15 replies to this topic

[JonnyAlpha]

I have a 1982 HLE 1000 Saloon.

 

I am trying to replace the original front flexible brake hoses.

 

L/H side:

I have managed to get the brake pipe that runs around the Subframe off by undoing the small nut on top (without twisting the brake pipe). I covered this with masking tape to prevent any crap entering it.

 

For the large nut that holds the flexible hose outer cover onto the Subframe the access through the hole in the Inner Wing stopped me from getting a 24mm Socket on it. The socket would go on but I could not get the ratchet on. I resolved this by undoing the smaller nut on the underside with an 18mm spanner (I did not have an Imperial equivalent :-( )

 

First Problem:

Now I cannot remove the hose from the Front Hub Backplate / Servo because I dod not have a spanner that will fit!! What size is it??

I have an adjustable but I dare not risk rounding the nut.

 

Once I can get the hose off of the Backplate the replacement should be OK.

 

R/H Side

Second Problem

How on earth are you supposed to get this of. I have gently pulled the Inner Wing out slightly but can't see what I am supposed to do? I could try using the same tactic as the L/H side by undoing the nut underneath? 

 

Third Problem:

What size spanners / sockets do I need to get to complete this job?

 

I had a look at this thread for info but I need more help. Not a lot of info on the net and it's not covered in the Haynes Manual.

 

Any guidance would be great

 

 

 

[tiger99]

For a start you must get a set of imperial A/F spanners and sockets. Metric do not fit properly and will cause lots of grief and needless expense.

[JonnyAlpha]

For a start you must get a set of imperial A/F spanners and sockets. Metric do not fit properly and will cause lots of grief and needless expense.

 

I have a Halfords Professional Socket Set which comes with a comprehensive selection of Imperial Sockets.

I also have a selection of Imperial Spanners but sadly not the size I need - hence the question on spanner size for the Nut behind the Brake Cylinder on the Front Drum Backplates.

 

The Goodridge replacements seem to have different External sizes?

 

Also on the Large Nut that holds the Hose to the Subframe it had a Star Washer, the Goodrige replacement does not? Should it?

[tiger99]

Oh that nut. It was not clear to me what you meant. It is probably 9/16" or 19/32" AF, but surely you can just try the AF sizes until one fits? The male tube nuts are 7/16" AF.

And yes, you need the star washer. Use the old one if necessary.

I will pre-empt your next likely question by telling you that the two hoses are probably different. One is bored with the conical seating for a male flared pipe and goes under the radiator, while the other has a machined face for the copper washers on the banjo bolt and goes on the driver's side. This question keeps arising because no-one seems to have the will to make the tube end fittings suitable for both applications, which actually is not hard.

[tiger99]

Oh, and on the Goodridge external hexes, you should try spanners, both imperial and metric, until you find a perfect fit. It is naughty of them. Check carefully that the threads fit properly at both ends because if they have mistakenly supplied metric hoses they are useless and need to be returned. Unfortunately it is possible, but very dangerous, to screw some metric and imperial hydraulic bits together. That is why I say you should check that the threads fit. Just screw them in by hand 3 or 4 turns, if they go freely the threads do match properly.

We should not need to face these potential pitfalls, but sometimes suppliers get confused or just plain lazy.

[Spider]

The original hoses back in the 80's were imperial, but I think they went metric on the AF size after that.

 

Certainly all the replacement hoses, while having the correct imperial threads, are a Metric AF Size.

 

Off hand, the 'Big End' is 17 or 18 mm and the 'Little End' is 15 mm.

 

Not sure if you also have them, but it's a good idea to replace the Copper Washer between the hose and the wheel cylinder / brake calliper.

 

When fitting up, screw the hose (with the copper washer!) in to the Wheel Cylinder / Brake Calliper first, then do the other end. This is so you end up with straight, un-twisted hose.

 

Access to the subframe ends of these is always a bugger. With the RH one, depending on what car you have, you can sometimes come down from the top. many guys I know bend the inner wing out of the way, but IMO, that's a bodge. on one car, I lowered the subframe so I could get at it.

[JonnyAlpha]

Ta

Edited by JonnyAlpha, 03 October 2016 - 09:27 AM.

[JonnyAlpha]

Oh that nut. It was not clear to me what you meant. It is probably 9/16" or 19/32" AF, but surely you can just try the AF sizes until one fits? The male tube nuts are 7/16" AF.

And yes, you need the star washer. Use the old one if necessary.

