drum to disc conversion, wheel spacers

[dhenry]

Hello,

This weekend I upgraded my 66 Morris to Cooper S brakes. Everything went as it should and I am very pleased thus far. The fit and quality of components is great however I am left with 2 problems which may be common knowledge to most. First, do I need a brake master cylinder as I do not think my standard one pushes a great enough volume of fluid. If the answer is yes, which i have a feeling it will be do i have to have the large capacity cooper brake master with the metal reservoir or can I use the cheaper standard brake master with the plastic reservoir?

Second, the track is now wider at the front. I have read that the cooper had wider drums on the rear that had a built in spacer. I may choose to put cooper drums on at a later date but in the meantime how much spacer might i need to match the front track? Thanks again for the help.

Daniel

[guru_1071]

dan

the bore size of the master is the same, the s master is just taller so that it doesnt run out of fluid when the pads are well worn down - if you use a std master you just need to be mindful of the fluid level.

a set of 3/8th spacers will do the job of you want on the rear

[dhenry]

Hmmm, so you say they are the same. Here is my problem. My brake pedal travels to the floor and still wont lock the front brakes. I have bled the system through completely at least 3 times left and right and i still can't get it to work. Am I missing something? I have not bled the rear though, do i need to bleed them also. I was going to try bleeding the rears but it was getting dark last night. There are no leaks either. Any thoughts?

[guru_1071]

where are the bleed nipples on the front calipers?

bottom or top?

should be at the top

[dhenry]

I just read this on another forum. I think they may be at the bottom which means i need to swap my calipers over. That should be easy. Hopefully this will solve my problem then.

[guru_1071]

loads of people make this mistake!

id bleed the rears whilst you have it up in the air - at least then its all new fluid and you know its right

[dhenry]

school boy error. thanks for being kind. I will update my thread in the "our cars" section as I have been getting a lot of work done lately. Cheers,

Daniel

[dhenry]

And in regards to wheel spacers. Any other thoughts or will 3/8" be adequate. I just read that the cooper drums have a whole inch in them. Thanks,

Daniel

[guru_1071]

dan

the rear spaced drums are roughly 3/4 - 1" wide, but if your going this wide you will be restricted to a 4.5" wide wheel (unless you have arches)

if you use 3/8 they will take a 5" wheel with no problems

it all depends on your wheels / arches

[dhenry]

I see, my wheels are quite wide. The tires I am running are 165's. I think the wheels are either 4.5 of 5 i am not sure. I will have to check. I may have to run some arches.