Morris Minor Owners Club

My everyday minor just failed its MOT on a leaky rear brake cylinder. I took the drum off and it would seem that the rear brakes are 8" and i thought minors had 7" rear brakes. Is this a mod people tend to do? would a standard rear wheel cylinder from ESM fit or do i need to find out what car the 8" came from?
Cheers
Martyn

would a standard rear wheel cylinder from ESM fit or do i need to find out what car the 8" came from?

It will fit if it is the same as the old one! If not, then you need to find out what brakes are on there.
Where did you measure the drum? (it should be measured on the inside)

I have been looking in vain for a set of 8" rear brakes !! They will be from a Wolseley 1500 or a Riley 1.5. If the Wolseley ones I 'think' the Minor cylinder will fit - but the Riley ones are very different.
Are your front brakes then 9" diameter - also from W1500/R1.5 ?? I did this conversion to my Rally Minor 40 years ago !! MUCH better brakes ! And today I have just fitted the 9" fronts ex W1500 to my Traveller - but still looking for the bigger rears - if anyone has a set ........ ?

The fronts are marina disc brakes, I took a photo of the brakes and sent it to ESM and it would seem that the minor cylinder will fit so i presume they are from a wolseley. Are the cylinders easy to repair? i might buy a rebuild kit and repair the broken one to keep as a spare.

Are the cylinders easy to repair? i might buy a rebuild kit and...

If you want to keep a sapare you'd be better off keeping a new one. A rebuilt one is not worth the time - especially when a minor rear cylinder costs barely double figures.

bmcecosse
Thanks for the tip on where to get bigger rear brakes - I'll keep my eye out for a set If I find 2 sets I'll let you know!

They certainly give a much better handbrake - ideal for the 'auto-tests' that were all the rage when i was young and foolish - spinning round posts and into 'garages'. Eventually broke a half-shaft - so gave that game up !! The bigger brakes seem to be like hen's teeth !! I have a plan to convert the 8" front brakes to go on the back - but it's quite a bit of work - not exactly top of my list of things to do !
Marty - If your fronts are Marina - maybe the backs are too !!

If I can get hold of a set of brakes off a riley 1.5 how much of a job is it to convert? As I would rather go to marina discs if its only a bit more work.

The problem with fitting the brakes from a wolsley 1500 or a Riley
1.5 is that the spares for them are more difficult to find than for
the Minor or the modern disc brake conversions.

More so for the Riley - I think a standard Minor rear wheel cylinder will fit the Wolseley backplate ok - and the Minor 8" front drums should fit nicely too - and probably the Minor 8" front brake shoes could be made to fit without too much trouble. The Riley set-up seems to be completely different.

would it be feesable to take the front brakes off a minor and put them on the rear? As I have only managed to find the front brakes from a riley 1.5, and I will have a spare set of front brakes when I fit the riley ones...

Well - that was my plan - but it will be quite a bit of work. Probably need to cut the centre out the Minor rear brake backplate - ditto the front backplate - and then weld the two together ! (Ducks down to avoid torrent of abuse this idea will raise !) Unless you are planning autotests I would say the standard rear brakes in good order will be just fine . I have Wolseley front brakes and the standard Minor rear brakes - it locks the wheels - can't ask for much more than that !

Unless you are planning autotests I would say the standard rear brakes in good order will be just fine

I agree. When I fitted Ford vented discs to the front, I could still lock up all 4 wheels no problem. I have since fitted Ford Escort 8" drums to the rear of mine (with the Ford axle), but the standard Minor ones were fine.

The only "challenge" I can see with putting the front drum brakes onto the back axle is the fact that the front brakes have both "leading" shoes, whereas the rear are 1 leading, 1 trailing.

Ok, 2 leading shoes give good stopping forwards, but poor braking in reverse - the rear brakes give the same amount forward as reverse (the leading & trailing shoes swop duties).

That means that your handbrake will be excellent facing downhill, but not very effective facing uphill......

You really should consider changing the cylinder pattern to keep the leading/trailing shoes. (IMVHO)

Colin

Oh yes - they would need to be leading and trailing - just like the standard rear brakes. Frankly it's not worth all the bother - standard rear brakes in good condition are well up to the job unless huge amounts of extra power have been applied ! In which case an axle change is likely - bringing better brakes at the same time .

Picky, IF you can get hold of a set of [ presume your talking front ] Riley brakes, they bolt straight on to front axle. You need the Riley hoses, because the Minor ones cant be tightened. The Riley ones have about 3/4" shoulder between the thread and the hexagon for spanner. The other end of the Riley hoses wont fit Minor male brake pipe nut. I replaced both front pipes. but you could just remove pipes and have new female nuts fitted.
Sounds complicated, but its not that hard to do.
Ian.

If you have a friendly autofactors you could look throu his book to find a suitable one. I got one that way, it even came with wire spring round hose to protect from stone damage.

If you can get a set of brakes from a Riley 1.5 they may be worth a LOT of money to a Riley owner ! These things are like hen's teeth !!