Morris Minor Owners Club

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

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.

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

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

That whole Disc / Drum discussion is about to start again

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!

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

Hmmmmm, I wonder who purchased that set on ebay

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

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