Wolseley 1500 9" Brake Drums Availability

[philthehill]

I thought that was what you meant but I still needed to be clear on the definition as there is a wider audience than just yourself and myself who may have a different understanding of what was stated.
Phil

[svenedin]

I thought that was what you meant but I still needed to be clear on the definition as there is a wider audience than just yourself and myself who may have a different understanding of what was stated.
Phil

Yes understood. I wasn't very clear. I am having the two new rear brake pipes made up by a chap called Grahame Eyre who does business on eBay and has been making brake pipes since the 1970's. Very knowledgeable on the phone. The cylinders are made and supplied by Powertrack Ltd and I dealt with Paul Hunt who has had many Morris Minors over the years......Incidentally, Paul said the cylinders for Riley set ups are almost impossible to find now.

Stephen

[svenedin]

I have just been reading a little bit about the history of the Wolseley 1500 and the Riley 1.5. Apparently at the design stage the Wolseley 1500 was intended to be the "Morris 1200" and the successor to the Morris Minor. The floor pan, suspension and steering are the same as a Minor. It became clear that as many Minors as could be produced could be sold so the successor idea was shelved. It seems fitting that my Minor is going to get Wolseley brakes. Incidentally, it may seem a bit strange that I am doing these modifications to my car as I am not keen on modifications. The reasons for it are greater distances driven (e.g Minors on Tour to Europe) and the fact that I am not the only person to drive the car. I think the standard brakes are OK but others do not share my confidence.....I also like the fact that these are bolt-on modifications with no permanent changes, no drilling or otherwise molesting the car. They are also modifications in "period" with the car. Nobody can see the modifications either unlike servos and remote brake fluid reservoirs in the engine bay commonly installed with disc brakes.

Stephen

[myoldjalopy]

Sounds good, we look forward to your report when test driving with the new, improved brakes!

[svenedin]

Sounds good, we look forward to your report when test driving with the new, improved brakes!

Will do but it will be a while. The car doesn't have an engine at the moment or anything at all in the engine bay. In fact, the car isn't even here as it's away having some paint done. Expect a driving experience report in mid-April.

Stephen

[ManyMinors]

The floor pan, suspension and steering are the same as a Minor.

Don't believe everything you read Stephen A few components of the suspension are the same. Hardly anything of the steering is though and I cannot think offhand of one single piece of the underside which was common. I too have regularly read what you've quoted in lazy copied and incorrect articles!
It IS true that the car was thought of as a possible Minor replacement though before it saw launch as an upmarket alternative. Australia however did see sales of the similar Morris Major and Austin Lancer come onto the market.


Stephen

[svenedin]

Fair enough. I based what I said on two articles the links for which are below but the inaccurate stuff was from Wikipedia!

Stephen

https://www.wolseleyregister.co.uk/wols ... mc/1500-2/
https://wolseleyownersclub.com/wolseley ... 1500-mk-i/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riley_One-Point-Five

[svenedin]

Front drums primed. Rear backplates stripped and chemically de-rusted.

Stephen

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[philthehill]

When fitting the Wolseley 1500 rear brake backplates make sure that the oil drain holes in the backplates line up with the drain holes in the flanges of the Minor rear axle casing. You may have to drill new holes to suit. This is necessary because you have to change the back plates from N/S to O/S and O/S to N/S to bring the handbrake levers in front of the axle casing.

[svenedin]

Thank you Phil. I would never have known this. What are these drain holes and where are they?

Stephen



I can't seen any hole at all in these collars

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[philthehill]

Any axle oil that gets past the hub seal is thrown by the hub inner flanged rim into the catcher ring of the backplate and which then drains out through the hole in the axle backplate and axle casing flange and down the backplate. If you see oil on the outer face of the backplate indicates that the oil seal has failed and the seal needs to be replaced. It does not matter whether the hole is fully round or half round the important thing is that there is a passage for the oil to drain out of. The drain hole must be clear otherwise there is the possibility of the axle oil getting onto the brake shoes.
I would suggest that many Minor owners are unaware that there is a drain hole in place at the bottom of the axle flange and what its purpose is. The drain hole must be regularly cleaned of road crud thrown up by the wheels.

[svenedin]

OK. Thank you for the explanation. I understand that this is important but where are the existing holes for this purpose on the Wolseley backplates that I have? I do not know where the holes are! Are they the holes that look like blind holes?

This?

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Stephen

[philthehill]

I would suggest that you fit the Wolseley backplate to the Minor axle with the cylinder slots to the front of the axle as per final fit and see if there is a hole/passageway and that the hole/passageway lines up with the hole in the Minor backplate mounting flange. You may find that there is no overlap or shrouding of the Minor axle flange drain hole. If there is no overlap or shrouding then there will be no requirement to make a drain hole/passageway.
There does seem to be some variance on the style of the Wolseley 1500 rear brake backplate as regards the oil drain.
The most important thing however is that you do have a drain hole/passage and it is kept clear.

[svenedin]

Roger. At least, thanks to you, I am now aware that there is a drain hole on the axle flange and I will look for it. If I am unsure having actually seen it, I will ask for further guidance. I think I will be able to fit the front Wolseley brakes without too much difficulty since I rebuilt the Minor brakes at the front a few years ago and I had everything off then including the brake backplates. As to the rear, this is completely unknown territory for me and it looks quite daunting. The first thing I will do, other than reading up about it, is measure from the centre of the diff to the half-shaft flange to work out if it is even possible for me to withdraw the half shafts without hitting the walls of my garage! If not, this presents quite a problem as my drive is hardly any wider and I can't do it in the road as my Morris doesn't have a parking permit.

Stephen

[svenedin]

I have 2x spare front hubs and 2x spare rear hubs. The rear hubs do have the o-ring seal. I think I will refurbish these and fit new bearings and oil seals. Then when I come to do the brakes (which for the rear may have to be in the street) I will simply exchange hubs for the rebuilt ones. This should save a lot of time and make things easier and less stressful.

Stephen

[jaekl]

I don't think the drain hole is universal. If I recall correctly only one of mine has one and only on one side. For the back plates, it's typically a half hole in the flat flange.

[philthehill]

I agree and referred to some variances in the oil drain hole in my post above.
If there is no drain hole there should be one and you will have to make one.
It is better to have a drain hole than have oil on the brake shoes. Seeing oil around the drain hole indicates that the hub oil seal has failed and needs to be replaced.

[svenedin]

I agree and referred to some variances in the oil drain hole in my post above.
If there is no drain hole there should be one and you will have to make one.
It is better to have a drain hole than have oil on the brake shoes. Seeing oil around the drain hole indicates that the hub oil seal has failed and needs to be replaced.

Only one of those brake backplate has a semicircular hole. I’m sure it won’t present any difficulties to drill a shallow drain hole. Thank you for the tip!

Stephen

[philthehill]

Use the Minor axle drain hole as a guide. Take care not to drill through the oil catcher ring otherwise you will negate the need for a oil catcher ring.
Phil

[svenedin]

OK Phil. I have a lot to do putting the engine bay back together before I get to the brakes!

Stephen