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Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 10:24 pm
by tomkidd
How do folks
What is the largest brake master cylinder that will fit the mini? I have seen the racing style ones that have a remote reservoir but I wondered what the largest standard mini one is?
I the brake lines I have, have a larger bore, thus the master cylinder is having to move more fluid.
I was toying with the idea of going from a 0.7 to a 0.75... or should I go bigger still?
Ta
Tom
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:50 am
by WNX700H
The brake lines have nothing to do with the amount of fluid you have to move except when bleeding . Once bled and with no air ion the system the fluid acts as a solid link between master cylinder and the slaves at the wheels. What determoines how much fluid you have to displace s the size of the caliper and wheel cylinder bore.
hope this is understandable.
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:07 am
by tomkidd
Cheers, what I am trying to do is reduce pedal travel. I've read that a larger master cylinder will reduce pedal travel?
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:32 am
by Number Six
Hi, did you changed your pedal from drum to disc ?
André
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:35 am
by tomkidd
Number Six wrote:Hi, did you changed your pedal from drum to disc ?
André
Yes
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:41 pm
by WNX700H
Yes larger master cylinder will reduce travel but increase pedal effort for a given decel.
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 12:04 pm
by Toby
Use a master clutch cylinder, this has a larger bore than the largest bore brake cylinder
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 12:07 pm
by guru_1071
masnarda wrote:Use a master clutch cylinder, this has a larger bore than the largest bore brake cylinder
not a good idea, the internals of the master cylinder will allow the brakes to drag slightly and soon warm up the discs!
i made this mistake years ago and the discs where glowing red hot after about ten miles!

Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:12 pm
by COOPERCO
A larger bore will reduce the pedal travel & as mentioned above will require more effort. This will reduce the 'feel' at the pedal, if you need to reduce travel have you got a problem else where?
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 7:26 am
by tomkidd
COOPERCO wrote:A larger bore will reduce the pedal travel & as mentioned above will require more effort. This will reduce the 'feel' at the pedal, if you need to reduce travel have you got a problem else where?
I've been through the whole system and can't find anything. Its all adjusted up perfectly, no air in the system and no bulging pipes.
The pedal feels ok but I can press it all the way down to the floor almost when I press it hard. I think it would benefit from a firmer pedal as at the moment it is quite light.
Any suggestions as to where I can take it to get advice?
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 5:32 pm
by COOPERCO
Is this a new build/rebuilt brake set up? Sometimes new seals in the front calipers can 'pull' the pistons back giving long pedal travel. If you press the pedal then really quickly re-apply does the travel get somewhere near where you want it to be? Or if you can get hold of two brake pipe clamps & lock the front calipers off what happens?
Mike.
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 7:29 pm
by carbon
If the problem is excessive brake pedal travel have you looked closely at the rear drums. If there is any slack then this can take up quite a bit of pedal travel.
Also do you know which bore size of rear cylinders you have fitted? Depending on the year the bore size varies considerably, but as they don't do a lot of work on a disc braked car then you can go for a smaller bore size and still get acceptable performance. The 0.625 bore rear cylinder is plenty for most applications, there are also a couple of even smaller bore options.
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 10:41 pm
by Lord Croker
It's worth checking out Cooperco's suggestion about caliper pistons being pulled back by the seals,
I had this happen on Cooper S & Metro 4-pot calipers & on the 4-pots, that's a lot of pedal lost!
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:36 am
by 970s
I had the same problem when I rebuilt my S brake system, I am using a new MS GMC172 master cyl. a lot of pedal travel, I bleed all over the joints, still very low, but the brake pressure is enough to pass the MOT requirement, will it be the problem from the master cylinder?
I am going to replace it with a 998 cooper B cyl and see if the situation would change.
Al
Re: Largest brake master cylinder
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 9:10 am
by tomkidd
COOPERCO wrote:Is this a new build/rebuilt brake set up? Sometimes new seals in the front calipers can 'pull' the pistons back giving long pedal travel. If you press the pedal then really quickly re-apply does the travel get somewhere near where you want it to be? Or if you can get hold of two brake pipe clamps & lock the front calipers off what happens?
Mike.
Yes, it does exactly that. I can't lock off the front calipers as the hoses are braided...
Thanks for your help Mike