Morris Minor Owners Club

I've managed to get hold of some hold back springs for Morris marina.Can these be fitted rather than the bee hives,slot Easter to fit.0f course the back plate would have to be drilled for the pin to go through the brake shoe, can't see why not!

I always find the bee hive springs easy to fit - a pair of short nosed pointed pliers through the spring centre - press and twist and the jobs done.
You can even get a special tool to do the job:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Brake ... SwTM5Y0EgJ

Fit the proper beehive springs, they work!

This Special tool, is that all it is !!- I could not fix the beehives at all and was consoled with the comment from the late Roy A, who considered their usage obsolescent.

But I might try again now.

I personally would not buy the special tool as I find the short nosed pointed pliers effective.
The brake shoe steady springs commonly known as 'behive springs' were never obsolescent - they are there to keep the shoes against the brake back plate.
Without them even with the brake shoe springs the right way round the brake shoes can 'float' and can result in odd wear to the brake linings which may eventually not be of an even thickness across the shoe.
BMC would not have fitted them if they were not needed.

That's my view as well, I used to disagree with good ol' Roy on that one, and on the steering wheel nut saga! Good days!

Yes I had one side without any retaining spring and it did wear the shoe on one edge ,but not having a spare bee hive,but a few of the pin and cup type retainers,drilled through the back plate and fitted one of these. Still there after 15 years.

Just spent half an hour trying to fit these springs, but have come to the conclusion that the hook is too deep / Spring too short or something, because fully compressed there appears to be insufficient clearance between hook and base of Spring. As I've no old ones to compare them with I don't know if they are correct or not. Thoughts welcome, thanks.

The beehive spring on the left appears to have the spring coil which sits against the brake shoe out of alignment and is deeper which will make it harder to fit.
When fitting the beehive springs they either fit with no problems or are a b--g-r to fit.
The springs in the link below appear to be manufactured to a much better standard.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-New-Brake-S ... SwfZ1WZfxg

These little horrors are one of the very few things I agreed with Roy on. I find that it's not so much reinstallation of these springs that's a problem, but removal. And if you don't have them grasped tightly when they finally come loose, they go flying!

Admittedly I do a fairly low yearly mileage in my Minor - maybe two or three thousand - but I have seen no strange wear patterns from running without them for four years. And changing shoes is such a breeze without them fitted. Just my anecdotal experience doth not a trend make, of course.

Thanks. Both of these started off life looking the same, the one on the right is after trying to install it. The link Phil sent appears to confirm what i thought - the ones i bought from a well know local supplier appears to be made from a thicker wire, as a consequence of which even with the spring 'bound' when compressed there is insufficient clearance between hook and spring to fit. i'll probably modify by reducing the hook depth.

Be careful in reducing the hook depth. If the beehive spring comes adrift you may end up having to replace the drum, brake shoes and possibly wheel cylinder.
Personally I would look for two pairs of S/H genuine BMC beehive springs.

Thanks Mike, i'll make one like this, however i still think i need to get some other springs - having compressed the springs i have fully, the clearance between the hook and spring is less than the distance from front of shoe to rear of the loop on the back plate. Where did you get your springs from - they look like they are made of thinner wire.

I had so many problems getting the top ones in on the back, burnt so much time. Found that using a thin screwdriver and putting a notch in the end with and angle grinder made it the perfect tool. Just push it through the hole lock it onto the hook and position it. You could always reshape the driver after too.