Marina Brakes

Post by **Matt** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 6:39 pm

How hard are marina disks to fit, and are they the same as spridget brakes (i think i read they are somewhere..........) if they are and are relatively straight forward to fit i could fit them for about £50.....

Post by **ianselva** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:25 pm

I,m afraid they are not the same and need a fitting kit , from memory you need : Caliper bracket, conversion bearings and flxible hoses .

Post by **simmitc** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:34 pm

Easy to fit, if you have the right bits. Do you want to keep standard Minor wheels? If so, you need Marina hubs modified to Minor stud spacing - available from many Minor Spares dealers. If not, then you need to fit Marina wheels to the back end, and that's another subject all together. Back to the discs: You need Marina bearings and brake hoses, plus special bearing spacers, again from many Minor Parts dealers.

Remove Minor hubs & back plates. Drill out bolt holes in king pin to suite Marina caliper mounting bracket; and bolt on same. Bolt new hub to disc. Fit bearings & assemble to stub axle. Fit calipers & pads, and connect up. Job done, couple of hours tops. Really is worth getting the kit with full instructions & all parts to save faffing about.

Now the not-so-easy bit, but still simple: Remove master cylinder & strip down to remove the little top hat rubber cup at the back end. Put everything else back as it was, but why not renew the seals while you're about it. The cap keeps pressure in the system and must NOT be used with discs - they'll bind on. Also, you MUST fit a remote fluid reservoir at this time - discs displace more fluid than the drums, and you need the extra reserve. Bleed the system & that's it all done. BUT braking will need A LOT of effort, and won't be any better than drums until...... you fit a servo to go with the discs. To do this you need to drill & tap the manifold (remove from engine to avoid swarf getting inside the motor) and also change the copper brake pipe layout to feed from master cylinder into servo & then out to all brakes. Servo kits again from Minor Parts Dealers.

Allow two days for the whole job so as not to rush anything - get it right as your life depends on the brakes working OK. It's a great mod, and I reckon the best of the bolt on goodies that you can do. I've done one car with uprated dampers with discs & one with standard dampers & discs. Nothing to chose between them under braking.

Good luck.

Post by **Matt** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 3:12 pm

But are spridget front brakes the same as marina brakes? and i had a complete new master cylinder 6 months ago................

Post by **ianselva** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 3:18 pm

Post by **Matt** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 4:34 pm

Damn, i was sure they were!

Post by **simmitc** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 1:09 pm

Your new master cylinder can still be used, you've just got to remove the rubber cap. The remote fluid reservoir kit screws into the end of the main cylinder body and replaces the original cap (the original has an air hole that would leak fluid out from the remote system) but uses the bulk of the original master cyclinder, so it just saves you the job of renewing the seals, but leaves you with all the work !

Post by **Kevin** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 3:57 pm

Remove master cylinder & strip down to remove the little top hat rubber cup at the back end

JLH now recommend putting a 1/8" hole in it and not removing it completely as it stops the drag on the calipers but still retains some residual pressure for the rear shoes which is lost with complete removal of the cap.

Post by **Matt** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 3:58 pm

im not going to do it yet then!!

Post by **rayofleamington** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 4:22 pm

JLH now recommend putting a 1/8" hole in it and not removing it completely as it stops the drag on the calipers but still retains some residual pressure for the rear shoes which is lost with complete removal of the cap

Do they have any brakes/hydraulics engineers? Sorry Kevin - I'm not shooting the messenger, just bemused by JLH's logic.
Any residual pressure can be enough to make calipers overheat leading to a brake failure.
The rear brakes don't need to be pumped up unless
a) they need adjusting (adjust them!!)
b) there's air in the system (if you have a lot of air, you have a serious problem, and just be greatful if the front brakes work)

If you stick a small hole in the cup valve, then you stand a chance of pumping the brakes up, and the pressure will disperse in a few seconds. A 3mm hole (bout an eighth) would probably be too big, and I would expect the benefit is far too little to bother with it.

Post by **Cam** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:22 pm

If you stick a small hole in the cup valve, then you stand a chance of pumping the brakes up, and the pressure will disperse in a few seconds. A 3mm hole (bout an eighth) would probably be too big, and I would expect the benefit is far too little to bother with it.

Agreed. I like JLH but he can be a bit 'scrap-heap challenge' with his logic sometimes!!

Just remove the cap and have done with. Actually if you can afford another £50 then it's a good idea to renew the master cylinder while you are at it and have it out. It's much easier that way and you have extra peace of mind!

Post by **Matt** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:33 pm

unless you had a new master cylinder 6 months ago........

Post by **Cam** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:45 pm

Of course, but when I did it my master cylinder was just a lump of rust!! And I bet there are a fair few Moggies out there in the same situation.

Post by **Matt** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:50 pm

i expect so.........

Post by **d_harris** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 3:09 am

Guess who it was who broke the one before? its not 6 months anyway matt, It broke when the engine was out so more like 18 months

btw everybody, me being me decided to muck around and "pretend" to drive the car (I'm still a wee kid at heart) and stamped on the brakes and a break pipe at the back ruptured because something (can't remember what) had been rubbing on it and the pressure burst it, we thought the master was knacked so we changed that and when it still didn't work investigated the pipes. - Just as well we didn't go out in it with the pipes like that, imagine if a kid had run out................... the consequences don't bare thinking about

Post by **rayofleamington** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 5:03 pm

You fitted a new MC, but the fluid was coming out elswhere...

I feel so much better about daft stuff I've done now!

Post by **Matt** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 8:40 pm

yeah ok... .august 02

Post by **Kevin** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 10:33 am

Just call it work expeirience 08/02 Matt

Post by **Matt** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 11:00 am

????? i can remember it was august....because i passed my driving test and had nothing to drive!!!!

Post by **Kevin** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 11:31 am

i passed my driving test and had nothing to drive!!!!

Think how Dizzi feels she already has the car but has not passed her test, I dont know if she has even started her driving lessons yet.