829 replies to this topic

[timmy850]

Thought I'd add this photo from a "Cars and Coffee" a few weeks back. Front and centre was a rare RHD Muira SV

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I had a chance last week to start the disc brake conversion. Heres one last photo of the car on the Contessas and the drums

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I started at the back end of the car. I'd already checked and confirmed the rear wheel cylinders were 5/8" so I just needed to add the longer wheel studs and wide drums.

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The extra step on the left rear side was to replace the wheel bearing with a tapered one (I'd ready done the rear right one).

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At the front I started on the LH side and it all came apart really easily. This had all been apart during my time driving this car - previously the wheel cylinders, shoes, ball joints, CV joints and wheel bearings had all been replaced.

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There was grease coming out from the wheel bearing, so it looked like the right time to change it. You might also be able to see the date stamp inside the drum, they all were dated 1963 so most likely have never been changed

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Bit of a difference between the old crusty parts and the new clean parts!

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One good tip I picked up was to use some vice grips on the inner part of the driveshaft so that the pot joints don't come apart when you try and remove the CV from the driveshaft. They came off really easily, it helps that they were changed when I installed the engine in 2019. The other good tip was to use the brake line pinch tool, this stopped all the fluid coming out during the swap

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All assembled now, ready for bleeding and torquing up the CV

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A little progress today, I took the wheels and tyres over to a local shop and had them swapped onto the minilife wheels. The tyres only had about 3000km in the last 12 months since I bought them.

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All look great on the car!

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You might nice the missing caliper - it's the last thing to be installed on the RH side, along with the new CV

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They need a clean up to remove the tyre goop, and all the mud needs to come off the body from the last MITG run

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[Vinay-RS]

Got to love freshly rebuilt brakes. They look so shiny! How is the fitment of the new wheels? 

[timmy850]

Got to love freshly rebuilt brakes. They look so shiny! How is the fitment of the new wheels?

Thanks Vijay! The fitment is perfect, the inside clears the brake calipers fine and all the tread is covered which means it’s road legal for here. Can’t wait to see it all cleaned up and outside!
Also keen to see what the brakes are like

[Vinay-RS]

 

Got to love freshly rebuilt brakes. They look so shiny! How is the fitment of the new wheels?

Thanks Vijay! The fitment is perfect, the inside clears the brake calipers fine and all the tread is covered which means it’s road legal for here. Can’t wait to see it all cleaned up and outside!
Also keen to see what the brakes are like

 

Any plans to add a brake booster to the setup? I have heard mixed opinions on them, but I'm guessing there isn't space for it with the heater box? 

 

Keen to hear how they compare to the drums on a longer drive. 

[timmy850]

Got to love freshly rebuilt brakes. They look so shiny! How is the fitment of the new wheels?

Thanks Vijay! The fitment is perfect, the inside clears the brake calipers fine and all the tread is covered which means it’s road legal for here. Can’t wait to see it all cleaned up and outside!
Also keen to see what the brakes are like

Any plans to add a brake booster to the setup? I have heard mixed opinions on them, but I'm guessing there isn't space for it with the heater box?

Keen to hear how they compare to the drums on a longer drive.

I have got a couple of boosters in case I end up wanting one. I’ll have to see what it’s like without the booster first, I’m used to them being pretty firm at the moment

I’m happy to remove the heater if I need the booster. The heater needs to come partway out to get the new brake hose on the front right side too

[timmy850]

A bit of an update from the last few weeks. I've also tried imgur for image hosting as I'm getting a bit annoyed at having to upload images into several different forums...

 

So when I left off I still needed to change the RH front brake hose. It lives way down here somewhere under the heater

Luckily the heater is able to be rotated around without having to drain the whole system (especially handy when you forget to connect up the brake light wires!)

Now you can see the brake light pressure switch. Undo the wires and unscrew the switch comes and starts the brake fluid spilling everywhere. I'd forgotten that there are some copper sealing washers here and only had one of the right size spare in the garage. I had to leave it overnight slightly weeping as I couldn't buy any that late in the day

The one on the right didn't reseal , you can see the lip on it. 

