Morris Minor Owners Club

Just a scout for ideas really..

Took my drum off at lunchtime and sure enough at least one of the cylinders is leaking and niether have an intact rubber o-ring seal fitted.

Anyway. With the brake adjusters as slack as they go and the pistons seemingly as far home as they go I now find the brakes are binding.

Obviously I've not driven it but I cant turn the wheel by hand, although I can just about fit the drum.

In the past I've had my adjusters probably set to about half way on the scale. There's plenty of meat on the shoes.

Any idea why the drum should seemingly shrink - or the brake material seemingly expand?

Also, when 'trying' the brakes I found one cyliner (the front most one) slid open as you'd expect but the other one did nothing. Usual?

Also, lastly, is it worth buying 'rebuild' kits? And whats included in them? I can't really see much you can 'rebuild' other than replacing a seal.

dunketh wrote:
Any idea why the drum should seemingly shrink - or the brake material seemingly expand?

You probasbly need to hit the pedal a few times and turn the wheel a bit - The shoes always wobble off centre when you get the drums off, and need to recentralise.

Also, when 'trying' the brakes I found one cyliner (the front most one) slid open as you'd expect but the other one did nothing. Usual?

One pison may be a little lazy, so might not move when there's no resistance on the other one. If you had the shoes and springs on when it didn't move then it could be sticking, or outright seized.

Also, lastly, is it worth buying 'rebuild' kits? And whats included in them? I can't really see much you can 'rebuild' other than replacing a seal.

Kits come with the O ring seals and dust covers - Last time I looked it was all of a couple of quid more to replace the entire cylinder so not really worth bothering with a kit (the cylinder could be toast anyway). Depends how much of a rush you're in and if you can get one or the other off the shelf I suppose. Though given ESM have managed to deliver my ignition bits this morning when I ordered this time yesterday, you're not going to lose a hell of a lot of time if you mail order really

May well be best to pressure bleed the brakes when they're done unless your master is fairly new or you trust it a *lot*... Otherwise you might banjax the seals in there, meaning more time money and nasty brake fluid fingers.

As usual, give me a shout if you want a hand

Well, got a result. Brake place up the road (Friction Linings) sell new cylinders for £12 each - thats the same price as ESM!

They also keep them in stock!

Shocking isn't it. Perhaps the same ones are used in more than just Morris brakes - minis and the like maybe?

I'm gonna strip the hub this evening in preparation for new bits tomorrow. I'll let you know how I get on - biggest issue is transport too and from the car (at work) and home.

Not same as Mini - but common emough in their day on other cars. The cylinder not moving is stuck - but maybe only slightly - as soon as one moves there is no further pressure to move the other - you would need to G clamp the moving piston to force the other to move. Best to renew (or 'overhaul') them both at the same time.

Nearly Done!
Got to work early this morning and stripped it, levered out the old cylinders, cleaned up the backplate..etc...
Roll on lunchtime when I can stick the new parts in. Woohoo! You've got to love simple mechanics.