Hey all,

Im just wondering if their is an alternative to buying and fitting the original mini disc brakes. I say this as I cant really afford disc brakes, but want to make my minin pull up much faster.

Has anyone tried fitting brakes from another car? Im interested in homebrew stuff here. If its not orginal its ok with me, I just want to stop!

Any ideas/advice?

There are a few conversions being done using Camira and Honda discs onto mini hubs (drum brake hubs I think ) , do a search on here with "Camira" or "Honda" and see what comes up , they may be cheaper to do but you'll need to get them passed by an engineer in order for them to be legal and that adds to the cost considerrably . Also you'll need 12" or 13" wheels and tyres depending on what you use and that's extra expense if you don't already have them .

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Vizard says twin leading shoes with a booster works as well as 7.5 discs for a road car. - I'm trying that route but will be a while before I can report on it. You need a VH44 booster

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

So basically beefing up the drums should help considerably? Im happy to use drums, as long as I can improve braking, cause stock, they suck bad.

WHat year is your mini and how long has it been since anything was done to the drum brakes , they do need adjusting every now and then and cleaning out occasionally .

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Its a 74 Clubman. I havent done anything to the brakes as of yet. I basically drove the car home from buying it. I just want to make sure they get better than what they were cause I had to actually brake really really early in order to stop in time when I drove it home. :<

Ok , I wasn't sure if it was going to turn out to be an early 850 with single leading shoe brakes , being a clubman it should have twin leading shoe brakes but also since you've only just bought it they could be partially seized or poorly adjusted etc . What are you like with working on brakes (confident of never done them before ?) and have you driven another mini with good drum brakes to know that your's are poor ? When you say you had to push really hard , do you mean in comparrison to a modern car that has a brake booster to make the pedal pressure needed softer , or against an avaerage mini's brakes . If it's just the pedal pressure that you're worried about then the booster as mentioned by wombat will make a big difference . If the brakes are poor when compared to other mini's then it could be time for new wheel cylinders and hoses .

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What he said^^^ new rubber hoses and and seals and a complete clean will work wonders - replace and bleed the fluid while you are about it.

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!