Morris Minor Owners Club

Have just fitted new brake shoes and drums on my ‘71 moggie and could not adjust them enough even when the cam was on its maximum setting.

After much head scratching and several dismantals and rebuilds and disconnecting the hand brake could still not adjust the brakes sufficiently.

Just to humour myself I re-fitted the old shoes and the adjustment was fine. Put the new shoes back on and could not get sufficient adjustment.

So then I carefully compared old and new shoes and found that the new shows were a couple of mm shorter where the shoes mount in the pivot and cylinder therefore when fitted the diameter of the new shows is too small.

These are pattern shoes from a reputable supplier so will be giving them a call in the morning to get replacements.

Just thought I’d share my experience in case anyone else has experienced same issue.

I had this issue back in the 80's -its not a new issue i am afraid

Yes. Like a lot of stuff available now, it simply isn't manufactured correctly.
I had this issue ages ago with "Borg and Beck" shoes Had to cure it by adding some metal to the base of the adjusters.

I have the same issue has anyone got a solution or is it just a case of buying shoes until you find a pair that fits

TRY AND FIND SOME MINTEX SHOES

Tim01577 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2023 9:33 pm I have the same issue has anyone got a solution or is it just a case of buying shoes until you find a pair that fits

If you have the old shoes that fit properly you can have them re-lined with new friction material. Mintex shoes, as already mentioned, do fit but the rear shoes are no longer manufactured according to the Mintex catalogue

I experienced the opposite after fitting a new set of front shoes. However much I tried to adjust, the car always pulled to one side.
The shoes on one side were too tight with the cam adjuster backed off fully. Measuring and comparing, the shoes on that side were slightly longer. All four shoes were from the same box and it was only a coincidence the two longer shoes were on one side. I ground a couple of mms off each end, voila, no more unbalanced braking.

Just a follow up on this. I just bought some Ferodo rear shoes. They can be found but it takes some searching. If you have 2x sets, one on the car and one in stock you are future proofed because you can always get them re-lined and you know they will fit. Good friction material really makes a big difference to braking performance as does the condition of the drum. Try searching for Morris 1000 as well as Morris Minor.

For now, Mintex front shoes for 8” drums are still available but for how much longer I do not know. Again, I have 2x sets.

I have used Ferodo/Mintex for 34 years. Always excellent

The Mintex code for the rear shoes is “MLR2”

Stephen