Morris Minor Owners Club

hi,
I'd like to upgrade my brakes, but I cant afford a disc conversion, so I was thinking of a servo kit at this stage, for better pedal feel. There are some steep hills here where I live, and it can be a bit unnerving going down them:o

What are peoples views in just having a servo with drums.

Thanks
Andy

I hope you are following the basic rules of driving with drum brakes as on the
Minors,i.e. you always use the gears to control your speed down steep hills.
You should only need the brakes when you need to stop at the bottom!!
This would still apply if you servoed the drums....the trick is not to overheat
the brake linings so use the gears instead. Disc brakes are more efficient
simply because they dissipate the heat better.

My view is - complete waste of time and money - it doesn't make the brakes any better - just cuts down the pedal load. If you want good brakes at low cost - go the Wolseley 1500 front brakes route ! They bolt straight on. 'Tavistock' seems to have a set 'for sale' - see that section !

Really? There really must be thousands of Wolseleys 1500 without front drums nowadays. They'd better get locking wheelnuts

Exactly why must there be THOUSANDS of Wolseleys 1500s without front brakes ? I doubt there are THOUSANDS of 1500s left, either on the road or in scrapyards.
Tell me, what problem do you have with fitting uprated drums to a Minor?
Ian.

Heh heh - in fact Ian has Riley 1.5 brakes on his car ! We all know there are no hills in Holland - so standard brakes will be fine there - but just wait till you start to down a few steep ones! My experience from contacting Wolseley 1500 parts sellers on ebay is that they generally have 'just scrapped the car with the brakes still on' - so the source for these brakes is from dead Wolseleys and not from the living! They are great brakes for the money.

I know... it's just every time disc brakes are mentioned, the wolseley 1500 brkes turn up. And we do have a hill in holland. One! in the south, near Belgium

Servo'd drum brakes are often not recommended; although the pedal is very hard in a really well working standard minor (or I found it such) adding a servo alleviates the problem but at the risk of creating a much bigger one.

Drums shouldn't really be used like modern disk brakes - and keeping drums on (for example when descending a hill) is likely to lead to them overheating and stopping working - this is much easier to do without realising with a servo. (At least iirc, this is the argument). And is particularly likely to be a problem with lots of steep hills.

Better to upgrade to disk brakes (with or without a servo) however, also much more expensive. Drum brakes are just about adequate for daily driving, but if you've got lots of steep hills, drums really aren't great. There's a variety of disk brake conversions out there, and if you want info then here's a good place to ask*.

* mine has a marina + servo disk brake conversion, which some people have had problems with, I've had a problem with it, but it was rectified and since the system's been very good. The brakes are *staggering*; way better than all the modern cars I've driven.

Hi Andy -

I'd not recommend servos with Drums. I know Charlie Ware's does the conversion along with other specialists but as several people have said servos will only lead to the drums fading quicker (due to the applied force at the drums being much larger). The last thing you want is your brakes overheating half way down a hill and not working!

As Kate has pointed out - drum brakes can't be used in the same way as modern discs. I'd recommend checking out the current brake system (you can replace the ENTIRE system with new brake lines, cylinders, shooes, and master cylinder for about £150 if you do the work yourself). You'd be surprised what a difference good, serviced, standard brakes can make

I'm a fan of discs and servos - and they do make a morris minor much more drivable in modern traffic. Living and working near the M4/M5/M32 corridors it's important to me to have a minor that stops and goes well in heavy traffic. The problem with them, as you've pointed out, is expense!

I would advise against woolsey brakes. I've never used them but I suspect that the parts aren't so easy to get hold of when they need repairing. I of course may be wrong though - so I'm very prejudiced on this due to not liking drums!

All in all - get your current brakes working properly (I suspect they may need repair if you think "crikey - these brakes %£$(! and that never helps!) - while you're doing that - (especially if the mog is your daily driver; and most daily drivers use discs ;) ) save up for some disc brakes. They're worth the wait - and will eventually make the car much safer - Yes you'll have to save up for them - but they will make the car much nicer to drive in modern traffic. Hopefully a re-done standard braking system will help you out and be adequate enough untill then


Nikki

Wolseley shoes and cylinders are readily available - new drums are not! Minor cylinders can be fitted after a slight modification - I realise this is not for everyone, but I had a pile of new Minor cylinders 'in stock' and decided to use them. They are much cheaper than the Wolseley ones - but that's just because the Minor cylinders are so readily available and in fact used on quite a few older cars. The Wolseley brakes are truly magnificent - I did loads of up and down fairly steep hill work (on a classic rally) last summer without the slightest sign of fade. Be aware if you go the discs route you will probably want to have a servo, and the master cylinder has to come out for a wee change to the return seal - and so you may as well fit new seals while you are at it!

Exactly - but for the time being just re-do the brakes and get them working

Aren't drums going to be a problem if you can't get new ones?? I know the drums on my Hebe are starting to wear down to the point of getting replaced... :/

Nikki

Well yes the drums could wear - but seeing as they are likely 30/40 years old now, and still look like new - i reckon they will see me out ok. In fact - drums may be available through a Wolseley owners club or similar - I haven't tried since I now have a spare set 'in stock'.

So most peoples think that just adding a servo to the drum setup is not a good idea.

and that the ford based vented disc kit is better that the marina based.

so is this kit below a good price

http://shop.morrisminorspares.co.uk/pro ... 8198baf36f

£325+vat and del

or

see THIS thread....

I'm still saving for mine

Onne wrote:Really? There really must be thousands of Wolseleys 1500 without front drums nowadays. They'd better get locking wheelnuts

There is a chap in the EKMM who has a Wolsely 1500 (quite a nice car, actually), and he reckons there is only a few hundred of them left in the UK- possibly world wide!

Indeed - they have all been murdered for their fabulous brakes - and the low ratio diff !

bmcecosse wrote:and the low ratio diff !

Why?

Because it gives lower engine revs for the same top speed. Ideal if fitting a bigger/more powerful engine.

Ah, you mean high diff ratio. Or at least, I've always understood low to mean less speed per turns, and high to mean more, but I know there's a fair few people who see it the other way round, so to speak

A 4.22-1 ratio is mathematically higher than a 3.9-1 etc.