Morris Minor Owners Club

If you are in Tunbridge Wells you may as well take your car to the Morris Minor Workshop (ESM) in Stonegate, East Sussex. It's only 16 minutes on the train. They will do it properly and they can give you a lift to and from the station which is on the Tunbridge Wells line so no changes either. If your car is unroadworthy as it appears it is, they can collect your car. They charge per mile and you are nearby.

It will fail the MoT and you must never adjust the handbrake without first adjusting the shoes properly with the handbrake cable slack. It should not then be necessary to adjust the handbrake which is only really needed with a new cable or to take up stretch on a new cable. You should have both sides of the rear checked and overhauled as necessary and if the rear is bad, the front may be too. You cannot take chances with brakes! Morris Minor Workshop can take it for an MoT if you wish, once the car is repaired.

Stephen

To test the cylinders take a drum off and slowly press the brake pedal and watch the piston move AND return. An assistant makes the job easy. Without one take the shoes off, press the pedal until you see some movement. Without the shoes and springs, the piston will not return or come out due to the parking brake lever. Now push the lever towards the backing plate and everything should move with little force. If not the piston is seized. Even before you do all that can you move the outer piston out and in? By the way a preliminary test for the front is to remove or just spin the pistons when the shoes are removed.

Thank you Stephen. Wise advice. I am considering my options.

Also, thank you very much jaekl. I will investigate my brakes further using your suggestions, so I at least understand them better. Irrespective of what I do repair-wise.

For the OP's info.

When I had the garage 'do' the brakes we agreed on an hour a corner to take into account the 'x' factor if necessary. I supplied the parts.

This was to clean everything up, replace shoes, cylinders, hoses, bleed, adjust and test. Job done.

I don't really know if this was overly generous but it would have taken me longer. Others please comment!