1 reply to this topic

[STICKMAN]

Model: 1275 Cooper clone
Year: 1965
Was having trouble getting solid brake pedal feel. Not able to get all air bubbles purged. In the process, we removed the brake booster entirely and routed the brake lines to function without it. Instantly better.
Braking power seemed good enough without the booster (able to lock up tires if I hit pedal hard). So left the booster out to simplify the system. Simple is good.
Question is >>> What's your experience? I live in the US where our cars have for decades become more and more burdened with unnecessary bells & whisltes. What I love about my Mini is its simplicity. Nothing there that doesn't help the car move down the road. So... is the brake booster needed? If I install it and can get all the air out, will I see much better braking?

[Asphalt]

A servo doesn't improve, in any case, the power of your brakes!
It's merely there to ease the pedal, resp. reducing the power needed to press down the pedal.

I made the experience that with the servo the pedal feel got more 'inaccurate', making it harder to 'feel' what the brakes are doing.
Anyways, if you can handle the car without the servo - it's perfectely fine to run it without a servo!

I drove my Cooper S discs without servo for at least a year without missing it any time.
I had to fit a servo to make the brakes legal (Germany, land of the rules & laws ) and hate it!
It's more comfortable, for sure. But for fun and a good feel of what the brakes are doing - no.

For bleeding the bloody servo:
I'm gussing you have the 'S'/1275GT's remote-type servo?
Did you bleed it with the engine running?
Sometimes it's neccesary to tip the servo's exit down (by lifting the car or likewise) a bit...

Cheers,
Jan

Edited by Asphalt, 07 October 2008 - 12:54 PM.