On my way to work this morning l came up to a set of traffic lights which were red and put my foot on the brake pedal which quite quickly went straight to the floor. Managed to gear down and was able to do a somewhat sharp left turn with the flow of fraffic thus avoiding a collision thank goodness. Then pulled over a stopped using the handbrake.
Checked the car out and found the metal front brake line which goes across the front of the car had fractured under the radiator where it bolts into the front brake hose.
Had to get the car towed home will replace the line on the weekend.

Christ thats lucky.
Quick thinking saved the mini
Some of us don't think as fast tho

And II thought it was bad losing my brake cylinder cap on the weekend.
Good to hear you two survived to tell the tale.

nice work chasg......... smart, clear thoughts saved the day by the looks of it.

_________________
I got nuthin......................

sif have a foot brake

gee its a scary, at least uncomfortable experience when there is no brake at all, Its a strange and different feeling,
But,

good luck with the fixing, but dont be put off obviously
have fun

_________________
Sir Namibian CAMEL of MONGOLIA !!!
Vrilen Snyson Racing: Finding us all a Vrilen
Asparagus: Experience the versatility

Try carrying a besser block tied to a rope in the future. You could throw that out the window as well.
It might just fit in that rear pocket too.

Now what would MacGyver have done?......

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

I always wonder what I would do in exactly that situation.....

Had similar thing happen to me once. For those that know Hawthorne/Bulimba....I was heading towards Oxford St on one of the streets that run perpendicular to it. Foot to the floor, nothing. Gear down, handbrake, check Reg Grundies.

Turned out to be a fooked rear wheel cylinder.

_________________
But he's thriving and striving and hugging the turns.

Not a nice feeling at all. I had this happent o me also but in the Alfa 33. Coming to a set of lights with a camera whish I knew of in the Shire..Lights turned about 200 Meters from the lights and the brake went to the floor with nothing to show...Luckly no one wa on the left hand lane and I was able to miss the guy infront of me. What to do...pull the hand brake...Ever experianced hand brake jutter Luckiley I missed everything and was able to finaly gear down and stop in a side street and let the heart came down for 10 Minutes and put heart back in mouth

_________________
Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

hey are you gonna manufacture that brake line your self? or can you buy them pre-made, drongo who took the brakes before selling car basically cut the lines and crimped them all i have is the line that goes into the banjo? conector (just the round part of it) and then a line trailing to other side also cut and crimped whit no connection. be nice if you could buy these ready made if not be interested in knowing how to make my own.

Cheers

_________________
If it squeaks and leaks, then its sure to be a mini

Building a dream one nap at a time....

http://spaces.msn.com/members/derbydog/

my brother had the same thing happen in mine once, but it was worse because the rear brake adjuster bracket failed, meaning that the shoes were free at that end, which meant that when he applied the brake the slave cylinder pistons just pushed out and leaked all the fluid pressure - but remember the shoes had nothing to push against now so the handbrake was only partially working on the other side, so he dropped a couple gears went around a corner with a pedestrian crossing, otherwise it was straight upthe old Penrith high street mall in the mini. PHEW

_________________
the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

mmm.. havent lost my brakes (yet) but on sunday evening just past i was coming towards a roundabout in a small, narrow yet busy connector surburban street... usually traffic on the road i was on never stops at the roundabouts because cross-traffic is very rare.. besides this, the r/abouts are slightly raised, providing some interesting undulations if you're really driving. ANYWAY, the commo wagon infront braked early due to cross traffic (im guessing) and although i was maybe up to 50m behind i must admit i wasnt concentrating intently on the car ahead. nevertheless i jumped on the brakes fairly quick. What happened next is anyone's guess - i guess they probably locked and i spun, in hindsight probably about 100 degrees to the right, although my initial thought was that i spun to the left however that seems implausible. thankfully the spin was quite contained and traffic behind me was far enough to stop and wait for me to start and get going again - although im also lucky that there wasnt traffic coming the other way as it is quite a narrow road.

So there - dry road, crappy drum brakes = crap scary moment! also, the K's stock seats really didnt help, ive still got some lower back muscular pain from the lateral movement.

_________________

When you're putting a new brake line in dont get the copper (steel or copper plate steel is the way to go) as copper tends to crack under vibration - so being a waiting death trap.

I've got copper in mine on the short stretch from the master to the first disk brake - and then its all steel and been meaning to swap for ages now before I kill somebody- I will as soon as fix the damn leaking oil seal.

I think gafmo has copper lines, to go into Marcia....

any brake place will make you one, take the measurement you want, and the old connectors. The line should be about $3 per meter, the flares a couple of dollars etc. a new front line shouldn't be more than $15

lucky escape chasg, well done

mistyk, find a straight and quiet bit of road and do it again, try to find out what is wrong, you don't want to be in that situation again, brakes have got to pull you up straight - you wouldn't want that to happen again with a truck on your ass or something. Drums are fine if they're adjusted and in top working condition, the only reason you should spin is if one or two aren't working at all

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?