Alternative axles ?

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exminiman
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Alternative axles ?

Post by exminiman »

Apologies if question already asked , but did search and couldn't find anything specific.

Looking at converting to hydraulic rear brakes, is MG Midget or Austin A40 direct replacment or if not what is envolved in swapping them.

Or am I missing a more obvious replacment ?

Cheers

Marc
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by gazza82 »

Midget spring plates in wrong place .. Not sure on A40 but might be wider.

Put rear brakes onto A30/35 axle.
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roymck
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by roymck »

A40 and Midget are the same , you will have to fiddle about with handbrake linkage as the rods are different lengths and with different yokes. The drums are slightly different and will foul the backplates but the drums can be ground down with an angle grinder. The backplates will bolt straight on. I also had to remove the rear hubs and relieve them as they fouled against the wheel cylinders. Also Dave clark on here fitted Morris 1000 rear brakes.
You will have to modify the master cylinder and route a brake pipe to the rear axle and across the axle itself.
exminiman
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by exminiman »

Thanks guys ( or maybe gals!)
so in summary keep A35 axle and fit a40 or midget backplates, sounds easiest ? :bow:
Dave Clark
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by Dave Clark »

You could also fit discs without too much trouble.

The A35 axle (diff) is OK for most modified cars but my experience is that they don,t survive well with over 100bhp.

The alternative is an Anglia/Escort axle which will need to be narrowed and then there is the issue of different wheel stud spacing, but they are a good deal stronger than the BMC offering.
Big Daddy
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by Big Daddy »

Narrowed Escort English axle with custom Quaife half-shafts, 5 links and coil spring / damper plates as fitted to Evo1. Hub flanges are adapted to mount disc brake calipers.
Evo1 Narrowed English Axle.jpg
Evo1 Narrowed English Axle.jpg (47.25 KiB) Viewed 1893 times
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exminiman
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by exminiman »

Thanks big daddy :clapping: , what a memory, yes i have the axle in the garage still!!

Its just that I have had a change of mind and would like to keep BMC bits in place if i can.

Still I am impressed ;-)
Edosan
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by Edosan »

Hi Marc, just seen this, A40 / Midget rears are definitely the way to go if you want hydraulics, I personally would avoid Minor style as I have an aversion to brake cylinders that need to slide around on the backplate, I've seen too many that are seized or partially seized up.
I posted some pics on Roys thread, viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6699&hilit=hydraul ... &start=120 so you can see orientation. All you need is to fashion some new ends and relieve drums and hubs slightly as Roy mentioned. Standard handbrake linkage works brilliantly otherwise. I've been running the set up shown for over 30 years and love it, happy to answer any other questions or send more pics if you need them. :wave:
exminiman
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by exminiman »

Thanks Roy, I've been told that Metro backplates work also, do you have any ideas on this ?
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Steveneathey
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by Steveneathey »

I fitted metro rear brakes to my A30 but you need to open out the central hole in the backplate to fit our axle (I used a lathe to ensure they were properly centred) and the dust rubbers on the wheel cylinders run too close to the rear hub and even after 'relieving' the hub edges a bit with an angle grinder the hubs are still very close to the dust covers.

I also had to alter the handbrake levers on the rear brakes to match up with modified cross rods and the angles are still not very satisfactory and the hand brake is nowhere near as good as on a standard set-up.

All in all it wasn't worth the trouble and I wouldn't do it again.

Steve
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by Dave Clark »

Like you, Steve, I have done things that I would never do again - like putting Metro Turbo ventilated discs and 4 pot calipers on an A35 - more trouble than it was worth and not even the compensation of being able to find brake parts more easily or cheaply than A35 stuff after all this time.
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by gazza82 »

exminiman wrote:Thanks Roy, I've been told that Metro backplates work also, do you have any ideas on this ?
I think (well looking at Haynes suggests) that the Mini/Metro back plates only have three mounting holes too.
"If you're driving on the edge ... you're leaving too much room!"

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Steveneathey
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Re: Alternative axles ?

Post by Steveneathey »

The Metro backplates need quite a lot of adapting and aren't really that good at the end of it. To be honest, most brakes can be fitted to most cars if you are prepared to do enough work to modify them, it's really a case of whether it's worth it, and in the case of the Metro my feeling is that it isn't.

My first A35 has Riley 1.5 8" rear drums and they are brilliant and well worth the trouble of fitting (bolt straight on as I recall) but are virtually unobtainable these days. I have great fun every time I need to replace the shoes or wheel cylinders (not that often but they have been fitted for over twenty years) as they were pretty rare even back in the day.

Interesting what you say about the Metro Turbo 4 pot callipers Dave, as I have a set of them somewhere but probably won't bother to dig them out now!

Steve
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