disk brakes on 100-6 question

59 100-6 BN4-late production

Restoring and have body/metal work, engine/trans etc. all near complete. Time to start suspension soon to mock up prior to painting the scuttle. This car would NOT have had disc front brakes, however, prior to my purchasing the car someone had converted to disc (most likely due to the car's racing past). My question is: Should I order a complete converstion kit? The brakes and rotors look very rusted, etc.What have you guys done? thanks in advance.

Doug

If it was on the car and used Healey parts then why replace everything? Just rebuild as you would normally do. Replace the rusted rotors,
rebuild the calipers then you would be set to go.

I installed AH 3000 MK 1 brakes on my '59 100-6.



Tim

Might be able to get the rotors turned and eliminate the rust. I had converted my BN4 to disk brakes. What a difference, I would keep the disk brakes on!

Jerry

KEEP THE DISK BRAKES !!!--Keoke- :laugh:

Are you sure they are not stock ? I bought a '59 BN6 in April of 1959 that came with the disc brakes and the 3 liter motor. I didn't even know what it was when I bought it as the public announcement of the 3000 hadn't been made. Although I bought it in April I was unable to take delivery until late May due to the fact the factory refused to allow the dealer to release the car. (Neimith of Latham, just outside of Albany NY). The car came with the 100/6 "lightning bolts" on the grille and deck lid. Bob

thanks guys. I definitely will keep the disk setup. Bob brings up a good point and one that I have considered since purchasing the car. My car is a late run production 59 and I have wondered if somehow the disk brakes were "stock" or original. My trunk lid has the holes for the austin healey logo AND the two holes below it. I thought maybe someone added the lower ones (looked to be original) or maybe replaced the lid. I haven't looked at my Heritage Certificant in a long time, will that show what front brakes came on the car? I am going to try to save as much as possible as the cost of this is adding up fast. If you saw a post I made over a year ago, i took this car down to nothing, put it on a rotisserie and spent over a year fixing all the rust and damage from 50+ years of abuse. Probably not worth the effort, however, this is my fourth restoration (1st AH) and my father in law who was stationed in Germany, is now fighting cancer and always wanted an AH so I am trying to get it completed while he can still drive. My Life obligations just always get in the way.............thanks again guys

Doug

I'm in the process of putting disk brakes on a 58 BN6 as we speak. Pretty straight forward conversion that I see.

Marv

That's because you're not done yet :wink:

I bought a kit from England for my conversion. The instructions said "the first wheel may take you hours, but the second will get done in half the time" That was the total instructions. And it was true!

Jerry

thanks again for the replies. Last night i took a look at the calipers/brakes/etc. I agree that they should be useable and I will take the discs to see if they can be turned. if not, they will be replaced. I am assuming that the king pins should be replaced? So, i will have to do some reading on that. also, I should probably have the shocks rebuilt. Anyone know where in Maryland/southern PA that I can get this done? or is it something I can do? Thanks,

Doug

Doug, I had my BT7 shocks rebuilt by Wide World Auto Parts in Madison WI. Cost me about $350 for all four plus $50 to ship them to WWAP. Peter knows his stuff. Amazing what rebuilding the shocks will do for the car. No more knocks, clunks or bouncing. Rides like it did back in 1963 when I bought it. Don't get me wrong, it's still a 50 year old car, but it now handles as well as it ever has.
Also, don't wait until spring to send them for rebuilding. A lot of folks wait until the weather gets nicer before deciding to have the work done and by then, the rebuilder is backed up a bit. Send them now and you'll beat the rush.

Getting the shocks rebuilt professionally is definitely the way to go. You'll probably want to replace the kingpins at this point too. The swivel axles have to be rebushed and reamed/honed to fit the kingpins. Unless you have the right equipment, this is also something that you will want to send away. Lots of places can do it.

thanks Keith and Rob! I will take them apart this weekend and get them sent out. The way everything goes with me, they will take way too long at the shop. Geez, I am still waiting for my convertible top to be finished on the 69 camaro that was taken in September 10th, after waiting for two months to even get on the schedule...........but that is another story.

cheers,

Doug

If they don't leak, they don't need to be rebuilt. Just put in fresh shock fluid. I you want more dampening, change the weight of the fluid. I have used motorcycle shock oil in my race car shocks for the last 30 years. You can buy any weight you desire from your local motorcycle shop. Try 30 wt first. If you don't like it try 40 wt or 50 wt. You can also buy uprated valves from Moss for your front shocks, but not for the rear.