Brakes - Fitting Discs and Required Ancillaries

What you actually need for the disc/drum conversion is pretty straightforward. Disconnect the steering arms, top and bottom swivel-pins, CV joint, and flexible brake pipes at the subframe - that’s it. There are, however, a number of ancillaries to consider.

Basics

Basics Fitting discs designed for the Mini is easy enough. Just make sure you use CV gaiters for the disc-brake set-up - these have a different bellows shape to stop the gaiter rubbing the inside of the hub. The drum type will rub, then split, shedding grease all over the place. Moly grease is mighty mucky stuff to deal with and doesn't assist braking at all! A tip for racers - to stop the gaiters over-expanding when getting very hot and imitating the aforementioned, put either a decent sized split pin or (my favorite) a piece of very small bore pipe - as in the type supplied with WD40 aerosols, etc. - under the retaining strap on the drive shaft. This allows air to escape and return,

Historical Article - Nov 1992 - Directional Stability and Safer Wheels

It is widely known that when cars have suspension designed for standard road use, shortcomings are exposed when under, erm, “progressive road driving. The situation is even worse under competition conditions where regulations inhibit use of rose jointed suspension. The Mini is no exception. The soft rubber tie rod and bottom arm bushes produce excessive weaving under heavy braking and wandering under fast cornering...

Historical Article - Nov 1992 - Directional Stability and Safer Wheels

It is widely known that when cars have suspension designed for standard road use, shortcomings are exposed when under, erm, “progressive road driving. The situation is even worse under competition conditions where regulations inhibit use of rose jointed suspension. The Mini is no exception. The soft rubber tie rod and bottom arm bushes produce excessive weaving under heavy braking and wandering under fast cornering...

Historical Article - Nov 1992 - History in the making

Having built one Cooper ‘S’ for Timo Makinen to use in Historic Rallying, in which he won two International Rallies, I decided to build another one with more power and less weight than the previous one.

One lesson I learnt the hard way building the first car, was that a reliable source of new parts with in-built quality, especially where obsolete parts were being remanufactured, was essential. Mini Spares of London...

Historical Article - Nov 1992 - History in the making

Having built one Cooper ‘S’ for Timo Makinen to use in Historic Rallying, in which he won two International Rallies, I decided to build another one with more power and less weight than the previous one.

One lesson I learnt the hard way building the first car, was that a reliable source of new parts with in-built quality, especially where obsolete parts were being remanufactured, was essential. Mini Spares of London...

Historical Article-November 1995-Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune If there is one aesthetic accessory that commands more debate, confusion, and disappointment it has to be the wheel. Since the inception of the Mini, if any manufacturers have produced a vast array of different designs and' sizes of wheel rim.Many are now defunct, although some of the rims still surface through garage clearouts and the like .. Many of the rims specifically made for the Mini generally fit with no problems, others have been adapted from a rim made for another vehicle.

Historical Article-November 1995-Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune If there is one aesthetic accessory that commands more debate, confusion, and disappointment it has to be the wheel. Since the inception of the Mini, if any manufacturers have produced a vast array of different designs and' sizes of wheel rim.Many are now defunct, although some of the rims still surface through garage clearouts and the like .. Many of the rims specifically made for the Mini generally fit with no problems, others have been adapted from a rim made for another vehicle.