When I was bleeding up the front brakes on my Cooper S on Saturday half of one of the bleed nipple housing protrusions broke off making it impossible to tighten the nipple. Is it possible to weld the housing up and tap in a new thread, or will this ruin the taper at the bottom where the nipple seals? Alternatively anyone know where I can scrounge a right hand S caliper second hand or new?

Slide

Go to Bunnings or Repco and get yourself what is called an easy out.. Use this to remove the rest of the nipple inside the caliper and then just get a new nipple for it...

I used an easy out on a screw which had broken off that holds the door opener in place on Granny (Clubman) and after drilling a small hole and heating the surrounding area up. The easy out pulled the broken screw out with no trouble at all..

But seeing how the nipple will already have a hole in it. You wont have to bother with drilling a hole and so all you will need to do is put the easy out in and turn and it will pull it out for you..

I paid about $10.00 for mine from Bunnings.. Just ensure you get one that will suit the diameter hole of the inside of the nipple..

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Opinions expressed by me are of my opinion only and are copyrighted to Kinkabell Corporation? 2006.

Thats what I would do!

Brake caliper bleeder screw - mini cooper S are $2.79each from Karcraft.

Thanks for these ideas but the bleeder screw is already out, the probelm is it can't be screwed back in again because the thread on one side of the bleeder hole has brken off. The bleeder screw housing protrudes slightly above the side of the caliper. The remainder of the caliper is in good condition.

Slide

Oh, now I understand. You can buy new calipers but you are looking at a bit of money (there is a pair on eBay at the moment for about $400) I am not an expert with this stuff but I think you would be better off oversizing the thread and re-sleeving so as to fit an original size bleeder screw.

Not sure if this can be done or where to buy the sleeve (if you can buy them in the right thread)

I have heard of this, but like I said me not an expert!

Good Luck

Helicoil.

Or ring a brake specialist and find out what they can do for you.

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72 Clubman and a 75 Van.

you can 'helicoil' a new thread.
Bacically, you redrill your old one out with the specified drill, retap with a specially made tap, wind in helicoil and thats that...
Best take it to a brake place because I don't know if it is common practice to do so.
Helicoil kits are specific to one size of thread, and cost about 80 bucks...

If you go to the www.minimania.com site and ping Dodge (he's in Brissy) he has TIG welded them successfully with S/S filler rod in the past.
kazjim got one done there I think.

Or PM `gazza' on here- he probably knows his contact details.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Yep, Craig is his name, great bloke, does a fantastic weld....

I had a devil of a time re-tapping it, but once it was done, there has never been a hassle since...

3 track days and numerous "Spirited" runs with the Good DR - not a single leak ....

J

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OK Here's Craig's email addy-
[email protected]
enjoy!

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

no no no,,,not that Craig can`t fix it,,,i`m sure he could,.,,BUT!!!

there`s an easy & wonderfull solution & that is to take the caliper to BHSS (Brisbane Hydraulic Sleaving Service) or basically any other brake specialist & have them taper drill a new seat & thread in for a small thread nipple, like a baby diameter nipple,,,done it many times & there`s also another fitting that can be used to effect the use of the same type small diam nipple,,,both are easy fix solutions & cheap as chips,,,& no welding that could cause another crack at a later date.

There`s heaps of meat under that old nipple thread, very thick & can take another drill dept easy peasy

the problem was probly caused by "Either" grinding down that area of the caliper to attain the fitment of "inset" "S" style contessas..."or" simply fully overtightened hulk type pressure doin up that pissy little nipple.

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.