I am going to get my Mk1 brake Booster reconditioned as it has stopped working . Have had 4 quotes all around $450-$500 . What I want to know is , were these plated like the MK2 or just painted black ??
It is painted black at the moment

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1965 Morris 850
1966 Morris Mini Minor
1967 Morris Cooper 'S'
1977 Leyland LS

All the pressed metal parts were plated but the cylinder was never plated or painted. It was just left as cast.
There is a difference in the plating of the pressed metal parts. Early ones were finished in a bluish silver grey zinc/gal/cad? coating. Later ones were finished in a pale gold passivated zinc/gal/cad? coating.
I'm not sure about the exact type of coating. I had mine redone several years ago. IIRC it was galvanized and then passivated. Its the passivation that gives the gold colour and provides some extra corrosion resistance.

Hope this helps
RonR

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68 build Mk1 Cooper S
72 Clubman GT project. Total restoration required

Ok thanks for that Ron ,I will go with the place that does the plating ....cheers

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1965 Morris 850
1966 Morris Mini Minor
1967 Morris Cooper 'S'
1977 Leyland LS

As Mentioned The Mk1 Pressed Metal Parts are Zinc Plated And Clear Passivated
The Mark 2 Is Zinc Plated and Orange Passivated

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" A Hundred Years From Now It will not Matter what my Bank Acount Was,
The Sort Of House I Lived in, Or The Kind Of Car I drove ... But The World May Be A Better Place
Because I was Once Important In The Life Of A Child"

Don't be led around on how hard it is to rebuild them. Yes the parts were a little difficult to source, but that was a transient problem.

Check out J&L Spares at http://www.jlspares.com/sealkits1.htm

There's even seal kits on eBay these days. Although you often need another part or two which can only be identified by pulling one down. J&L are good for these parts

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 1215157894

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

Thanks for the info John and Mick , much appreciated ....cheers

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1965 Morris 850
1966 Morris Mini Minor
1967 Morris Cooper 'S'
1977 Leyland LS

Hey mate, i got a quote to rebuild a VH44 yesterday from a local clutch and brake joint for $250.

maybe that helps for comparison purposes.

Yes I had my VH44 rebuilt for about that when I had my Mk2 S . The Lockheed parts it seems are more expensive .............PBR are now making brand new VH44's

http://www.minisport.com.au/category120_1.htm

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1965 Morris 850
1966 Morris Mini Minor
1967 Morris Cooper 'S'
1977 Leyland LS

The VH44s are easier to rebuild, as they come apart a little easier.

The Lockheed boosters have two items which will affect the cost to a large degree. These are the Air Valve and the hard chromed piston push rod. The push rod naturally needs specialist rechroming, and the air valve is an unnecessarily complicated little device when you look at its construction. The air valve was much simplified on later boosters.

When they give you a blanket quote, they must take the risk that one or both of these will require replacing, so will quote with that in mind. In practice however the air valve will usually be fine.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

Might be worth a call to Terry Morgan (Hydroboost) to see if he still does a Mk 1 booster resto. I think I heard somewhere that he now only does the PBR (VH44-J for the Mini). He quotes $195 for these.

http://www.hydroboost.com.au/

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

Its no big deal to do it yourself. The Leyland "Black" book has an assembly diagram. Pretty much the only part you can recondition (rather than replace) is the bore - which can be stainless sleeved (not quite DIY

Other wise its just a case of replacing the grotty bits.

Cheers, Ian