It's always something.

[BruceK]

 I was just about to take a drive in my Mini – the weather is perfect here today – and then I noticed a little puddle on the garage floor.  Turns out that the right rear wheel cylinder was leaking like crazy.  Quite a big mess after I pulled the drum off.       

If it was going to happen, I'm glad it happened now rather than next weekend with the big car show scheduled.   I think I've got most of the parts I need, new shoes, new wheel cylinder etc, and I might as well replace the rear wheel bearings while I'm at it.   Then I've got to figure out if I should do the other side which is not leaking at the same time.   I probably should. 

[MiniDave]

I had almost the same problem, wound up redoing the entire rear suspension, along with the brakes and bearings!  ;D

[BritBits]

I learned with my '63 after I fixed one leaking rear wheel cylinder that all of a sudden the brakes were GREAT on that side and just ok on the other side....    I'd at least check/rebuild or replace the other wheel cylinder and shoes before bleeding the system.

It was fun asking for the rebuild kits at the local foreign parts place, the guy at the counter was sure he wouldn't have the kits for a '63 Cooper..... same as some years of the MG Midgets . 77.gif


Cheers,

Jim
'63 Austin 997
and a few other toys

[MiniDave]

Victoria British here in Lenexa has rear shoes and wheel cylinders in stock pretty cheap - I used them on Buzz.

Rear shoes set  #6-510  $13.95

Rear wheel cylinders #7-531 $9.95 ea

They're for an MG Midget, but same exact parts.

800-255-0088

[BruceK]

Victoria British here in Lenexa has rear shoes and wheel cylinders in stock pretty cheap - I used them on Buzz.

Rear shoes set  #6-510  $13.95

Rear wheel cylinders #7-531 $9.95 ea

They're for an MG Midget, but same exact parts.

800-255-0088

Thanks Dave.  But I've already got those parts on hand.  Those are very good prices, so good to know for the next time.  And with brand new wheel cylinders at less than $10, nobody can make an argument about rebuilding them instead.

[MiniDave]

Yes, I posted them in case anyone else needs some...I've used them and they work well, plus shipping is quick and cheap since we're in the middle of the country instead of the coasts.

I bought some rebuild kits a while back (about $3 IIRC) so I'll have some rebuilt ones as spares, but since they're so close it's worth it to just get new ones like you said.

[BruceK]

Every so often, my wife will peek out in the garage to check on me while I'm working on the Mini.  This evening she peeked out there and saw that I had pulled the two front seats out of the car and casually asked with a smile how could removal of the seats possibly be connected to me working on replacing the rear brakes and wheel bearings?   8.gif.   

Well...seems one of the bolts securing the handbrake apparently had fallen out and I only noticed it when I was trying to adjust the rear brakes and found the handbrake lever all wobbly.  I had to remove the seats in order to get under the carpet to reinstall the handbrake bolt.  Simple cars, but can sometimes be convoluted.   

[BruceK]

I mentioned in another thread about how crappy I think the MiniSpares wheel cylinder circlip tool is.   

But I was perfectly happy with another tool:  an impact driver from Harbor Freight which I used to remove the screws from the rear drums.  I think the drums were original to my car and they had been painted over.  Completely stuck with a regular screwdriver, but a couple of good whacks with the impact driver broke them free from rust and old paint.   I think I paid all of $8 for the tool a couple of months ago.

[MiniDave]

Wow, you bought new brake springs too!

[BruceK]

I've seen old ones break during installation, and new ones are cheap, so why not? 

Whoever had worked on left side brakes before went crazy with the adjuster grease so it was a big mess in there.  Nice to have it all cleaned up.

[gr8kornholio]

Glad to see that harbor freight tool finally got to be used and got the job done.