Hi
I am going to be fittign a Disc brake conversion kit from ESM to my 1971 Morris Minor Saloon.
They do 3 types, below with prices
Ford Based with Steel Hubs £546.60
Ford Based with Alloy Hubs £612.60
Marina Based £507.00
I spoke with ESM who told me their fitter stated they prefer to fit Alloy Hubs, Now I dont know if thats just a sales ploy, but I have always found ESM staff completly honests. So I doubt it.
But does anyone know what the main difference would be between Allow and Steel kits? Apart from the price? What is the beneift? The guy I spoek didnt really know. I dont think I will be buying the Marina based kit as I suspect getting parts into the future may be harder.
Personally I would go with the Marina based kit every time.
Cheap to buy and cheap replacement parts if required. Big Red is a good source of parts especially stainless steel calliper pistons. Parts will be around for some time yet.
I have Marina disc brakes on my Minor and they do what it says on the tin.
The Alloy hub is a lot lighter than the cast steel hub which is of no real benefit unless you are trying to reduce un-sprung weight. The reduction in un-sprung weight is the only benefit of fitting alloy hubs.
There has been a lot of negative comments about alloy hubs over the years. Whether the problems have been overcome I do not know but I am not going to spend good money finding out.
I do not have a servo fitted and the brakes work well.
philthehill wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 2:35 pm
Personally I would go with the Marina based kit every time.
Cheap to buy and cheap replacement parts if required. Big Red is a good source of parts especially stainless steel calliper pistons. Parts will be around for some time yet.
I have Marina disc brakes on my Minor and they do what it says on the tin.
The Alloy hub is a lot lighter than the cast steel hub which is of no real benefit unless you are trying to reduce un-sprung weight. The reduction in un-sprung weight is the only benefit of fitting alloy hubs.
There has been a lot of negative comments about alloy hubs over the years. Whether the problems have been overcome I do not know but I am not going to spend good money finding out.
I do not have a servo fitted and the brakes work well.
Thansk for the advice, not tyring to reduce weight at all. The car is what is it, I just want it to stop better. I figurted teh only difference was weight....
Mine came with Marina discs and servo, new pads and fitting kit readily available and cheap to buy. Seems to stop well but have not tried a standard system.
Bill_qaz wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 4:16 pm
Mine came with Marina discs and servo, new pads and fitting kit readily available and cheap to buy. Seems to stop well but have not tried a standard system.
Standard brakes (the later, larger front drums) are more than adequate provided they are maintained in excellent condition (which often they are not). I have never had the slightest inclination to change to front discs.
1969 1098cc Convertible “Xavier” which I have owned since 1989.
Bill_qaz wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 4:16 pm
Mine came with Marina discs and servo, new pads and fitting kit readily available and cheap to buy. Seems to stop well but have not tried a standard system.
Standard brakes (the later, larger front drums) are more than adequate provided they are maintained in excellent condition (which often they are not). I have never had the slightest inclination to change to front discs.
Neither have I - on my standard car - but I understand that other owners do wish to. I did fit brakes from a Riley 1.5 and a Wolseley 1500 to different Minors some years ago and found them good, simple upgrades at the time. I wouldn't want a servo either. These cheap aftermarket ones are more trouble than they're worth I reckon and they get in the way under the bonnet but each to their own.
Bill_qaz wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 4:16 pm
Mine came with Marina discs and servo, new pads and fitting kit readily available and cheap to buy. Seems to stop well but have not tried a standard system.
Standard brakes (the later, larger front drums) are more than adequate provided they are maintained in excellent condition (which often they are not). I have never had the slightest inclination to change to front discs.
Neither have I - on my standard car - but I understand that other owners do wish to. I did fit brakes from a Riley 1.5 and a Wolseley 1500 to different Minors some years ago and found them good, simple upgrades at the time. I wouldn't want a servo either. These cheap aftermarket ones are more trouble than they're worth I reckon and they get in the way under the bonnet but each to their own.
As I said mine came with them already fitted , so no point in going back to drums.Not interested in originality just driving pleasure, so reassuring in modern traffic even if it only psychological as you cannot brake any harder than lock up.
Don't understand why you say servo gets in the way as mines exhaust side low down so nothing restricted in the area.
Compared with modern cars it feel like you could get in the engine bay with the motor
Bill_qaz wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 4:16 pm
Mine came with Marina discs and servo, new pads and fitting kit readily available and cheap to buy. Seems to stop well but have not tried a standard system.
Standard brakes (the later, larger front drums) are more than adequate provided they are maintained in excellent condition (which often they are not). I have never had the slightest inclination to change to front discs.
Neither have I - on my standard car - but I understand that other owners do wish to. I did fit brakes from a Riley 1.5 and a Wolseley 1500 to different Minors some years ago and found them good, simple upgrades at the time. I wouldn't want a servo either. These cheap aftermarket ones are more trouble than they're worth I reckon and they get in the way under the bonnet but each to their own.
Yes I understand why people do want them and they are arguably essential if fitting a more powerful engine. The real downside to drums is brake fade which happened to me once when I was about 18 on the way down a long steep hill (Titsey Hill). That scared the living daylights out of me and ever since I go down hills cautiously and in low gear.
1969 1098cc Convertible “Xavier” which I have owned since 1989.
I can't see why anyone would want to go for alloy hubs on a road car, steel ones are far stronger and only marginaly heavier.
Otherwise I can't see there is much to choose between the minor anx Ford based set ups.
For me the main reason for going to discs is ease of maintainance, Ours have needed zero attention in 5 years and always pull up dead straight with no fade.
