4 replies to this topic

[Buckles23]

Hey

Been on a long journey replacing the handbrake quadrants, which involved removing the rear subframe as the radius arm bolts needed welding… nightmare !!

Anyway that’s all done and just needed to bleed the brakes to finally get the car moving and back on the road and yes as the title suggests I now sheered off the front bleed nipple and used extractor which broke off in the nipple, so near impossible to drill out now.

I did notice as a work around to enable me to get the car moving and not sure if this is an option or not.

Very close to the bleed nipple there is another bolt that sits right at the top of the caliper. Can this be used as a bleed nipple. I’ve removed it and the new nipple does fit ?

No9 on the diagram


Is this an option and if not then what is it actually for ?

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[mab01uk]

I had a bleed nipple shear off some time back in a Metro 4-pot caliper, took it to a local machine shop where they 'spark eroded' it out for a small charge.

[NLinPEN]

Very close to the bleed nipple there is another bolt that sits right at the top of the caliper. Can this be used as a bleed nipple. I’ve removed it and the new nipple does fit ?

No9 on the diagram


Is this an option and if not then what is it actually for ?

Yes, that bolt can be replaced with a bleed nipple. But are you sure that the original, sheared-off, bleed nipple plus its broken off extractor will never pop when you do an emergency brake? That would be disastrous as you would lose all braking power at that instance. A much safer, but probably more expensive, solution would be to replace the brake caliper if you can't find a way to remove the broken bleed nipple.

Edited by NLinPEN, 07 March 2025 - 01:05 PM.

[Buckles23]

Hey thanks for the advice.

I have replaced the bolt with a nipple and seems to work ok like you said. I have been out today to give it a run and noticed a slight leak from the nipple so will need to have a look at that in more detail.

To your point I can’t really be sure it wouldn’t pop out under force. Might be best to bite the bullet and just get new calipers. Safety first and all that.

I just know a simple swap the caliper could turn into an other months work lol … love minis

[NLinPEN]

I just know a simple swap the caliper could turn into an other months work lol … love minis

Haha, that depends strongly on how much "project creep" you would allow. Replacing the calipers (possibly including brake hoses and brake pads) would be a one afternoon job, including a tea break. But if you allow the job to get bigger, then all bets are off ...