Morris Minor Owners Club

What about 16s then Kevin? Remember those?

Kevin, It would be great if I had something to play them on! (Got a whole shelf full of 78s, 33.3 and 45 rpm records and no record player!)

N

No need for constant adjusting - set them up properly and the adjustment lasts for ages. Regularly in there for greasing anyway - nip up the adjusters at that time. I do also have a classic Mini - which I have fitted with Fiesta calipers - now THAT is REAL disc braking, and I get the 10" wheels over them !! The thing that worries me about the disc conversions on a Minor is the tiddly wee flange on the suspension upright where the caliper fixing bracket has to bolt on - it looks so pathetic ! Yes I know the drum backplate goes on there too - but it is close in to the wheel centreline - the caliper is a relatively long way out with a long 'leverage' on the bracket ! Has anyone had problems with the flange cracking ?

What about 16s then Kevin? Remember those?

wasn't 16 2/3 supposed to be for speech? I think I only got one of those and If I remember correctly it was in the form of one of the playable postcards that you used to be able to write on and send through the post. The trouble was that the tracking weight of the old Auto Changers was in lbs rather then grammes so it sort of self destructed the postcard...

My old record deck had 16 as a speed option, but I never ever found a record to play on it...

Incidentally, like Nikki I also have a shelf full of 78s, and plenty of vinyl too. But unlike Nikki I've got a record deck ( 33/45/78 ) and a wind up portable gramaphone, ideal for those occasions when I take the jalopy out and go for a picnic...

Somewhere around I've got a Dansette too, but that is in need of major, major work. It's not worked since my dad, in his moderate youth, decided to build a transformer for a battery powered dansette and promptly blew it up

bmcecosse wrote:Has anyone had problems with the flange cracking ?

Nope, but speak to JLH. I'm sure he'll explain things as he's personally designed a disc brake conversion and done some proper engineering design/testing.

woo wrote:wasn't 16 2/3 supposed to be for speech?

I have never seen music for 16 2/3, the quality is too low.

Sorry Cam not heard of 16`s does that make me younger than you then

Nah, it just means that my family had more old junk than yours!!

BM,
We have about a dozen cars competing in all aspects of motorsport. From 1098's upto 200bhp sprint and track day cars. We have had no adverse effects using the standard Minor swivel pin's locating flange. BL must have researched the suitability of this unit when designing the Marina and Ital disc brake set up. Yes the leg is slightly different but the mounting flange is the same. A potential problem I do see is that some kits require the oversizing of the mounting holes, which will weaken this area to a small degree.
The caliper bracket we use is obviously mounted using the four bolt holes, thus spreading the load over a large enough area. The bracket itself is extreamly strong, and has been tested to destruction in controlled tests used to mimick the actions and forces involved in this set up.
Does the mini market have suspect disc conversions as you say 'now THAT is REAL disc braking'.

I'm sure your brackets and so on are plenty strong - it's just the flange on the leg that looks weak to me - and I would certainly not fancy drilling out the holes by any significant amount. Glad to hear no reports of problems - but compared to say a Mini caliper mounting - the Minor flange is seriously minimal !! For my use of my Traveller my Wolseley drums will do me fine - if I was using it for competition I'm sure I would be looking for discs ! The Mini discs fitted with Fiesta calipers give awesome braking for very little cash - the main advantage being the caliper is single pot - and the 10" wheels can be fitted over them. Many Mini owners are now seeing the error of their ways fitting big wheels - and are reverting to the 10" wheel for the best handling !

Kevin wrote:

Wolseley 1500s can be found - but not that plentiful !

Thats an understatement as Ray tried to find a complete set for over six months and the only ones i think that came up had chips missing from the drums ! so I would not call them a easily available alternative and i also believe that something has to be altered with the brake cylinders, so its not going to be an easy thing for a mechanical novice.

As BMC says the Wolseley brakes fit straight on. Just unbolt the Minor ones and then refit the Wolseleys. You may be getting confused Kevin with fitting Riley brakes. They do need a different brake hose to clear the wheel cylinders. The Rileys are 9" diameter but about 3/4" wider than the Wolseleys .Awesome stopping power.
Ian.

I think the thing here though is the fact that I've only seen 2 Rileys on the road in the last year. ... and about 100 minors!

Oh, I know there hard to find, Ive been looking for 2 years. But when you do, well worth the wait.
Ian.

A bit of an automotive solar eclipse eh?

First trip to car show yesterday with the Wolseley brakes Minor - fantastic - no shuddering/squealing/pulling/fading - just stop after stop after stop - and the Traveller was very heavily laden with parts for sale/gazeebo all that stuff ! So thanks again Ian - these brakes are just excellent !!
And I came back with more stuff than I took !! Sold nothing, bought plenty (including MG Metro big valve cylinder head !) ! Missus is going wild.

it's just the flange on the leg that looks weak to me - and I would certainly not fancy drilling out the holes by any significant amount.

I've disagreed with many of bmc's comments, but share his views on the suspension leg/flange thing. the holes are often drilled with unequal metal surrounding them as standard and then these holes need enlarging when fitting discs, admittedly not by much, but none the less it makes matters worse. I've not heard of any adverse effects though, so maybe it's a 'mind' thing, and having 4 holes does spread the load. Hey I'm feeling better about it already!! No seriously though it does seem an engineering no no when you actually look at the parts involved.

What's the matter with this board lately?

It's this 'orrid visual mode thing Les

As for the engineering, don't forget that they may be using better materials for the disc brake conversion. (I may of course, be totally wrong, but I'm guessing that the metals involved may be slightly stronger than those which shipped with the minor )

I expect to be completely disproven though as I base this on complete guesswork

It's this 'orrid visual mode thing Les

Yes Nikki, it's my No 1 suspect!

Les, you don't need to re drill the swivel pin holes with our kit!!. As I refered to in a previous posting, the mounting face and hole arrangement, is the same as the Marina and Ital on which BL found it safe enough to fit a disc set up. These discs were regulary upgraded for road and rally use with no ill effects. A similar concern could be leveled at the stresses implied on the swivel pin and trunnion , and the diameter of the stub axle plus the suitability of using a tie bar the size of a pencil to try and control the forces implied on the suspension assembly when you have upgraded to discs, or let it be said larger drums. The test we have conducted found all areas to be within a safe tollerance except for the tie bars, hence our uprated and fully adjustable tie bars. (not a plug) just for information. There also seems to be a strange theory that just because you can lock up drum brakes, that this means they are good brakes. Locking up is the last thing you want from your braking system. Pedal feel, ease of use/maitenance and lack of fade after repeated use are far more relevant issues. But then this is only my opinion.