New Brakes
Intro ...
The original brakes are small 7" drums all round but with a mechanical operation at
the rear. The handbrake is mounted to the right of the driver's seat next to the door.
The brake and clutch pedals come out of the floor with the original master cylinder
under the driver's footwell. This means it is exposed to the elements as well as being
a pain to top-up! The clutch was also mechanical (will be hydraulic in modified state).
New setup ...
In order to install a little more confidence the fronts are being replaced with Midget
discs and hydraulic brakes at the rear. A Metro pedal box with servo and new
master cylinder is being fitted.
Step 1 ...
First job was splitting some very thin rusty discs from their hubs.
(OK a smaller hammer might have been better!)
Next up is to clean rust off the hubs, remove the remaining bearing outer race (larger) and wheel studs, clean off the grease and paint them to protect them. The wheel studs will be replaced along with a new set of bearings and obviously discs.
Step 2 ...
Started the cleanup process ...
Need to finish this off and then paint them to stop them rusting again. I've picked up a pair of discs and green-stuffMintex 1144 pads.
Now added to the list of parts: new pistons, seals, braided hoses, pad pins and anti-rattle springs, and assorted bolts, washers, etc. Rear brake back-plates, shoes, cylinders, adjusters, springs and a new set of drums, plus brake pipe and fittings.
Servo and Master Cylinder
A Metro/Rover 100 split-feed cylinder with integral servo so one outlet feeds the front left and rear right brakes, and the other the front right and rear left brakes with two limiting valves, also Metro, between the master and the rear braking circuits. A 3mm thick plate has been welded where the old battery mount was and this is connected to Metro pedals. I'm also going to convert the clutch to hydraulic and this will use a Mini master cylinder (the newer style with the plastic reservoir). Mounted on the engine firewall below will be those two limiting valves to feed the rear brakes. Hopefully that will prevent too many lock-ups.
Watch this space ...
