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I have just upgraded my 1960 mini from single leading edge front brakes to twin leading edge. This involved buying a complete new assembled backplates/cylinders, shoes etc from Minisport. at the same time I replaced the rear shoes and cylinders. I initially had a lot of trouble with the pedal going right to the floor , but after a lot of bleeding and adjusting it is just about acceptable. HOWEVER...they work really well in reverse, but going forward they barely stop me. any idea what I might have done wrong?
Thanks, Simon

Brake shoes fitted the wrong way round.

Back plates fitted on wrong sides.

What Ivor said.

The "top&rear" adjuster should be behind the steering arm.

thanks all. I think you are right. I did not realise there was a left and a right! Now I know the hard way .
Cheers

Canada mk1 wrote:thanks all. I think you are right. I did not realise there was a left and a right! Now I know the hard way .
Cheers

Yes, but just think about all the practice you've had doing the job.....
I almost made the same mistake but kept thinking it didn't match up with the service/parts manuals...
And, don't make the mistake in the rears of putting the springs on bass-ackwards. It'll make a horrid squeaking sound making you believe you have a bad bearing.

Okay, so thanks to all your helpful suggestion i got the brakes on the correct sides and working.!
Now the problem is that I adjust them up and they work really well for a day or so, but then the front brakes seem to un-adjust themselves so that the pedal goes to the floor. If I adjust the brakes again they are fine again for a day or two until the same thing happens. Any ideas!

the adjusters should have fairly stiff belville washers between them and the backplates, so there is sufficient friction to stop the adjusters altering themselves as the brakes are applied.

id guess that that either the belvilles are not strong enough, or the adjuster 'pack' is coming loose (like they always used to do when you fitted those 'adjuster reconditioning kits that Moprod did....')

I would adjust the brakes up and mark the adjusters with a dab of paint, at least then you would know if they are winding themselves off...............

rich@minispares.com wrote: I would adjust the brakes up and mark the adjusters with a dab of paint, at least then you would know if they are winding themselves off...............

Good idea and fair enough there Rich, but I'd ditch them and fit discs.

I was always told at the garage i use to work in a proper set up on drum brakes and they will stop as well as discs, so the shoes are centralized, adjusted, and tight enough to the drum and they;ll work fine.

But Disc is a lot less maintenance and don't get as much brake fade

Chalkie wrote:.... a proper set up on drum brakes ... will stop as well as discs.

I agree with Chalky here, esp if you can get old (asbestos containing) shoes.

While your doing the swap over, check that the adjusters aren't too loose You can tighten them with some careful punch hits on the flanges to get them to bite into the backplate more.

Thank Rich
There is very little friction on the adjusters, so maybe that is the problem. I will try your suggestion and see how it goes.
As for the drum disc discussion, the twin leading set up seems fantastic after having used the single system for the past four years. Depends what you're used to I suppose!

Chalkie wrote:I was always told at the garage i use to work in a proper set up on drum brakes and they will stop as well as discs, so the shoes are centralized, adjusted, and tight enough to the drum and they;ll work fine.

But Disc is a lot less maintenance and don't get as much brake fade

I totally agree, I still use drum brakes, they work smoothly & progressively, no problem at all, but you have to be conscious of the onset of brake fade, unfortunately they retain heat a lot more readily than discs. As regards being a lot less maintenance, I find the opposite, or maybe the it's the costs of maintenance on drums that is a lot less? Might be an interesting new thread