Hey guys, i have a 72 clubman, 1100 engine with hydro suspension.

Shes rollin 12" superlites and looks tidy enough. Engines a farily warm 1100 out 60thou, balanced, head work, big cam etc etc etc..

My problem, brakes and front end need attention. Do i spend money and reshim the ball joints, reco the cv shafts. Do i leave the old nylon unis or do i change them to later pot style shafts? Do i throw a disc brake front end under it?

Other side of the equation is do i leave it hydro or do i build up new front and rear subframes in rubber cone and swap it over?

I want to build a morris down the track so thought maybe convert the clubman into a bit of a track/weekend warrior and make the morris a tidy cruiser, hence make the clubman more track friendly with rubber cone, adjustable camber castors, bigger brakes and run the standard gear from under the clubman and put that into the morris. ie, 4 wheel drums, hydro suspension..

Opinions muchly appreciated..

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Jack of all trades, master of none......

Depends on how much money you can spare for the Clubby.
It's a big job to convert to dry suspension, you can use wet subframes you'll just need to knock out the lock tabs inside the towers where the units sit (hydro units slide in normally but twist/turn in to lock them in place). You'll also need to remove the hydro lines which means you pretty much need to remove the sub frames anyway. Maybe leave the Hydro in for now until you need them for the Morris or they fail or you need to go dry for the track in the future.
Disc brakes are a good idea even just for around town, just makes modern day driving so much easier.
Fully adjustable height, toe, castor and camber is useful even just to set everything up to a mild "traction level", not as extreme as the race guys but still more than what the car would have standard.
Finally with the CV joints, I personally like the pot CV joints but if their is nothing wrong with the nylon joints why change them?

Personally if it was me I'd want dry suspension, disc brakes, fully adjustable set up and the pot joints and if you are adding all this stuff you moeswell do a full rebuild on your sub frames with new bushes and at least a re-grease and check of your bearings.

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

gday mini man,
Do you remember me, i saw you out at bendigo a couple of months ago, when i was competing in a motorkhana, and you came over to say hello.

I would personally convert to discs but it will cost a fair bit

When the ball joints get play in them, it's a waste of time trying to re-shim them. Some spots will be worn more than others, so cannot be successfully re-shimed. Put new ones in, besides, a kit is quite cheap.

The drum brakes can be made to work quite well, but high maintenance and costly to repair. If the dollars will stretch, disc brakes are the way to go. If considering second hand disc brakes set up, I express some caution as I have found that they have usually had a hard life and so need an overhaul, at which time one (or both) hubs have had it it and so can add up to an expensive set of second hand brakes. New ones are not that dear (for what they are) these days. Don't forget to change the rear wheel cylinder though to maintain brake balance. Correct ones for a front disc set up is 5/8".

For street use, Hydro is pretty unbeatable and if you want it a bit 'stiffer' one simple mod is to fit shocks on the front, fairly easy to do, just need to drill the top arms where the bump stop mounts, to 3/8" and fit upper brackets (as well as the shocks). There are other mods too. To convert, as Kennomini has said, it is a big job and not cheap for a result that may give a small 'sports' advantage, but a worse ride. Certainly for track use, dry is the way to go.

It's not worth changing your Unis for Pot Joints. Since you already have QH 'Nylon' Uni Joints, both are good.

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I believe there are people in Australia selling brand new disc brake setups complete and ready to bolt on for sub $900 -

i dont mind drums, much nicer for cruising about town.
they require maintenance at every oil change, which just involves a simple adjustment.

also i prefer hydro, it has a much! more comfortable ride while still retaining the excellent cornering abilities.

Easy answer, Keep the clubby as your daily and build the roundie as your weekend track toy



Who is that?

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Tim
Dusk Blue
1964 850

...anyone know who...?

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Justin

Try Josh @ mini imports in Melbourne, i think he brings them in?

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Why is it the things that make me tick, are also the things that make me go boom?

Thanks 850 GT.

PM sent.

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Justin

i think it was cooper s imports has some for around $1100 at mini50 on sunday