chance?

This becomes even more dangerous as they survive to breed with other dangerous drivers!

Its a sad fact that put better brakes on a car (I'm talking about modern cars in general, not Minors) and it makes people drive closer to the car in front!

Q: If classics are so dangerous, then why do we get the cheapest insurance of all??

A: because we have less accidents.

IMHO having a car you care about preserving, thats not a disposable item makes for safer driving and hence more safety on the roads.

Yers - my Minor insurance this year went DOWN - and they gave me unlimited mileage!!

When people have very good brakes they rely on them too much (not all people obviously) and when there is not enough traction for your super powerful discs to stop you you have an acident because poor road conditions were not factored into the stopping distance.

My brakes are very good for standard. I found changing the fluid meant brake fade was seriously reduced. I always like to keep them adjusted up as well. I can lock all 4 wheels on a dry road. However I would apreciate more stopping power, because of my driving style and because I'm often doing long runs 4 up.