Now I could finally get the caliper on and start the bleeding process. I just used the "gravity bleeding" method, which just involves opening all the bleed points and waiting till it all comes through clear with new fluid and no bubbles. The rear lines were fine as I didn't touch any of the cylinders or brake lines. After I'd got the system all bled and ready to go I found out that I'd set the torque on the ball joints to the wrong spec (the manual I was referencing was very unclear) so I had to remove the hubs and retorque the ball joints and then assemble it all again. 

When taking the hubs off I noticed that my brand new cone washers for the CV joints had cracked in multiple places (both sides). The parts supplier has just got in some higher quality ones, so hopefully they'll last a fair bit longer!

At this point it was "done" and I was able to take it for a drive around the block. I was having a weird issue with the pedal, where the first press of the pedal was a bit soft, then the second was firm. This normally means there is still air in the system or the drums are incorrectly adjusted so I checked both of those. There was still no improvement after more bleeding and adjusting the drums, and I noticed that the brake pads were loose to the touch on the LH side. I did a bit or research and found a couple of people who had "sticky" brake caliper pistons with new or refurbished calipers. The remedy was to remove the brake pads, press the pedal to move the pistons out and then push them back in just enough that the pads were a tight fit. This improved the pedal feel to be firm from the top.

I've since buttoned up a bunch of little jobs and taken it on a drive to work and back. There is still plenty of time to go on the brake pad & disc bed in process, but they do feel good so far!

The new wheels just fit the car so nicely!

 

 

The next long term project I've picked up is some H4 carbs. I bought this set mainly because it had the right fuel bowls for a mini and the awesome ram pipes. I need to go through and pick which pair will get rebuilt and how all the linkages work

The H4 carbs are 1.5" like the later HS4, but are the period appropriate choice for an early 60's modified mini. They even bolt right up to the factory HS2 manifold. 

[johnR]

car looking very smart - nice set of carbs too!

[PoolGuy]

That car just looks right!

[Jared Mk3]

Nice tip on the caliper piston. I might have to try the same thing on my car. Looks smart on those wheels 

[timmy850]

car looking very smart - nice set of carbs too!

Thanks John! Carbs will be a while before I get them rebuilt, but I just love the look of them

 

That car just looks right!

Thanks, I'm very happy with how it looks now!

 

Nice tip on the caliper piston. I might have to try the same thing on my car. Looks smart on those wheels 

Thanks Jared! Yes, worth checking the pads are a nice tight fit when the car is resting. 

 

A few photos from our mini drive today!

[timmy850]

Another fantastic autumn day today, I had the car booked in for an alignment and the annual registration check (aka pink slip). He was happy with everything and we’re good for another year!

[Clip]

Looking good Tim! Love the wheels! As soon as I've recovered financially from a new battery and distributor ($1000), they're next on the list.

I'll have to try the brake caliper trick as mine is exactly the same issue and have bleed and re-bleed with same result. Are they still OK, or have they moved back again?

[timmy850]

Looking good Tim! Love the wheels! As soon as I've recovered financially from a new battery and distributor ($1000), they're next on the list.

I'll have to try the brake caliper trick as mine is exactly the same issue and have bleed and re-bleed with same result. Are they still OK, or have they moved back again?

Thanks Clip!

 

Which distributor did you go with out of interest? I think mine is holding me back at the moment as it's on points and I couldn't get the ideal curve with the springs I had. A guy on ausmini apparently has lots of experience recurving them, so I might send my spare one to him as I've just got a new electronic module.

 

They brakes were perfect when I checked them every day after fixing up the pads. It's been good while driving so far, although plenty of break in time to go

[Clip]

I went with a Peak Ignition distributor from Melbourne. Lindsay knows his stuff with these. to be honest I couldn’t believe the difference. The distributor puts out not only a bigger spark, but the duration is increased. He builds them to suit your engine so you have to give him all your specs. But for around $550, you get new distributor, leads and coil. Engine runs smoother, more power and less fuss. Best bang for buck yet.

 

I’ll have to do the brakes on the weekend 

Edited by Clip, 16 April 2021 - 11:33 AM.

[slidehammer]

You may not have as many of them as we do over here, but you certainly have some great looking Minis over there. Also the drive looks stunning.