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100 Drum Brake Keep or upgrade to disc?

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christophe

Jedi Trainee
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1954 100

Should i upgrade the front brakes to disc or do the drums work well when properly rebuilt and set up correctly? Are there any power assist conversion kits for the 54 with drums? What has worked best for you. My car probably has a bit more weight up front due to the V8, but i am not sure how much. Once i swap the cast iron heads and intake to aluminum, the difference might be minimal. That should shave off almost 50 pounds.

Thanks
 
Your engine is probably already lighter than the original...

I'm a big fan of the look of front drums and 48 silver spokes so consider how it'll look with discs if that is of interest to you.

The original master cylinder is quite a clumsy design which is fraught with peculiarities so give it fair attention if you are doing any brake work.

Andy.
 
I didnt think about being forced to change wheels when switching to discs brakes and that's a problem since i plan on staying with the stock units, except changing them to chrome. Ok, throw that out the window. Now i just need to figure out how to upgrade the drums to power assist.
 
You can keep the wheels- I'm 99% sure discs from a 6 cylinder Healey are a bolt on fit and it gives you more options too as the 60 spoke wheels won't fit on the early drums at the front. You'll need the disc brake hubs too.

The size-ratio of the master cylinder to wheel cylinder might not be optimum though with discs- you could end up with a (more) soggy pedal.

A VH44 booster can be added to any car if there isn't a kit produced for the 100.
 
christophe said:
1954 100

Should i upgrade the front brakes to disc or do the drums work well when properly rebuilt and set up correctly? Are there any power assist conversion kits for the 54 with drums? What has worked best for you. My car probably has a bit more weight up front due to the V8, but i am not sure how much. Once i swap the cast iron heads and intake to aluminum, the difference might be minimal. That should shave off almost 50 pounds.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Denis Welch sells a complete front kit: https://www.bighealey.co.uk/category/catalogues/austin-healey/brakes/girling-brakes
You'd have to contact them to see if it'll work with disc wheels.

Adding a booster won't make the car stop any better - just reduces the pedal pressure. If you add discs, suggest changing the pads to the Moss ceramic pads and breaking them in carefully, then deciding if you want a booster. My booster is still sitting in the box because the car stops just as easily with the ceramic pads as it did with the drums.

If you decide to convert to wire wheels, suggest the 60-spokers or larger as the 48-spokers are too weak, especially for the V-8 power. Hendrix wire wheel can advise.
 
It all depends on how you decide to drive the car. With the potential power from the V8 you probably should upgrade to front discs, although lots of powerful old cars still had drums. No point in adding a booster to drums. I have 210 bhp with front discs but no booster. Its not a problem. I believe the 60 spoke wheels from Dayton will fit over the front drums, but not the original type Dunlop 60 spokes. The lacing design is different.
 
speaking of brake upgrades, what do you guys recommend for a dual circuit master cylinder. my 63 bj7 has a sbc with automatic and the single circuit girling master cylinder does not seem particularly the safest way to go!
 
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