Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi, As a new member but a previous Morris Minor owner in the late 1960's, I have just acquired a 1970 Morris Minor to relive my youth.
I am considering changing the front brakes to discs to help it stop as efficiently as most of the modern cars. Can anyone advise me if doing a brake upgrade would be considered a 'substantial Change' that would affect the road tax status. I can only find documents that relate to Chassi, engine and running gear but nothing about brakes. Can anyone advise me please?

You'll need to apply for Historic Vehicle tax class if not already done. As far as I know, a front disc brake conversion is not classed as a "substantial change" (car must be 40 years old or more and not "substantially changed" in the last 30 years). A different type of engine would be a substantial change.

I would urge you to get the original brakes in first class order before you decide whether you actually want to do a front disc brake conversion. Too often people rush to change because the braking system is in poor condition. Your brakes will be no better if the brake fluid is ancient or the master cylinder is in a bad state. Rear brake cylinders are prone to seizing due to brake fluid that has not been changed frequently enough (water in brake fluid causing corrosion). The drum brakes for the later cars are really very good you just need to get used to the fact there is no servo and you do need to press the pedal harder than on a modern car. It is not a fault that the pedal needs a firm press. I must admit that when I switch to my modern car I do quite often nearly break my neck by pressing the pedal too hard!

Stephen

Best I can advise is that it’s a very common modification and I’ve never heard of anyone having issues with maintaining historical car status.

The whole disc/drum brake question has been discussed at great length and the merits and pitfalls are very well documented. I felt my traveller needed better brakes but my saloon certainly doesn’t, both on identical standard drum setups!

Personal preference.

Grumpy21 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 06, 2023 8:57 am Best I can advise is that it’s a very common modification and I’ve never heard of anyone having issues with maintaining historical car status.

The whole disc/drum brake question has been discussed at great length and the merits and pitfalls are very well documented. I felt my traveller needed better brakes but my saloon certainly doesn’t, both on identical standard drum setups!

Personal preference.

I haven't got my reference books to hand. Is the Traveller heavier than the saloon? I know the Tourer is the lightest. I suppose a Traveller is also more likely to be carrying a heavy load than the other models.

Stephen

Yep, the saloon is about 60kg lighter but not sufficient to account for the significant difference in braking quality. The pal I sold the traveller to changed the front shoes to old stock asbestos shoes (!!!!) and he says braking is now much better than with the mintex shoes I fitted. The saloon has mintex shoes but a new master cylinder about 6 months ago (genuine Lockheed from ESM) and I suspect this may be the reason.

Thanks to all of you for your comments. I hoped that it was the case that any brake conversion wouldn't be that significant. The brakes have recently had new shoes and cylinders fitted relatively recently, so I was told by the seller, so they may well need some adjustment. I will be checking the whole system. I am currently fully assessing the whole car which is fundamentally sound. I did fully rebuild a 1958 Minor in 1968 guided and funded by my father, so I am looking forward to working on this one with my son.

You won't have any trouble with fitting disc brakes. It's a while since I looked at this but I recall that if a mod was done more than 30 years ago (As some of mine were) or improves the safety of a vehicle, you will be OK. See https://fbhvc.co.uk/mot-exemption-information & https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... idance.pdf .