Converting my '60 to 7 inch disc brakes

[Chapmag]

Hi all,

I have a mechanic pal that is going to do the above conversion for me.

He's recommending I replace the wheel bearings as part of the conversion.

Can anyone confirm that the wheel bearing kit I need is GHK1140?

Thanks in anticipation.

G.

[SMOKE GREY]

You can use the GHK1140 or the original GHK1018 type.

[Chapmag]

Thanks for the input, there's a large difference in price!
Is that relative to quality?
Given my mini is 65 years old and still has it's original (rebuilt) 850cc engine I'm not going to be doing lots of miles per year.
So would the cheaper version suit me better?
Thanks in anticipation, G.
P.S. Where in Sunny Lancashire are you Smoke Grey, I'm an exiled Lancastrian having been on the South Coast for 53 years!!!

[gs.davies]

The 7 inch disc (as opposed to the 7.5 S brake) uses the same wheel bearings as the drum braked cars.

I have this set up on my car, one of the drum type bearings failed (I suspect the grease supplied in the kit was to blame) and was replaced on the road with a Timken type.

The drum type has now done around 10k without trouble, the timken has a bit of play in it. Make of that what you will.

[Minigman]

I’d go for the Timken ones. The cheapo ones don’t last well. 100s rather than 1000s of miles.

[abs]

I get so fed up with the junk we get sold these days that I would wash and repack the bearings the hubs came with.

[Peter Laidler]

Can I just cut to the quick.........

GREAT idea to change your front drums to discs even though some - but not me - deride the smaller 7" discs.

While he's setting about changing the drums to discs and replacing the bearings, always a good idea while they're stripped down, tell him to replace the bearings with Cooper S taper rollers. Good quality tapers will last the lifetime of the car. They don';t need to be Timkens. Just another known quality will do, such as RHP or Unipart etc etc. Just buy them separately and they'll be cheaper....... BUT, the fitter will have to adjust your existing spacers to suit. But you'd do that anyway.

Been there, but not on an 850! But have replaced 998 Cooper bearings with S taper rollers. In fact, I'm sitting on a set here, just assembled and matched them up for my friends mini van

Back to Gary's play in his wheel bearings. If the bearing surfaces are perfect, then play can be taken up by simply skimming a gnats knacker off the spacer. As for the grease, Timken say that for mini sized wheel bearings, an approx golf ball sized amount per hub is sufficient

[Chapmag]

Thanks for all the input.
Given the car's age and the fact it still has it's original 850 engine I will not be doing a great deal of mileage, so I've gone with the drum brake bearings GHK1018.
Thanks again,
G

[Peter Laidler]

You'll be quietly impressed with the little Cooper discs. We've all seen them derided with some absolutely garbage claims......., some even saying that they're worse than T-L shoe type! Nope, I don't get the thermal mathematics of that claim either....

[gs.davies]

You'll be quietly impressed with the little Cooper discs. We've all seen them derided with some absolutely garbage claims......., some even saying that they're worse than T-L shoe type! Nope, I don't get the thermal mathematics of that claim either....

I agree. Probably ten thousand miles on mine now, far less trouble than drums.

[Peter Laidler]

Back to Cooper discs again..... As the happy owner of a well restored 998 Cooper owner said to me by pm yesterday. '... if the Police users of 998 Coopers were happy with them, thrashing them to death, day and day out, what was the problem"? Couldn't agree more

[Chapmag]

Hi, me again! Well we started fitting the discs but hit a problem. The used drive flanges I bought with the used 7" disc are worn and/or damaged.
I'll see if I can add photos, but the crux of the matter is does anyone out there have a pair drive flanges (BTA191) that I can purchase to keep my August 1960 Austin Seven "safely" on the road?
Thanks in anticipation.
G.

Drive Flange 2.jpeg

Drive Flange 1.jpeg

[attachment=0]Drive Flange 2.jpeg

[gs.davies]

I’ve got a pair of flanges - can bring to Blyton if you’re going

[Peter Laidler]

And if Gary's offer doesn't pan out, don't worry too much. The standard mini drive flanges are fairly simple to convert to Cooper spec. After all, they both started life as the same casting and primary machining!

The method of conversion with a few good illustrations for anyone with a decent lathe and good lathe tools can do in an hour is on the forum somewhere, formulated and done by our own Dermott