Brakes not working so well

[olderisbetter]

The brakes have always seemed a bit dull on my car and after a look earlier i was wondering if the shoes are not the right ones, the drums are 7", the shoe seems to hit all round but the drum seems slot wider than the shoe, the red arrows show where the shoe touches but there is about 1/2" of unused face.rob

[bmcecosse]

That's quite normal - no worries there. Are all the pistons free to move ? 7" brakes are never the greatest - but they should still lock the wheels at 20 mph on a dry road.

[olderisbetter]

The pistons move ok and the adjusters are not siezed, i have only looked at the front today , i was thinking it was going to have leaking wheel cylinders but it all seems ok, maybe i should look at the rears then move onto a fluid change next..

[bmcecosse]

The rears - especially on a 7" front brake car - do a surprising share of the braking! So yes - check the pistons, and that the cylinders are free to slide. Get someone to gently press the pedal while you observe the movement. To adjust the rears - you first need to slacken off the handbrake cables - then tighten then internal adjuster - and only then reset the cables. No harm changing the fluid - but it won't help the braking...... You should start looking for a set of the much better 8" front brakes from the later models.

[olderisbetter]

Good advice. i don't really want to go for discs or a servo on this car, as i've heard 8" discs that work correctly are good enough for what i need.

[bmcecosse]

8 " DRUMS !!! Of course 9" Wolseley drums work even better....but hard to find now. 8" are perfectly satisfactory for any sane Minor motoring. And yes - a servo is a waste of money, unless perhaps you have leg problems of course.

[SteveClem]

Both of our moggys have been upgraded to 8" front drums and I agree that for normal driving they're more than adequate. If you have arthritic knees like me the servo is worth considering, less pushing to achieve good braking.

[aupickup]

i have sevarl pairs of 8 front drums if interested

[bmcecosse]

There you go! Grab a set !! The cylinders from the 7" backplates also fit the 8" backplates .