Vintage Minor Register

My Minor had the old pulley system which was almost none existant and I have learned is pretty dismal. I therefore decided to fit bowden conversion. Having nothing to go on I worked out the lengths I thought the cables (inner and outer) would need to be. Having done this I Emailed a sketch to a cable manufacturer who quoted me a figure which was very reasonable compared to what I had seen some advertised. When I rang a couple of owners to check my lengths I was suprised at the varying lengths. No two were the same. Remember my car being a 32 sv, can a few of you send me some lengths to compare. I have had outer cables vary from 13" to 18". The nearest to mine were Ian,s at 40.5cm outer and 111.cm inner. has anyone done this conversion and had problems. Does the different outer cable lengths make any difference to the braking qualities. Be interested to hear any tips or suggestions. When I have sorted them out I will let you know what they cost me and who from. Ian said it may be worthwhile getting a quote on a batch. Mike.

Hi,
Harry Edwards used to do a conversion kit and probably still does.
Clive

Harry Edwards fitted cable conversions to my CMS Minor when he rebuilt it in the 1990s. He recently ran out of stock of the cables and contacted me to get the dimensions of the cables he had fitted. I have a sketch somwhere, and will give you a copy of it once it comes to light. I believe that my chassis is very similiar to the two seater Sv one. Regards. Roger.

Hi Roger, Thanks, Mike.

I use MG M type Bowden cables from Sports and Vintage, I know a lot of others use these as well. I don't remember exactly how much they cost but then I don't remember passing out when I saw the bill either! You have to make brackets to hold the wheel end still or use the MG stub axle brackets which bolt through the top pair of bolts holding the back plates on.

This set up works well for me and I can recommend these quality items to others.

cheers
Jeremy

Jeremy is quite right, the Sports & Vintage product is quite excellent...as is all their stuff.
I have used this on both ohc and sv Minors in my time, the bracket to fit the top stub axle bolts is the way to go and is easily fabricated.

Hi Mike, if you're stuck for those ali shoes you could try Wyvern, Eddie is helpful and a minor owner and may have some. Toby. PS you could try a wnated ad on the website or forum.

Hi All,Thanks for the info and tips.

Have emailed Sport and Vintage and recieved reply telling me they do no bowden conversion for the Minor and they would need patterns. I have sent a drawing of what I require to Speedograph Richfield Ltd who have quoted me £7.95ea for the rear and £18.25ea for the Bowden conversion for the front. With other firms charging around £40 pounds ea I reckon thats a good price. I just need to make sure I have the correct lengths on the fronts and I shall get them from there. If you look on ebay under brake cables you will see the ones they do for the Morris 8.

Mike,

The cables are for an M type the part number is 1030J in the price list these are £35 plus VAT each
The support brackets are about £7. The cables come with the chassis mounting blocks so with the support brackets for the stub axles you have all you need to covert the car over.

Cheers
Jeremy

Prescott

Mike,
As ever, there is always two sides to every story. I have lifted the following quotation straight from the VSCC forum. The quote is made by Paul Rogers. You can watch him (via You Tube) climb the Brooklands test hill in his Minor on the 'Our Cars' thread and use his 'standard' brakes to good effect whilst picking up a first class award in the driving tests. Here is Paul's quote:

Don't bank on a simple fix. I tried Bowdenex on my Minor and they were.... [politely] scrap.

Get the original system working properly. Replace ALL bushes, take slack out of cables, renew end caps on brake shoes and set up properly. Only then make a decision to go to Bowdens if this is still unsuitable.

If I have contravened any forum copyright rules by 'borrowing' this I apologise. I should add, that I am also a member of the VSCC, which is the only way you can get to see the postings on that forum.
Chris

There seems to be a real drive to maintain originality at all costs - even if a large percentage of a car is of recent manufacture and not 'original' at all.
I maintain that although this is the best policy in general, especially using the parts that the car first started life with, third party safety must take precedence. The the LC&ES cannot ignore this fact - especially when most cars perform better now, and are driven much harder, than when their brakes were designed. In practice the LC&ES will not look for such things unless someone starts winning a lot with unoriginal fitments. The aim is to have fun and not be too serious.
It is absolutely clear that the original brake set up was inadequate from contemporary road test results, and the fact that the design was changed in October 1930 for the 1931 season cars. In commparison with its contempories the Minor performed badly in braking tests. Kimber took the Bowden route for the MG Midget for good reason. I can't understand why Morris did not follow suit - surely not cost?
However, against the odds, Clive H-G has certainly proved that for a tourer at least, the original brakes with modern linings can be made to work well.
It has taken Paul a long time to get his brakes working properly (but they evidently do now) and I have no doubt they will require regular adjustment.
One key to good cable brakes is to make sure that maximum mechanical advantage is employed by adjusting the cable lengths so that the cable and arm connections are at 90 degrees when the brakes are full on. I would actually aim for slightly under 90 degrees because as soon as the angle goes beyond 90 then the efficiency is reduced.
Ken

Minor owners may not realise this but on the M type the angle of the brake levers ( that work on the shoes ) is greater than
Minor ones. J type MGs have an even steeper angle.

Ian

It would be fine to leave them as original if the conditions we were using them under was as original.Unfortunately under todays conditions I would rather put safety first. I must admit I do like originality.My other Morris,s are totally original but in both cases I have fitted indicator lamps, trying to make them look as period as possible. Regarding the angle at which the lever pulls my Riley Nine has a cable system and the front levers have a quadrant at the top which the cable runs on therefore pulling at the same high point all the time. Maybe thats another modification which I suppose could be considered with the Bowdenex conversion. Joking, but food for thought. Its is interesting reading all your thoughts and ideas. Maybe I ought to think again. Mike