Early Toledo front drum to disc conversion

[cliftyhanger]

I will add my 2p here.
When I was 17, I had a Hillman avenger 1300. And I drove it like a 17 year old should.
I regularly suffered brake fade on a downhill stretch of local road. It was in the suburbs, twisty and was a great challenge, but towards teh bottom teh brakes were getting "interesting", fortunate it never caused a real issue BUT it would not have suffered that issue with discs. And that is the advantage of disc brakes. Far less likelyhood of brake fade.

[AndyThomas]

Having driven my Toledo with front drum brakes back in the 80's I can recommend upgrading to Dolomite disk brakes. I had too many brake fade moments on the motorway.

The drum brakes also seem to need constant adjustment.

Andy.

[GinettaG15]

I think the advice given about overhauling the brake system is sound but I cannot accept that fitting a tandem-master is going to be a huge improvement. It is complicating a relatively simple system.

You have to ask why such systems were fitted in the first place. It had nothing to do with safety – directly. The systems were fitted for very few owners of vehicles were bothered, to check if they were loosing brake fluid, on a regular basis.

Bunji’s vehicle is subjected to a 6 monthly check for what we term a Warrant of Fitness. The inspectors in this country check very carefully for signs of potential brake failure. The first thing they check is the fluid level in the master cylinder. If it is low then they will check further for that indicates to them that the vehicle is likely to be poorly maintained. They also look at the flexible brake hoses very carefully and look elsewhere signs for brake fluid leakages.

I have always made a point of changing my brake fluid every 3 years for fresh fluid flushed through the system lessens the chance of a seal failing somewhere. And if Bunji is concerned about a catastrophic failure of one of the flexible rubber hoses then change them too. I expect he is doing that, as it seems to me that he is the sort of responsible vehicle owner who carries out checks on a regular basis.

aprops tandem master: yesterday a mate called me:

"i was really lucky....1 brake circuit gave-up....it seems that a seal in my master collapsed...even the brake was weak, but i was still able to stop the car ...i was really lucky that the car was converted to a double circuit system"

car: Triumph2000 mk1, restored over 10y, using only quality or NOS parts, car was converted from single to tandem-master during restoration..car is on the road since around 1.5y after restoration and has covered 1500miles until today.

[xvivalve]

aprops tandem master: yesterday a mate called me:

"i was really lucky....1 brake circuit gave-up....it seems that a seal in my master collapsed...even the brake was weak, but i was still able to stop the car ...i was really lucky that the car was converted to a double circuit system"

car: Triumph2000 mk1, restored over 10y, using only quality or NOS parts, car was converted from single to tandem-master during restoration..car is on the road since around 1.5y after restoration and has covered 1500miles until today.

Had he not converted to that master cylinder this timeline of events would not have occurred...

A NOS cylinder...but with possibly 30 year old dried out seals within...

[GinettaG15]

additional info: the car was an export version...with original tandem.....during restoration my mate decided to use a NOS Tandem...and to be on the safe side he re-newed the seals...

what i wanted to say is: he was lucky to have a tandem, as 1 circuit was still ok and he could stop the car.

so next on the to-dolist for my Triumph2500 MK2 is : convert to Tandem.

[gmsclassics]

Agree with Robert regarding a change to tandem master may not necessarily be an improvement. You would need to check if a standard system with a master cyl designed to operate all four wheel cylinders actually has the capacity with a tandem master to operate either 2 wheel circuit if the other looses all fluid. I know from experience that when converting a single circuit Sprint system to tandem you need to swap the rear cylinders with smaller internal diameter ones, as the factory did when tandem brakes were implemented as standard on the Sprint in 1978.

I would check with a LVVA certifier as you may be able to fit a 'standard' brake system from a later Toledo variant without requiring expensive certification. Anything non-standard though, as you say, would.

I expect though that for normal use (no racing!) a well set up and maintained drum system on a Toledo would be more than adequate. Shoes relined with a quality lining (ie Mintex), fluid replaced biannually and braided hoses would all help ensure that.

Geoff