I will pre-empt your next likely question by telling you that the two hoses are probably different. One is bored with the conical seating for a male flared pipe and goes under the radiator, while the other has a machined face for the copper washers on the banjo bolt and goes on the driver's side. This question keeps arising because no-one seems to have the will to make the tube end fittings suitable for both applications, which actually is not hard.

 

The nut holding the brake hose on is between 15 and 16mm. I don't have an imperial spanner that fits - hope to borrow one today?

[JonnyAlpha]

 

Oh that nut. It was not clear to me what you meant. It is probably 9/16" or 19/32" AF, but surely you can just try the AF sizes until one fits? The male tube nuts are 7/16" AF.

And yes, you need the star washer. Use the old one if necessary.

I will pre-empt your next likely question by telling you that the two hoses are probably different. One is bored with the conical seating for a male flared pipe and goes under the radiator, while the other has a machined face for the copper washers on the banjo bolt and goes on the driver's side. This question keeps arising because no-one seems to have the will to make the tube end fittings suitable for both applications, which actually is not hard.

 

The nut holding the brake hose on is between 15 and 16mm. I don't have an imperial spanner that fits - hope to borrow one today?

 

 

Well it's not 9/16 nor is it 5/8 so I guess i'll have to try an 19/32 but boy these are rare!!!

[tiger99]

Actually they used to be very common, in every set of spanners. I thought the problem would be easy to solve, as it always was for me. But I have an old set of spanners...

As for what Moke Spider says about the hex sizes, I don't doubt what he says at all. But doing that is very bad practice and Goodridge should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. It will not affect the car of course, once you find the correct spanners, but it is a needless piece of aggro.

[Minitransition]

Also, having just rebuilt my front subframe, I bought 2 front hoses and they are identical. BUT as has been flagged above, one has a copper washer banjo and the other has a pipe screw into the centre thread. On the ones I bought the drilling was too deep and the brake pipe did not seal before the nut screwed flush to the top of the hose. I had to cut 4 mm off the thread to get a good fit.

 

Worth checking before you fit it that the pipe screws in o.k and has thread left at the top otherwise you'll be taking it out again !!!!!! 

 

I unscrewed the pipe through the wheel arch and slot in the inner wing and the hose nut I unscrewed from the top with 3 x 12" extensions plugged together with the socket on the bottom !!!!

 

Good luck.

[tiger99]

That is really bad. Critical components should not be supplied with errors like that. I fear that Goodridge may be going the way of some other suppliers. Or were the hoses assembled by one of their distributors?

I hope that the base of the drilling is correctly formed for the tube flare.

I have in the past seen some very long male tube nuts which would have been useful, but only if you were making new rigid pipework.

Actually some years ago I had trouble with Goodridge hoses too, not on a Mini and not made in the Goodridge factory, but using their parts. Hydraulically they were perfect, but all 4 failed to clamp tightly in the fixed brackets. This was a Focus, and they were held with clips, but the clip grooves were maybe 4mm too far up the body, so suspension movement would have rattled the hoses around in their mounts till the Kunifer pipes fractured. It would have been an MOT failure anyway. I solved it by getting a strip of UPVC (because it was the correct thickness, I was thinking of ali till I spotted it) from B&Q, cutting it into short lengths, and making square washers from it which got things fitting tightly again. But if selecting the parts myself I would have used the Mini type, with the large nut, which would have fitted in the brackets at the first attempt. It worries me that someone with little engineering experience could have unsuspectingly fitted these hoses, clipped them in complete with lots of slop, not known the danger, and had a brake failure after maybe a few thousand miles.

The place I bought these hoses from is mostly concerned with tuning bits and frippery for the yahoo element with too much money who run modern cars of the Bavarian variety or Dagenham Dustbins, and fortunately we don't see much of them on the Mini scene. I will not be dealing with them again.

[JonnyAlpha]

Managed to get the RH hose off and both Left and RIgh fitted today, now having some problems bleeding the system (Separate thread)

[BUT83]

Jonny how did you get the right hand one off? I have attached a photo of mine which looks like a t-split junction with one branch to RH the other to the LH? Also would I have to dismantle the clutch actuator to get at it?
Many thanks
Grant



 image.jpeg   42.47K   14 downloads

[AlexMozza]

Jonny how did you get the right hand one off? I have attached a photo of mine which looks like a t-split junction with one branch to RH the other to the LH? Also would I have to dismantle the clutch actuator to get at it?
Many thanks
Grant



image.jpeg

A lot of wobbly drive extention bars do it quite well. As far as I can remember the banjo bolt is 5/8, undo ot and move it out of thr way. The big nut on the brake hose is 15/16. Again lots of extention bars help!