MG Midget Forum

If I remember correctly the difference is wheel cylinder size. The made the rears larger so they dont work as hard. If you have a pre 75 you should have a 3/4 wheel cylinder i think, the later ones had a 7/8? someone correct me if im wrong, but im pretty sure thats it. Otherwise all the other compenents are the same, shoes springs and what not, untill you got to the realy early ones with the single piston wheel sylinger/parking brake actuator setup from 58-6x?

Match rears with master cylinder. Ideally sleeved as 3/4" to natch 3/4 " wheel cylinders at rears. Read Gerard's web site for discussion on matching masters and wheel cylinders. Important to make sure your brakes work properly.

DItto on that, the reasoning on going with the different size wheel cylinder was due to added weight for the rubber bumpers (100ish lbs) If the car stops fine with the brakes it has now, dont change the rear wheel cylinder size. By going with a bigger wheel cylinder, the front brakes will be doing more work as the rears will be doing less. Stick with what your car has

Rear brakes do the least (but some) of the actual braking. I'd be far more concerned about the rears locking up easier...

No, not prone. It's just the best advice to use the correctly sized brake components for the application. What I was implying was if you replace the rear brakes with something that has more braking capacity, your system is no longer balanced for optimal braking performance. And sometimes that is the desired affect. It's up to you, the end user.

Although this site changes over the years, it is still one of the best sources for braking information. http://www.piratejack.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=12&Itemid=15

The 2 piston masters were 3/4 inch. If you do discs on an all drum car and want to keep the stuck single piston master then you have it rebored. Otherwise, buy a master cylinder for a 71 and wheel cylinders for a 71. don't mix and match. There is no reason too. The cars stop fine with stock parts so unless our doing a serious brake upgrade to 4 wheel discs or bigger discs in the front with 4 piston calipers, don't mess with it. Just keep it simple and it will work well and for a long time. The master cylinder didnt change from the late 60's through 80. neither did the front calipers, only thing that changed was the rear cylinders and in 75 the car got heavier and taller, etc etc. So to make your 71 stop like a 71 should, and i'm sure no one here has any qualms about the way it stops for the most part when they work right, order everything for a 71 and prevent any issues

I agree. You probibly wont need to worry about crazy brake upgrades past the stock front disc/rear drum, until you start some serious engine mods to get more horsepower. I've auto crossed a little, and I always feel like I should use the brake sparingly and only when I have to to make it around a corner, because the 65 poneys under the hood take a little too long to get me back up to speed. Bigger brakes on stock rims and tires, (or even race tires) would probably cause a few problems. Either I'd end up braking too much, or it would make it harder to control since the wheels would lock up more easily.

Note, the one thing with respect to braking that I would like to upgrade is the handbrake system. I have already gone with a fly of handbrake, and I want to be able to use that more effectively to kick the rear end out. The stock system on a 71 is pretty weak. You really have to muscle it and even then it doesn't seem to do a whole lot. I have considered going with larger drum brakes from a nash metropolitan but that would screw up the whole brake balance and then I'd have even more problems. I've heard that the later system from a 1500 works better and bolts right in. Is that true?

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Seth Jones

1971 MG Midget

www.SpridgetGuru.com

There were only 2 different drum setups, the very very early single piston wheel cylinder with the parking brake built into it. The one with the sliding wheel cylinder. Then the 2 piston wheel cylinders with the separate parking brake lever. Thats it, no other design change other than the wheel cylinder size.

If you have parking brake issues, make that ...

1. the brakes are adjusted evenly.
2. The parking brake levers are being puled properly evenly....the twisting motion of the parking brake pivot piece is crucial to be sure this happens. It pulls both sides but doesn't pull both hard until one is wedged. Watch the mech while someone works the brake handle and you'll see what I mean.

Im all about improving and upgrading, especially when it comes to brakes, but when it comes to stock components there is no differences in early vs later other than wheel cylinder size which effects brake bias. parking brakes, springs, al that other crap never changed since the early 60's

here is the third change

http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?3,2049551,page=2

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Seth Jones

1971 MG Midget

www.SpridgetGuru.com

Remove the backing plates and let them soak in something like EvapoRust for a couple of days followed by some heat or electrolytic rust removal. Eventually it will loosen up and remember you need to turn in to remove