17 replies to this topic

[skinnyminny]

Hi all,
Looking at SteveSpi's car hopefully and wanted an estimated cost for changing the drum brakes to disk (disc?) brakes. It's a 1980 Mini 1000. Anyone done something similar? I'm just north of Brighton if anyone has personal recommendations as to workshops?
Thanks,
Lucy

[yellowmonster]

First of all: good serviced (twin-shoe) drumbrakes are as effective as discbrakes.
Better still: the first Cooper discs were so terrifying bad that many were either converted back to drums or upgraded with the later (much better) discs...

That said: yes, of course you can convert drumbrakes to discs, but it will come at a prize..
Or you'd convert to 12" at the same time, because those are cheaper/ easier to find than the old 10" items.

[xtr hardcore]

I brought a second hand disc drive assembly off ebay with the drive shafts still attached, so popped off my old ones to pop on the new !

Obviously replaced the disc, pads and re-coned the caliper with new pistons and brake lines etc

[bobs]

Is it a standard 998 mini? no point upgrading to disc it can cost quite a bit, as said the 1980 drums if well serviced and adjusted correctly will stop a 998 dead, the rest is down to good road tyres kept at the right pressure, and careful driving in hazardous conditions.

[skinnyminny]

I really would want to convert unless these drums are different to every other mini I've tried with drum brakes - I've found them terrifyingly spongy!

I'm aware it will cost a bit, any chance of getting fiesta brakes put on (read this in another thread)? I'd be getting them professionally done by a mini expert, not something I want to compromise on here!

Anyone had this done that can give me an idea of price?

[lrostoke]

I'd agree can't say I've noticed any braking difference between drums and disks. My drums performed fine under all conditions even pulling a trailer.

Only reason I swapped was because I got all the bits free, and secondly because it is less hassle to setup and balance discs.

Costs are going to vary though.
If you have or go to 12" rims then switching to 8.4" discs is the cheaper option, should find a good 2nd hand set cheap enough.

If you want 10" rims then you are looking at £200 up to £550 depending what parts and 2nd hand availability.


I kept 10" rims my conversion would have cost £220 kit from minispares plus I needed the hubs and CV's off a 8.4" disc car, got these free off a scrapped car we had.

[AVV IT]

I can't say that I agree. In my experience even the most carefully of maintained front drums are pretty awful. Even with a set of minifins fitted, the level of brake fade you get with them is absolutely shocking when they get hot. Plus having to adjust the front drums every few hundred miles is a real pain in the backside, especially if you are going to have to pay someone else to do it for you.

So I'd say that getting them changed over is very worthwhile. I can't help with a garage in your area, but if it's any help you should only be talking about a couple of hours labour at the most for each side. So unless you're planning to fit any used parts, then you're probably looking at £700 - £800 all in.

[bmcecosse]

Best bet is to pick up a complete set of front discs etc from a scrappy - and yes - Fiesta MK I calipers will allow you to run 10" wheels ands to have EXCELLENT brakes. But you do need to know what you are doing - it's not difficult. I did the whole job including all parts from scrappy for well less than £100.

[lrostoke]

Probably getting harder to do the Fiesta conversion now , I know scrapyard round here is pretty light on older cars.
And seems anybody selling on ebay as cottoned onto the value of the calipers

[yellowmonster]

@AVV IT: you know what you say is bull.
Once the shoes are new, adjusting them is a once every 5000 mile job.
But yes: they do fade when they're hot...but so do discs..
Probably due to my driving, I've never ever experienced that on the open road, only on tracks...

Once again: if the system is bled with everything in good working order, the DOT4 is new/ clear, the drums are adjusted (which isn't that hard a job really), they should be well capable to stop your little precious Mini.
In normal traffic, it's hard to believe you can get them to fade...we're not The Stig are we..?

Edited by yellowmonster, 22 August 2011 - 05:29 PM.

