Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi, the rear brakes on both of my Morries run out of adjustment while there is plenty of meat on the shoes..I am guessing that perhaps the old drums are a bit oversized by now, but without being able to snug the adjustment up tight ( one click back from lock up) I end up with a bit too much pedal travel..I was wondering if there are any mods that people are doing. I am thinking of placing a shim of aluminum between the cam adjuster and the slave cylinder..does this seem feasible ??

Hi,
I have had some success in swapping the actual snail adjuster on the rear. Sometimes this can giive you a minscule amount of extra travel, but best solution is to swap drums for new or decent second hand. I have some if you need them. Heavy to post though.

Cheers

Yes - a little shim of steel - not aly -under the tail of the shoes works well. Just wrap it round so it can't come loose. But also check the snail cams - they sometimes foul/bind up before they reach the end of the notches. And indeed - you could weld a shim to the base of the snail adjuster itself - but this really shouldn't be necessary.

Thanks guys, Roy, I will check that the snail cam is going full travel.. The ones for the front and rear brakes are the same ?? I think I have a spare somewhere I can try.. Thanks very much Minornut59 for your kind offer, but as you say, the postage of drums to Australia would be expensive.. I will experiment with the adjusters to see if I can gain a bit more expansion..Cheers

Snail cams for the later 8" front drums are slightly larger than the earlier 7" ones.

BMC is correct, I was caught out on that one a few years ago when I couldnt get the brake adjustment.

If the snail clicks over on full adjustment fit the larger ones.

Magic I will see if I can find some front cams for the back drums. Thanks all, this club is great

Seriously - you shouldn't have to do that.......

As Mike says they have run out of adjustment when they go right over, a bigger screwdriver , a tiny smear of grease on the cam or an extra Wheatabix for breakfast is the answer if this isn't the case.
Is this what's happening?

Also worth checking - are the cylinders free to slide in the backplate??

Hi all, thanks very much for that info. I pulled it all apart today and found that in fact the problem was the snail cam was not giving full travel. The cam was getting stuck in the slots of the mask. Once I pulled it apart and cleaned it all up, set it up in the vice and wound it up and down a few times all was well. So as Roy said, it wasn't necessary to try to add shims to gain more travel. While I had the brakes apart I decided to replace the hub seals as well so now both sides will be fine for some time to come. Thanks again for all of the help and advice

Great success!