Mick wrote:
I've got a set of calipers here if you need some.
Do them up for your own use?? Nope. 7.5s or nothing unless you own a 997 or 998...especially in that state.
There will be someone somewhere looking to restore their cooper however.
Spotted your car at Illawarra on the weekend. Jammed in next to a Moggie breadvan.
Thanks. I might be better off swapping the bits to someone with a 997/998 Cooper...
drmini in aust wrote:
Don't believe all the old press that they are a POS.
They are not bad if done right- I put a set on the 1976 bastardchild ClubbyMatic I sold years ago. It stopped pretty well.
Use new rotors (as they are only 1/4" thick when new).
Use 998 calipers, or mill 997 ones out for 998 pads.
Fit metal king or other premium 998 pads
Add a VH44 servo.
[edit] and leave the dust shields off for better cooling.
They do not resist fade as well as S brakes, but done this way they are fine on a road Mini. And, like all disc systems they self-adjust.
Is a servo essential to them working well? Do most people run a servo with 7.5 brakes as well? The greenstuff pads are supposed to be alright too.
The overall message I'm getting is that they "make do" but they don't compare to 7.5 brakes.
mini0998 wrote:
I was in the same situation as you about 2 years ago. I got a set of cooper 7 inch brakes without callipers but with drive shafts that came as spares with a car I purchased. It was not many more $ for me to buy a new 7.5 inch cooper s brake kit than it was to fix up the old 7 inch cooper brakes. By the time you buy callipers, calliper repair kits, discs, pads, bearings and ball joints for a bit more cash you can go to 7.5 inch brakes and be done with it. I ended up getting the 7.5 inch cooper s brake kit and the 7 inch cooper brakes are still in the shed.
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking now.
Mick wrote:
Still look good once done, and I can't believe it but EBC put production time aside to producing green pads for these discs.
Kind of offsets the tendency to overheat. Still not the kind you want to go sweeping down Macquarie Pass in however. Those truck gravel traps aren't just for trucks.... They build up a lot of heat very quickly after a few good presses at speed. Also feel pretty wooden compared to the S 7.5" discs.
I actually swapped out a set of Cooper S discs to go back to 7.0" Cooper discs believe it or not.
Its for a 997 Cooper however...
Don't throw out the drive flanges however. They're not really available from what I have seen, and are unique to the 997/8 discs alone having a machined back face, and suiting the small drum brake CVs.
Yeah those do look good. I really need to pull them apart to work out what condition the bits are in as my next priority.
I've currently got a bog standard 998 with twin cylinder drums on the front, and the brakes are perfectly fine for me (once they are adjusted properly), although I'm looking at upgrading to an 1100 at some stage. I don't want to spend 90% of the cost on the 7" brakes and end up with something half as good as the 7.5's.
But if the drive flanges are worn it's obviously not worth it.
7.0 Brakes:
Calipers ($??)
Rebuild calipers with pistons and seals ($80-120)
Discs (about $30-40 extra per disc than 7.5")
Bearings
Pads
Ball Joints
Booster?
7.5 brakes:
New Calipers ($340-540) Has anyone had any issues with the minispares brand calipers?
Driveshaft/CV + nuts ($150-$200)
Drive Flanges ($100-150)
Discs
Bearings
Pads
Ball Joints
Set of wheels/go back to 3.5 steels/flares
