Hi all,

I've recently purchased a 1998 Paul Smith Rover mini.

The car has a brake fluid drip out of the right calliper, and when braking hard pulls left.

I'm guessing the leak is preventing the right calliper from grabbing properly.
Upon further inspection I also noticed that the pistons where a little shot and pitted.

So I figured a good time to consider a brake upgrade.

My research has led me to a 4pot KAD 8.4inch as the car has 13in wheels, will be mostly street driven, and only see the occasional track day. Further if I ever went on track I would never run it ten-tenths. But I like the idea of building so that it could happily cope with ten-tenths.

My questions are:
What's the best product on the market to suit my purpose? Is KAD the way to go? Or are there others I should consider?
What parts do I need for a brake upgrade? Is it just callipers discs pads and lines? Or is there anything further?
Should I consider uprights and ball joints while I'm at it, what else?

I'm also tempted to do the rear at the same time and swap to disks.
Seems like the drums would do fine, due to the car's weight, but they don't seem that expensive in comparison to other vehicles I've owned so I'm wondering why not? Or have I missed something?

Many thanks for your help.

I wonder..... Why modify a Paul Smith Mini? Just repair what needs to be repair properly using correct bits and leave it original. They are a rare car.

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DID I MENTION THAT I AM THE BEST SUPPLIER FOR MINI ELECTRICAL PARTS AND REPAIRS?
"Let us remove your "SHORTS"

As above, I'd just replace or rebuild the calipers with standard OEM quality parts. I'd replace the rubber hoses while it's apart and you're bleeding the brakes, and make sure the rear drums are correctly adjusted.

The rear brakes do almost nothing so there's not much getting discs, and they struggle to get hot enough to work. You also don't want to mess with the factory brake balance.

Changing to rear discs would probably need engineering certification to be road legal too?

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Thanks. It's a fair question. I did consider leaving it original as an option.
But at the same time I think I have a fair answer... because it's mine, and I'd like to.
It can always be returned to "stock", if one day I chose. I wouldn't be turfing any of the original parts, just the perishables.

8.4" standard Rover discs will do what you need, 100%.

Repair what's needed and leave it otherwise alone - you'll be fine!

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Cheap, Fast, Reliable. Choose two.

Ah, to modify or not !
It's yours, do the hell what you want.
You can always regret it later

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Find a job you love and you will never have to go to work !

Slotted rotors, upgraded pads and rebuilt calipers will be upto the job for what you want, but if you choose to go further with upgrades that's up to you and the choice is yours alone.
The minisport / minispares alloy calipers are great units for the money and good on road cars, but the more expensive KAD or Tarox setups are targeted more at race cars and things with very high power.

For a rear upgrade, minifin drums would be as far as you need to look I think.

As for other stuff - I'd put a new master cylinder in and reco the booster, new rubber hoses all round too. That should cover brakes.

Suspension - check the condition of all your suspension rubbers and ball joints and maybe even look at your wheel bearings - those 13" sportspack wheels can degrade the system a bit quicker than the normal 12" ones.

I'd also fit a solid mount subframe kit but that's just me.

Have a very clear idea of what you want to achieve with the brakes before breaking out your chequebook.

Don't lose sight of the fact that tyre choice, suspension settings, the rest of the hydraulic components and the brakes are inextricably intertwined - ten tenths is only possible if the whole system works, throwing in some fancy components into one part of the system might well be a retrograde step

Note that the Vtec kits are 4 pot 8.4's (slotted and vented). Yes I moved to disks from drums, yes drums correctly setup would have been fine for my 998, but the plan was for a 1275 (maybe even vtec one day). Stops easily without a booster, remember you are still only pulling up the same weight.

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Nick

http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=86675

I have done a few track days with my Cooper S with standard 7.5 disks and the only comment I would add is the brake pads make all the difference. Keep the brake system standard and recondition all parts and spend your money on a good set of pads. Greenstuff are not too bad but ask around as there are other options if you are doing track days. Note that some race pads need to be warmed up to work best.

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

Thanks for all the input so far.

Just for the record. I will be purchasing the best tyres I can find.
All perishables like rubbers will be replaced.
Yes s per Harley subframe will get solid mounts. The rubber there now is shot anyway, and you can feel the "loose-ness" in the front on takeoff and under acceleration.

I will be opting for street pads. As the car will be mainly street driven.
I realise that the current set up is sufficient, but I'm looking for the "best" set up.
I understand the definition of "best" is actually quite difficult as it's dependent upon intended purpose and subjective to people's priorities.

So I'll outline mine using Stuwey's signature line: Cheap Fast Reliable Choose any two.
I choose Reliable first, Fast second, and I'll pay the price if the quality is there, so I'm asking you to help me spend my money, on quality.

Cheers

New brakes package orderd!

KAD package with 8.4 vented and grooved, with soft street pads to suit, new lines etc...

Overkill? Yes probably!
But if I'm going to be replacing little bits on this champ, I may as well do my best to ensure it gets the best available bits.

I won't lie. I'm excited about getting them on.

heh you think its over kill on the 1.3? for the rovers. try putting them on a 998

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Nick

http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=86675

Well that does make me feel better
But my 1.3 is probably good for 40hp.

Jewellery arrived today.
On a Public holiday no less.

Enjoy.