Rear brakes and pedal box

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RMKracing1
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Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by RMKracing1 »

Hi,

We are currently stripping our A30 for a rebuild,

I am looking at running the rear brake set up off the midget and bolting it to the A30 axle.

Is this a difficult job and has anybody done it?

Also what pedal box would you recommend I fit to operate the hydraulic rear brakes?

Any advice or pictures would be great,

Many thanks

Mike
53morrisminor
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by 53morrisminor »

I adapted Nash Metropolitan hydraulic rear brakes (8in) to my A35--pretty much a straight bolt on.
The emergency brake stirrup fits also, since the Metro is mostly Austin based--Which "solves" the problem
of a mounting for the emergency brake lash-up from the Midget--Go to "search" "Nash Metropolitan",
and look at "Upgrading Rear Brakes to Nash Metropolitan"--and the various comments therein--
I wasn't able to post pictures to the site--"technically deficient!"--If interested--PM--I can post
pictures to an email address, and more info--
Edosan
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by Edosan »

Firstly you don't have to change the pedal box when you convert to hydraulics. You might want to for different reasons and many have done this including the HRDC racers. Favourite used to be A40 set up but these are becoming difficult to source now and I think people use Metro etc. When I first converted I simply used the pipe that went to the rear cylinder and extended it to the two rear cylinders. Worked perfectly.
I would personally stick to the Midget / A40 rears, its a really easy conversion and you can simply use existing handbrake etc. It's also perfectly balanced if you use Midget discs or A40 drums on the front. Not sure about the Nash Metropolitan mentioned above and what 8in drums would do on the back and suspect they would be far more prone to locking up. If you want some pictures of how to do it, simply PM me and I'll dig them out.
You will get a lot of push back from members on here saying don't do it and standard rear brakes on our cars are just fine. They have a point and you certainly wont get more powerful brakes from Midget A40 but there are other reasons for doing this, I for instance find them easier to maintain and I don't particularly like having hydraulic parts operating in exposed positions, it's bad enough with the master cylinder! However each to their own and both work really well. :wave:
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Neil Evans
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by Neil Evans »

Edosan wrote: You will get a lot of push back from members on here saying don't do it and standard rear brakes on our cars are just fine. They have a point and you certainly wont get more powerful brakes from Midget A40 but there are other reasons for doing this, I for instance find them easier to maintain and I don't particularly like having hydraulic parts operating in exposed positions, it's bad enough with the master cylinder! However each to their own and both work really well. :wave:
:iagree: We must arrange that rolling road 'duel' when the cars go back on the road... :thumbs:
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RMKracing1
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by RMKracing1 »

Edosan wrote:Firstly you don't have to change the pedal box when you convert to hydraulics. You might want to for different reasons and many have done this including the HRDC racers. Favourite used to be A40 set up but these are becoming difficult to source now and I think people use Metro etc. When I first converted I simply used the pipe that went to the rear cylinder and extended it to the two rear cylinders. Worked perfectly.
I would personally stick to the Midget / A40 rears, its a really easy conversion and you can simply use existing handbrake etc. It's also perfectly balanced if you use Midget discs or A40 drums on the front. Not sure about the Nash Metropolitan mentioned above and what 8in drums would do on the back and suspect they would be far more prone to locking up. If you want some pictures of how to do it, simply PM me and I'll dig them out.
You will get a lot of push back from members on here saying don't do it and standard rear brakes on our cars are just fine. They have a point and you certainly wont get more powerful brakes from Midget A40 but there are other reasons for doing this, I for instance find them easier to maintain and I don't particularly like having hydraulic parts operating in exposed positions, it's bad enough with the master cylinder! However each to their own and both work really well. :wave:
Thanks for the info. I like the idea of midget rear brakes as I think it's a better set up personally. I will be running a 1380 engine do I want decent brakes that I am comfortable with!
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Duncan
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by Duncan »

I've a Peugeot 405 pedal box & master cylinder set-up waiting for my resto... it sounded like a good idea at the time.
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by gazza82 »

RMKracing1 wrote:Thanks for the info. I like the idea of midget rear brakes as I think it's a better set up personally. I will be running a 1380 engine do I want decent brakes that I am comfortable with!
You might want to search on the forum for some of Dave Clark's threads .. his turbo'd A35 has 4-pot calipers and vented discs!!
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Neil Evans
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by Neil Evans »

gazza82 wrote: You might want to search on the forum for some of Dave Clark's threads .. his turbo'd A35 has 4-pot calipers and vented discs!!
And Dave would be the first to admit that they were not worth the time/effort/expense of fitting as they provided little or no improvement over the standard Midget set up he previously had on the car, and that he fitted them to be different... :thumbs:
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by gazza82 »

These would stop it ...

8)
8-pot calipers
8-pot calipers
DSC_0639.jpg (22.93 KiB) Viewed 1011 times

(Wheels might not fit over them though ... :whistle: )
"If you're driving on the edge ... you're leaving too much room!"

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Big Daddy
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by Big Daddy »

Neil Evans wrote: :iagree: We must arrange that rolling road 'duel' when the cars go back on the road... :thumbs:
Neil Evans wrote:And Dave would be the first to admit that they were not worth the time/effort/expense of fitting as they provided little or no improvement over the standard Midget set up he previously had on the car, and that he fitted them to be different... :thumbs:
Powerful rear brakes may sound good but is brake balance too rear biased :?:

Locking rear wheels first under emergency braking can make life exciting. Indeed legal brake certification (pre-ABS but post-A35) demanded that front wheels must lock first under all driving conditions.
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Edosan
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by Edosan »

:thumbs: definitely do that rolling road duel in the spring, doing a bit of bodywork right now, agree with BD which is why I favour sticking with "standard" upgrades such as Midget or A40. Bigger A40 drums at front help to ensure that front would lock up first and they were of course used with both mechanical rears Mk1 and hydraulic rears Mk 2. :wave:
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by exminiman »

Big Daddy wrote:
Neil Evans wrote: :iagree: We must arrange that rolling road 'duel' when the cars go back on the road... :thumbs:
Neil Evans wrote:And Dave would be the first to admit that they were not worth the time/effort/expense of fitting as they provided little or no improvement over the standard Midget set up he previously had on the car, and that he fitted them to be different... :thumbs:
Powerful rear brakes may sound good but is brake balance too rear biased :?:

Locking rear wheels first under emergency braking can make life exciting. Indeed legal brake certification (pre-ABS but post-A35) demanded that front wheels must lock first under all driving conditions.
:iagree: Resurecting thread......locking rear brakes is not much fun or lots of fun - depending on your mental state ! Brake bias valve, from mini could work, also adjustable versions, anyone got experiance of using one on an Austin ? This is the adjustable valve , there is aldo two non adjustable valves (different poundages)
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Big Daddy
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by Big Daddy »

That's just a pressure limiting valve which will cap rear line pressure. If properly adjusted, it will prevent locking of rear wheels. Brake G-valve would work as well... :wave:
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by OVY871 »

That only works in dry conditions though doesn't it? When it's wet or icy the rears will lock much sooner and this would be before the pressure would be exceeded.
I'm planning separate circuits for my brake system, one where I can change master bore size of a front or rear circuit separately to ensure balanced but front biased braking. Will also mean unless its my pedal that fails I'll have one axle braking under emergency situations from brake failure.
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beko
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Re: Rear brakes and pedal box

Post by beko »

If you want split circuit it needs to be diagonal not front/rear. If the front fails, you have brakes at the back only, which takes you back to the original problem.
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