Hi All,

Trawling the forum it has become obvious that there are many options for upgrading the front brakes to discs from donor vehicles and also mini parts.
I have seen on this site so far -
- Honda brake upgrade
- Holden Camira brake upgrade
- Mini spares upgrades

And there are probably many more...

I was wondering if you utilise the existing fluid and master cylinder from the mini - or whether this needs to be upgraded

or

whether you bastardise the system from the donor vehicle. e.g. if you utilise honda brakes do you take the brake system with it also?

And also, which is more cost effective...

I know it probably depends on the anmount of hp your engine is generating but lets say for example it's no more than a NA 1275 - 1430 A series.

I'd be interested in the disussion.

Cheers,

Zulu

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Zulu...

1967 mini Cooper S

The donor car brake upgrades have their problems, IMO.
Honda Civic-
need spacers unless you run big wheels,
need serious caliper and pad butchery to fit inside 10" wheels,
use drum brake CVs & drive flanges (not the strongest setup for big torque output).
need engineering (good luck getting this with 10" wheels)

Camira-
won't fit in 10" wheels
need spacers,
use drum brake CVs & drive flanges (not the strongest setup for big torque output),
need caliper mount welded onto the cast iron swivel hub (unsafe, IMO),
need engineering.

New 7.5 or 8.4 Mini brakes are so cheap now with the exchange rate,
why not run these. They bolt on and need no engineering.

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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.

Wouldn't using Mini (cooper s / rover) brakes be the simplest (and therefore cheaper?) option. Also don't the Honda / Camira brakes need engineering to be legal? ($$)

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'78 LS 1275

Just get 7.5 inch S brakes. Simplest, easiest, excellent performance (can lock them up no worries, tried it just last night!) and probably cheapest as no need for engineering.

So why would you look at something else?

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

excellent feedback gentlemen. thankyou.

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Zulu...

1967 mini Cooper S

This may be a silly question but could this kit from minisport http://www.minisport.com/mini-spare-par ... S2681.html convert 10" drums to disc or do you need a heap of other stuff ?

Cheers Bill

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Project Pickles is ALIVE!!!!! Click Here!
Success is so much sweeter after the struggle

No that kit is to convert 8.4 inch disc brakes to 7.5 inch disc brakes. It's missing lots of things, cvs, hubs etc. You want this kit (or similar if sourcing from UK, beware of postage and import duties)

http://www.minis.com.au/minis/catalog/p ... cts_id=748

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Cheers Lillee , thought it sounded cheap .... ah well looks like im sticking with the drums for now.

_________________
Project Pickles is ALIVE!!!!! Click Here!
Success is so much sweeter after the struggle

cheaper than minisport in adelaide

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Zulu...

1967 mini Cooper S

try Miniplus aka lindsey
or coopers imports aka crawf

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65 panel van Sprog
73 panel van Iggy

Or this kit, even with postage would work out cheaper than here i reckon. but they are out of stock

http://www.minisport.co.uk/

From memory your mum was heading over to the UK, why not get her to bring a set back with her?

This set is in stock though and cheaper again.

http://minispares.com/product/Classic/B ... .aspx|Back to shop

Cheers Brenton

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Minispares UK, get the 7.5 cooper S disc conversion kit, I got the middle of the range with better AP calipers.
It's so so so cheap and bolts straight on (kinda )

Your time taken to convert to discs is primarily governed by how rusted on all the old brake components are eg your brake hoses cop weather for 40 years and require you to have 10 foot long arms to do it by yourself and even a grinder if you get the shits!

Order new goodridge braided hoses + few packs of ball joint shims!!!

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1975 Clubman
1152cc, 40dcoe weber, RE83 cam, GRed head.

Cheers Bubbacluby yeah mums going over there but she can only bring back so much , at the mo the smootharide suspension kit is my first choice.

Cheers : Bill


Cheers for that i will do a bit of thinking , money is tight as always so im learning towards mum bringing the suspension back with her , and the vat tax is pretty high on the brakes so maybe they are better posted .

Thanks again Bill

_________________
Project Pickles is ALIVE!!!!! Click Here!
Success is so much sweeter after the struggle

My sports sedan has holden/camira brakes but uses a different setup to what you describe.
Uses disc cv's, modified morris 1500 flange and has a rather simple bracket to mount the caliper to the hub.
Obviously it uses big wheels so i have no idea what the spacing would be like on a road car.
Wouldn't really suggest this setup for a road car


My opinion on the original question is go with the 7.5 or 8.4 mini brakes depending on what wheels you want. Keep it nice and simple, no engineering certificates etc, easy to find parts and they work just fine. I don't think boosters are necessary, but that's a personal opinion as i prefer a pedal that needs some force rather than a soft one. Either way, go out and practice some emergency braking to realise the full potential or the brake pedal.

I have seen a couple of Camira setups here in Sydney on road cars (one car is from tassie), both have the steel caliper mount arc welded to the swivel hub.
This wrong on a couple of counts:
1. welding of suspension components in Oz is illegal except by the vehicle manufacturer.
2. The swivel hub is NOT steel, it is cast iron. I know this because I have machined a few. A highly stressed cast iron suspension component like this should never be welded like this, it is prone to cracking.

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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.