39 replies to this topic

[Tamworthbay]

Sounds strange, but some of you will know I work at a special school and am involved in building a mini for kids to learn to drive in and have a play at drag racing/ hill climbing in. For obvious reasons I want the passenger (me) to have a brake pedal as well as the driver. I have drawn a blank on finding dual controls but as a mini brake and clutch are both hydraulic I am wondering if I could fit two master cylinders using the hole for the LHD bits and a second pedal box. It would be set up as normal with the exception of a T piece to join the two master cylinders. I can't see any problems but thought I would 'put it out there' to see if anyone has any thoughts for or against the idea.

[minidaves]

you could but you could proberly use the pedal from a left hand drive servo car with a bit of engineering

[Shifty]

Try googling "Fiddle brakes" they are used on hill climbers!!

[Tamworthbay]

Try googling "Fiddle brakes" they are used on hill climbers!!

Cheers shifty, milners seem to come up a lot, so will give them a ring Monday.

Edited by Tamworthbay, 09 November 2012 - 09:41 PM.

[sledgehammer]

You need He man dual controls for classic mini - although I can't find them for the classic mini

Edited by sledgehammer, 09 November 2012 - 09:31 PM.

[tractor]

must be a pretty common thing, i think it's a legal requirement in learner cars to have dual controls in the uk

not very commom in minis i guess but the principle is the same

Trac

[mini-luke]

must be a pretty common thing, i think it's a legal requirement in learner cars to have dual controls in the uk

Not a requirement no, but not seen a driving instructor's car without them - I certainly wouldn't teach someone to drive I didn't know without a brake pedal!

[Tamworthbay]

with a tee piece in the circuit , the fluid would flow from one master cylinder to the other - the easiest route

you need He man dual controls for classic mini - although I can't find them for the classic mini

and sadly the have to be fitted by a trained technician in dual controls if used on the road

but sounds like you are using in a car park situation ? - so I doubt there is any problem with fitting yourself

Edit - some master cylinders may allow the use of a tee - but the mechanical pedal box cross bars would be the safest way IMHO

I have already thought about that, by replacing one reservoir with a bleed nipple i could prevent back flow into that reservoir and provide a mechanism to bleed that part of the system. The pressure is constant throughout the system as is the nature of hydraulic systems. I was concerned about back pressure on a master cylinder piston, but when you think about it, that is exactly what happens as soon as you press the pedal so that isn't an issue on the 'passive' one.

must be a pretty common thing, i think it's a legal requirement in learner cars to have dual controls in the uk

not very commom in minis i guess but the principle is the same

Trac

It was very common indeed on minis up to about 15-20 years ago. Nowadays no-one makes one and I have completely failed to track down one. Surely someone must have one sat in a garage somewhere? I have asked bout a bespoke fitment and got price guides of approximate 2k, which is about 1.9k over our budget! I could make a mechanical one, but the more I think about it, the more I think the hydraulic route appeals as pretty much all the bits are off the shelf, and I have 2 spare master cylinders. It doesn't need to be road legal as the lads driving it will be 12-16, but it must be MSA complient and TOTALLY safe.

[sledgehammer]

Ive now edited my post - as I am now sure I have seen this done hydraulically

maybe with the fiddle cylinder as mentioned above

I would fit the pedal box - then see how difficult it would be - either way

as you say 20 years ago - very common - they will turn up on ebay one day

also fit a big red kill button

Edited by sledgehammer, 09 November 2012 - 09:54 PM.

[Tamworthbay]

also fit a big red kill button

OH YES!!!!!! I have a couple ready and waiting to go in. To be fair they drive our electrics cars which do 40mph with up to 80 others cars on track and we haven't had an accident which has been our fault in over 2000 miles of racing. They are very careful and generally listen to instructions better than most teenagers.

[tractor]

must be a pretty common thing, i think it's a legal requirement in learner cars to have dual controls in the uk

not very commom in minis i guess but the principle is the same

Trac

It was very common indeed on minis up to about 15-20 years ago.

whys that then? did people learn to drive in mins? i guess so because theres no end of learner BMW minis about....


also your school sounds awesome..!

Trac

Edited by tractor, 09 November 2012 - 10:05 PM.

[Tamworthbay]

must be a pretty common thing, i think it's a legal requirement in learner cars to have dual controls in the uk

not very commom in minis i guess but the principle is the same

Trac

It was very common indeed on minis up to about 15-20 years ago.

whys that then? did people learn to drive in mins? i guess so because theres no end of learner BMW minis about....


also your school sounds awesome..!

Trac

Thanks mate, link to our latest newsletter if you are interested: http://www.tworivers...r/74/144348.pdf

[Spud_133]

Is there such a thing as a one way valve which has a small enough bore for brake pipe fitment? Or could one be manufactured to suit this purpose, this way you could have one either side of the tee piece and you could run dual master cylinders as you plan. I have seen two master cylinders running on seperate lines, for the same pedal with much success, not that this will help you in the slightest though!

[tractor]

Thanks mate, link to our latest newsletter if you are interested: http://www.tworivers...r/74/144348.pdf

brilliant mate love what your doing

ps i'm gunna pinch that joke " we knew a man who made a wooden car but it wooden go"..!!! -brilliant

Trac

[sledgehammer]

That looks like a really worth while job

best of luck