Morris Minor Owners Club

i know 7 inch brakes are poor.but they will keep me going..but they will not go to waist..as they are a perfect fit for my austin a35..so in going to look around for some larger back plates..and just swap over to a35.and that will have new drums of the morris..but we was having difficulty with a35 brakes..none about so we fitted 8 inch moggy drums/back plate,even the moggy servo...and cylinders sorted...lol

Nothing wrong with 7 inch front brakes, they stop my Series MM with the trailer on the back.

Once!

I have to say 7" drums stop my Minor ok too. They key is to drive within the cars limits and allow for the fact other road users can stop on a sixpence.

well i took the car from sheffield to chesterfield to get a mot...a week ago the reading was 48% below minimum.to it was only 14% all round including hand brake so the green lights was on every test.rear,front and hand brake.so a pass.. a 60 mph up and down the by-pass did the trick..lol....must have been a moggy show some where? their was a convertable,a pick up,a van.a travler,and saloon in a convoy...with a old jag out today...

as for the adjusters..the mot testing center had no answer.as one of them repairs morris minors.the adjusters will only work with shims/with super glue to stop em falling out....

Good grief......

brakes get hot,I would be worried about sticking shims in ,better to weld a tag on the other side,that can't fall off,but it still dosen't answer the question that with new shoes and drums of the right size the snails should lock up after three or four clicks without bodging

I have just finished renewing all the components on my front brakes too, new cylinders etc but used the original adjusters and shoes (which still had plenty of padding on them). This is an MM style front end on an early Series II.







I have the same prob - adjusters up all the way until they won't go any further (about 6-7 clicks) and the drums still rotate. Shoes rubbing very lightly on the drum at that point.

The pedal is a little spongy, goes down about an inch before feeling solid, but it is very solid at that point, and does not "pump up" any more solid. So I don't think it needs further bleeding. It seems to stop OK, not brilliant but OK. I am confused by the inability to lock the drums as well...

Can only be that the cylinders are somehow too short - or there is a problem with the shoes at the ends where the seat on the pistons. Can you compare the shoes with others you have used in the past - same with the cylinders ??

I wonder if this is ,ANOTHER,new problem with re manufactured components, as bm says if they were ok before fitting,then it has to be that the new cylinders are slightly shorter,wouldnt take much ,if you have used the original shoes adjusters and drums then the cylinders have to be shorter.

I have the same prob - adjusters up all the way until they won't go any further (about 6-7 clicks) and the drums still rotate. Shoes rubbing very lightly on the drum at that point.

Two ways this can be caused
1) The snail cam is fouling the shoes - try turning snail cam without the drum on. If it goes all the way try #2. If it catches on shoes, file a bit off the shoes.
2) The detents in the adjuster are a bit too deep. File off the peaks a little.

sorry don't follow your reasoning if the cams were fouling the shoes then he wouldn't get 6 or 7 clicks without going out and counting a cam think there is 7 indents in the cam. and if you filed off the peaks you would'nt change the lows on the cam so it would have no effect other then to produce the effect of worn cams where they have naturally worn and no longer hold position letting the adjustment slip,Confused I am

It has to be the cylinders, David53 is no stranger to brakes and rebuilding and gets the same problem. Perhaps manufacturers are designing parts to be used across brands and it just isn't working.

I also don't follow the 'file peaks' comment The cams fouling shoes has been mentioned before and is a possibility. It's either cylinders or shoes - waiting for measurements!! I do believe the adjusters for 8" brakes are slightly large and that could be a 'way out' - but shoudn't be necessary.......

I think I may have an answer for you. I pulled the hub/drums again today to check mine. With drums off there are 14 clicks from start to finish. If you turn hard enough after 14 the cam will flip over and start again. (This is on an early Series II/MM style system - may be different on a later car??) The cams turned nicely, no fouling, nothing sticking.

In any case with drums re-fitted I only got to six clicks before they stopped and I was unable to run any further and drums still turned, albeit with some shoe rub. But I knew I had 14 clicks to the top of the cam so I gripped the sccrewdriver firmly with a rag for better grip and gave it a little force. The cam clicked once more and the drums locked! Once click back and they turned again, as per the manual.

I think what happens is that on the click just before this setting you have the shoes right up against the drums, and it takes a bit of extra pressure to push them hard against the drum surface, hence the extra force needed. So when you THINK it's hit the end of it's travel it hasn't, it' just needs some extra force to turn the screw.

well, that's my experience anyway. Bled the brakes again and now have nice firm pedal, good stopping.

Exactly! I was however assuming that reasonable force had been applied to the adjusters - but you are dead right David - it does need a determined effort to get the adjuster over the last click.