Fitting Riley 1500 brakes

[sowden]

Hi all,

I have been following the Wolseley brake threads, and that set up seems like the one that would best fit my needs re a brake upgrade.

Before I start shopping/searching though, I wonder if anyone could tell me what the difficulties are with the Riley set up - I like the idea of the bigger shoes but the Wolseley kit would require so few mods, I dont know whether Riley route is worth pursuing.

(I've not found a definitive thread on Riley braking - by all means point me to one if it saves rehashing your earlier posts!).

Thanks in anticipation

Russ

[alex_holden]

The Rileys should be just as easy to fit as the Wolseleys. The disadvantage is the cylinder bore is smaller so you'll get a heavier pedal unless you also fit a servo.

[sowden]

Thanks for that Alex. I note with the Wolseley set up, you can use minor wheel cylinders - is this the case for Riley too (hope so - only put mine on 2 months ago)?

Cheers

R

[alex_holden]

No, the cylinders are totally different on the Riley (Girling system rather than Lockheed).

[bmcecosse]

The Riley brakes are even wider than the W brakes - and even less common, and new cylinders are difficult to find - but so are W cylinders - hence the move to Minor cylinders, which i feel make the front brakes TOO light and not allowing the rear brakes to carry their share of the braking effort. And yes - heavy pedal loads with R brakes have been reported.

[sowden]

Ah - thank you. That's that then. There is a tasty set of the Wolseley item on Ebay just now - I just dont think I could part with the £125 he wants for them! I was hoping for about a third of that!

[bmcecosse]

If they are overhauled and ready to go that's a fair price! Last set on ebay fetched ~ £73 I think - and they were needing cylinders and shoes which would probably take the cost above £125 even using Minor cylinders.

[PSL184]

That set on ebay is good value as long as the drums are in good condition... You might even get them for the start bid this close to Christmas.

[plastic_orange]

Riley brakes work fine, but as said they do require a heavier push on the pedal. I replaced mine years ago to fit Marina discs, which vastly improved the stopping. I then put the Riley brakes on my wife's minor, and fitted a servo. They again were fine, but the servo made them a bit grabby on first application, but you soon got used to it.
I fitted Austin Cambridge brake shoes (only ones I could get at short notice), and these were marginally wider than the riley shoes, but fitted ok.
From memory, I had to replace the brake adjusters with a commonly available (in the 70's) repair kit, and these adjusted from the rear of the back plate.
Personally, I would go for a disc setup - Marina or Ford (or do your own) complete with servo (and modded master cylinder) - they really are fit and forget (apart from normal maintenance).

Pete

[PSL184]

That whole Disc / Drum discussion is about to start again

[bmcecosse]

As are Wolseley drums - once fitted they don't even seem to need adjustment - maybe just a checkover before the next MOT. And SO much easier to install than discs and all that involves!

[grumpygrandad]

hello the wolseley is certanly very easy to fit every thing just goes into place and they work well , ,,,grandad

[PSL184]

Hmmmmm, I wonder who purchased that set on ebay

[sowden]

yup, I thought about waiting for a set to come up for 2p, but felt uneasy about the robustness of that strategy. I had to overide my stinge gene and, teeth gritted, hit the button.

The kit is all in good nick so hopefully by spending a bit more, I wont have to buy it all again next week (that has happened in the past)

Cheers,

R

[PSL184]

Honestly, if its as described, you got a good deal there...