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better brakes??

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FREDtheDOG

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I've a 69 midget, 1275 over bored to 1300, 2x1.75 SU's, electronic ignition, extracters, heads ported/polished etc, has a half race cam and goes like a scolded dog /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
BUT the brakes are fairly standard I've had them checked and they seem to be as good as a car of its age but I'd love power assistance is there any mod that can be done
thanks
 
Last November JL Spares in the UK quoted me ÂŁ165 plus shipping for a servo to fit the spridget. Try enquiries@jlspares.com.
 
Servo doesn't make it stop any better, it just reduces how hard you have to push the pedal.

Without a servo if you stand on the brake pedal (having checked no-one is following you!) you should find that the front wheels lock. How much better do you want them to be?

It might be possible to put bigger or ventilated discs on, but once the brakes are good enough to lock the front wheels the max stopping-ness is dictated by the grip of the tyres, not the brakes.

Maybe brake fade is an issue, but probably only if you're racing, in which case you might need to look at different pads.

AFAIK there's not much to be gained by uprating the rear brakes - when I put 8" instead of 7" front drums on the Frog the decelleration was higher, the nose dived more, the back got lighter and so the rears locked up sooner!
 
I tend to agree. If you want to stop faster I tend to think a servo would be towards the bottom of my list.

Tires are a biggie. Suspension is significant - can't stop if the wheels aren't making good contact with the road (worn dampers, excessive sway, sloppy bushings).

Next on my list would be lining material. EBC, Porterfield - everyone has their favourite.

Upgrading to larger brakes means you have to deal with front-to-rear bias, and start talking about proportioning valves. If you feel like tackling that, I'd look at the stock brake bias first, and see if the rears lock up at the same time with the front, if at all.....

Brake feel can be improved with stainless hoses. Arguments for/against abound. I'll omit my opinions.

beyond that, I think of braking ability in terms of the ability to transfer motion into friction/heat, and the ability to dissipate that heat. Pad materials, rotor area, pad contact patch, rotor cooling....

I know, boring response. There is something much cooler about using toyota 4-pot calipers on bigger vented rotors that invokes goosebumps. Nothing wrong with that, either.
 
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