Stu 1986 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Hello Chaps, Little Doris, the 1200 Herald I'm working on, went for an MOT test today. Sadly she failed on a few minor issues, one of which was:Front Brakes Imbalanced across axle (45%)She also failed on Handbrake leaver having no reserve travel.I was wondering if anyone knows the procedure for adjusting the brakes on the front drums? The old Autopress manual I have doesn't cover it and I've only worked with the rear drums. Are they the same? Ta,S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piman Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Hello Stu, you can't adjust the brakes to compensate for left right imbalance, the chances are that one cylinder is stuck and not contributing to the braking. Take the drums off and have good look at the cylinders shoes etc. You should also be able to work out how they are adjusted then. Possibly that is what is required to cure your rear brake overlong handbrake travel.Alec Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard B Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 45% sound like one side is totally ineffective.I think the drum setup for the front has two cylinders. Sounds like that side is seized up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody47uk Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 My first car was a 1963 Herald 1200. The front drum brakes were twin leading shoe ( ie. 2 slave cylinders on each side) each slave cylinder needing adjusting via an eccentric cam (usually seized). The system was a bloody nightmare and unreliable. I ran it for about 18 months the traded it in against a new 13/60 in 1969. What a difference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herald948 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Worst thing about Herald front drum brakes is that new shoes currently are pretty much nonexistent (save your cores to have them relined). Second worst thing is, after 45-50 years or so, the square-peg side of the adjuster might be pretty well chewed up (2a, because the adjusters are pretty much seized up). Third worst thing is that they do require rather more maintenance, especially in the form of adjustments that might need to be done far more frequently than most of us are used to, and almost certainly more frequently than the rear brakes. Fourth worst thing is that they're much more prone to fading, especially when descending steep mountainous roads and similarly severe use (also, they don't stop a car quite as well when in reverse, especially backing down a steep driveway or such, that being the nature of two-leading-shoe brakes). Fifth worst thing is that if you've come up with a substantial power increase over stock, I hope you're not even reading this because you've long since converted to front discs. ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hammond Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Mine are ok, adequate for the 48bhp currently on tap. I am planning on a power upgrade at some point which will involve a Spitfire MKl engine with a bhp uprating of around 80! The drums have to go, please remind me exactly what is involved.Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slimboyfat Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 http://www.canleyclassics.com/technical-archive/convert-your-early-herald-to-front-discs/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herald948 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 "Disc brake conversion kit" instructions taken from the Triumph Herald 1200 Owners Repair Manual:http://www.fairpoint.net/~herald948/database/discbrak.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hammond Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Do I need to change, remove or modify the engine side valences?Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heraldcoupe Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 1218 wrote:Do I need to change, remove or modify the engine side valences?On most 1200s, no. There is already a cut-out to clear the rigid brake pipe which passes under the valance, the redundant hole for the drum-brake hose union is left unfilled in the disc application.It won't apply to your car, but in the case of 948s and possibly the first Mk1 1200s, there is no cut-out for the rigid pipe, the valance needs to be notched to allow for it,Cheers,Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herald948 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 The directions I linked to above include dimensions and location of the hole to be made in the early-style valence. Oh, and if you get some dire warning when you click on my link (I've no idea why this still happens), copy the link and then paste it into your browser! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hammond Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Thank you all for your replies, sorry for the thread hijack.Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu 1986 Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share Posted January 31, 2015 Thanks for the replies chaps, I've actually managed to track down a set of wheel cylinders for the front, so I'll replace all 4 of them to rule that out. Further good news is that the car's owner has a few sets of spare front shoes so if need be I'll replace them (and keep the old ones for re lining). Converting the car to discs isn't something we'd want to do as it's a very original car, and the drums are part of the charm. Thanks Again,Stu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu 1986 Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share Posted January 31, 2015 Thanks for the replies chaps, I've actually managed to track down a set of wheel cylinders for the front, so I'll replace all 4 of them to rule that out. Further good news is that the car's owner has a few sets of spare front shoes so if need be I'll replace them (and keep the old ones for re lining). Converting the car to discs isn't something we'd want to do as it's a very original car, and the drums are part of the charm. Thanks Again,Stu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herald948 Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 1953 wrote:Thanks for the replies chaps, I've actually managed to track down a set of wheel cylinders for the front, so I'll replace all 4 of them to rule that out. Further good news is that the car's owner has a few sets of spare front shoes...Given how scarce those are, you might want to store them in a safe in an undisclosed location! ;DQuote:Converting the car to discs isn't something we'd want to do as it's a very original car, and the drums are part of the charm. And, as I said before, can function just fine once properly set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heraldcoupe Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 herald948 wrote:Given how scarce those are, you might want to store them in a safe in an undisclosed location! Despite the supposed rarity of these, every autojumble I've attended over the past couple of years has yielded at least one new asbestos-lined set of front shoes. I guess they're only rare because few enthusiasts bother with autojumbles in the 21st century,Cheers,Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 1953 wrote:Converting the car to discs isn't something we'd want to do as it's a very original car, and the drums are part of the charm. Thanks Again,Stu. I'm not sure that "charm" is something you want in brakes.....? I had drums on my early '65 1200 when I first got it and they were downright scary. To be fair, when all adjusted up they weren't that bad, they just didn't stay that way for long. I soon swapped them for discs (also available from the factory at the time) which worked better and remained working without constant attention. Later upgraded to Vitesse 2L brakes (power levels demanded it at that point) which gave it truly excellent stopping ability for a 60s (or even 70s) car.Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu 1986 Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share Posted January 31, 2015 I understand where you're coming from, but this is a standard 1200 Herald that spends it's time bumbling around the city where speeds seldom reach more than 30 mph. I have driven this car in it's current state and find the brakes work fairly well in rush hour traffic. Admittedly I do tend to use the gearbox to assist in slowing down, so that might be a factor. Besides the owner wants the drums to stay also and ultimately its up to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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