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Drum brakes for 100-6

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healeyblue

healeyblue

Jedi Warrior
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Hello everyone, I have a question about the front brake drums on the 100-6 cars. Now that the BN4 is done and we are putting some miles on it, I am getting some brake vibration under braking. The rear drums are new but the fronts are the originals just cleaned up. All other hardware is new and the car stops well except for the vibration. I am going to try and have the drums turned to true them up, but at some point this will not be an option as they will get thinner and thinner and warp even easier. I have not found a source for new drums which is surprising because I thought all 100-6's and the BN2 100's used the same drums. That would be about 6 years worth of cars covered, more than enough for production. Any options or avenues I have not yet thought of? Thanks Jim
 
disk brakes??...only kidding. I still have 4 drums on my BN6. FWIW: I had heard somewhere that the drum surface was "hardened" at the factory and therefore should not be turned. However, I know myself and many owners have done so and I have not heard of any problems. Once I had a problem in the front brakes that turned out to be caused by the lining de-laminating from the shoe. Assuming you have new shoes, should be OK. If you have vibration at any speeds while just driving or accelerating, it could be just roundess and weight balancing issues our beloved cars are notorious for as the car comes back down through those dynamics during braking. I saw new front BN4 drums for sale on scparts.co.uk but have no firsthand knowledge.
 
I have no vibration at any speeds unless I am braking. I will try and find them at SCparts. I guess I won't mind waiting for them from across the pond if I can at least get them. I just find it odd that an item that is basically an expendable item on a fairly large group of cars is not readily available.
 
Wouldn't it make sense to find someone to arc-grind the drums and fit shoes to them before buying new ones?

Also - there have been some bad things said about SCparts lately - orders charged and not delivered etc.
 
I changed mine over to Toyota 4-piston calipers with late BJ8 discs and Centric ceramic pads. This setup works really well with the .75" BN6 master cylinder and without booster.

See: https://www.pbase.com/stevegerow/healey_discs

FWIW - Welch sells a 3.5" adapter set which allows use of later, larger, calipers - I believe this would work with your older swivel axles.
 
I have for sale a set of the caliper mounting brackets from a 3000 that bolt directly to the BN4 (100-6) spindles. Send me a private message if interested.
 
Mine's had 3000 MKI discs since 1985, but I have two (2) complete sets of front drums (2 car's worth) if I ever decide to revert back.

The plan is to sell them with the car to the next guy, in case he wants to return BN6L942 back to original spec...
 
Thanks for all the hints and tips guys. Thanks for the offers on the disc conversions as well but this car will stay original with drums. I was able to order a pair today through Victoria British. A bit pricey but they say they have them. This should be the last thing left for the car (stop the brake shudder) then the car is ready for the conclave. I am working on repairing a hardtop for it too (it was severely damaged in shipping by lovely fedex freight but that is another story) but won't have it done by conclave, but the soft top is done.
 
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