[2Black]

I just had the upgrade done 1 week ago, after having driven my Mini for under 3 weeks. Couldn't get used to the braking behaviour with drums.
Especially because I'm used to old Citroën CX hydraulics, meaning a highly pressure-assisted all-discs setup.

Basically I broke down the 7,5" Cooper S conversion kit as offered by MiniSpares and took out the parts I didn't need. That saved some money.
Bought the hubs, flanges, calipers, (greenstuff)pads, bearings and (upgraded quality) discs. The rest we had available.
But also I ordered the brake servo kit, and that in the end is probably what makes the real difference in daily use because it's simply easier to apply brake pressure with that. Actually it's the brake servo that makes it relatively expensive because it acounts for 25% of total expense.

Must say that I am very happy with it, especially now that they have been 'broken in'. It basically stops like before but doesn't fade as fast and it brakes in a straight line. My drums, although rebuilt with new parts, always took the car to the right and I simply can't be bothered having to adjust the brakes every 3 months.

True, it cost a lot of money (€650 in total) but now I'm pretty sure I won't have brake related costs in the coming 3 or so yrs. The latter also being a reason to do the upgrade.
I'm helped by the fact that my Mini-specialist is a very good friend. ordering some spares in the UK for his workshop meant him doing the work on this upgrade.

[AVV IT]

@AVV IT: you know what you say is bull.
Once the shoes are new, adjusting them is a once every 5000 mile job.
But yes: they do fade when they're hot...but so do discs..
Probably due to my driving, I've never ever experienced that on the open road, only on tracks...

Once again: if the system is bled with everything in good working order, the DOT4 is new/ clear, the drums are adjusted (which isn't that hard a job really), they should be well capable to stop your little precious Mini.
In normal traffic, it's hard to believe you can get them to fade...we're not The Stig are we..?

How Rude!!!

Your experience of driving on drums is clearly very different to my own, that doesn't make your experience wrong or mean that what you say is "bull", it just means that your view and your experience is different to mine. The point of a forum is that different members put forward different points of view based on different experiences, if we all had the same opinions based on the same experiences, then there would be little point in using the forum as you could glean the same information from a book.

To be fair to you, drums should be adjusted every 3,000 miles or every 3 months whichever is sooner. Adjusting them isn't a hard job as you say (and if you have drums all round, then you have to do it so often that you could do it in your sleep), but it's still a pain in the backside having to repeatedly do it all the time. How difficult it may be is largely irrelevant in this case though, as the OP clearly does not do her own maintenance and will therefore have to pay someone else to regularly perform this task for her, something that could be avoided by fitting discs.

....oh and you may well find that your opinions here will regularly differ to my own, to which you are more than welcome to voice your disagreement, but a little forum etiquette really wouldn't go a miss next time.

Thanks

[yellowmonster]

I wasn't planning to offend you, and I'm really sorry if you feel like I did..please accept my apologies.
And yes I understand that people have a different opinion, otherwise we wouldn't have a discussion in the first place right?
All I wanted to achieve was a fair and objective answer to the OP's question, whatever people's personal feeling or experience on the matter.

That said, both brakesystems have their cons and pros:
- yes, drums need more frequent adjusting,
- yes, drums have their 'quirks' if not adjusted right

Discs have their own problems like seizing slidepins, which prefent the caliper to 'slide' which affects braking.
Pistonseizing is another, with dragging (and overheating) brakes as a result.

Both systems work fine if maintained and properly adjusted, and both systems are quite capable in stopping your car.
Then again, both systems can overheat and fade if used too hard or too frequently in a short period of time...

@2Black: have we discovered a new trend with Mini-owning dutch Citroënists Collin..??

Edited by yellowmonster, 23 August 2011 - 11:03 AM.

[AVV IT]

I wasn't planning to offend you, and I'm really sorry if you feel like I did..please accept my apologies.

No worries

[minimad82]

hi have drums on my 998, its got 50php ( proven ) drum brakes are crap and will stop me once. discs are so much better