I have just installed my cooper disc brake font end. The brake place said my combination of 5/8th rear cylinders, .7 Master cylinder and no brake booster should be ok. I'm not really all that happy with the stopping. The drums were better. Looks like I'll have to just get the booster.

are the pads brand new

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"Show me the Mini!"

Booster wont improve the brakes, all it does is requires less foot pressure to do the braking. This may give you the impression of improved braking but it isn't really.

The above message may be the key though, new pads need to be bedded in, if that hasn't been done yet you wont be up to optimum braking performance.

Steve

yeah thanks. I'll see what they are like after a couple of weeks of driving. The pads are new however they have been sitting around in a box for the past ten or so years. I'll probably get another set as the pin hole in one of the pads wasnt quite in the right spot. Any advice on what sort of pads to get would be much appreciated. They are 7in rotors not 7.5.

You may want to bed the pads/rotors in! Drag em for a bit to get em hot, then do some hardcore emergency stops. Do that a couple of times, continue driving and let them cool then repeat the process a couple more times.

U will get some serious brake fade by the end of it, but will be all good once they have cooled down.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

If they are 7" YES you want a booster.
997 Cooper had a hydraulic intensifier, the late 998 had a small bore MC, only 5/8".
I ran metal pads and a booster with mine, they were fine.

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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.

Not quite correct. A booster will give more line pressure for the same amount of pedal pressure. It is not the same thing.

The booster will work the small pads very hard, you will need to check them every few months. the smaller 7" discs brake fine, they just fade very quickly as well.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

[/quote]Not quite correct. A booster will give more line pressure for the same amount of pedal pressure. It is not the same thing.[/quote]

So isn't this the same thing, I say less pressure for same braking, you say more line pressure for same pedal pressure. Which is the same as saying same line pressure for less pedal pressure.

i think he means

without you press all the way and get to a certain point of braking.

with you press a certain distance and get the same result, but you can keep pressing further and get even more fluid going through the lines and therefore more braking capability.

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Sunday Morning Mini Sprint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtGuzqBQ32Q my "rendezvous"

What M1100 is saying is, you need lots of pressure to make these brakes work. More than you will get without a servo- unless you find a 998 5/8" MC, and they are rocking horse now.
If they are the tiny little 997 pads, forget `em- mill the caliper out and run the 998 ones.

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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.

So...could you sleeve another master cyl to give you the required mechanical (hydraulic) advantage

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"Show me the Mini!"

Sure, but then you would need to find the 5/8" piston etc. Easier to just add a servo. Much less pedal effort.

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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.