A lot of people ask on a forum I know “quite well” about what is involved in converting a Mini from drum brakes on the front, to discs. So, I’m going to tell the world about it, so next time someone asks, I can just point them to this article!
Ok, there are several ways of converting to discs from drums. If you are currently running on drum brakes on the front, then I asume that you currently have 10 inch wheels. If the answer to that question is yes, then you have to decide, do you wish to keep your wheels, or do you want to go for a larger wheel size. Now this question is a whole debate on its own, but its an age-old known fact that 10 inch wheels on a Mini has to be the ultimate choice, however if huge prices is an issue for you, then you can convert to a larger sized wheel, 12 or 13 inches, for example.
In basic terms, for the conversion you will need to change your complete wheel hubs, you will of course need discs, calipers & pads as well. If you wish to keep 10 inch wheels, then you will need small (and pricey) calipers & discs. Less than 7.9 inch discs are required for keeping 10 inch wheels.
Converting to discs from drums and keeping 10 inch wheels
Good choice, but pricey. You have a few options, I have listed them below, ordered in preference of what is the best bet
- Feeling rich? Give Minispares a ring and ask them how much their 7.9 inch disc, hub, caliper set up is. (Sit down) they will probably come back with a price nearing £700. These kits are complete built units, brand new. Simply just remove your existing hub and bolt this straight on.
- If thats out of your price range then you are left to eBay and other various 2nd hand Mini part places to try and source a Mini Cooper S disc & caliper setup (including hubs). These will fetch to around the £400 mark and above, and bearing in mind most kits will probably need refurbishing too.
Converting to discs from drums without keeping 10 inch wheels
A much cheaper option…
- Source a 2nd hand disc, caliper & hub set up from an Austin Metro. These are available from around the £200 mark and almost all Metro calipers are 4 pot calipers, so stopping power is awesome. They also use vented 8.4 inch discs
- Source a 2nd hand disc, caliper & hub set up from a later-type Mini. The year you need to look for is 1985 and later. These will probably be available from about £100 up. Most discs are solid 8.4 inch discs, and calipers are the 2 pot variety.
And that’s about it. No need to install a servo, if you currently don’t have one. On my Mini, I am currently using a Minisport pre-built setup kit bought for £850, including 4 pot calipers, pads, 7.9″ discs & hub. I don’t use a servo.
You wont be getting very far without driveshafts. The drum driveshafts don’t fit the disks. P
Really? I am pretty sure they do, since I haven’t changed my drive shafts. One downer though is that the shafts on drums as standard are like pencils compared to disc’d Mini’s
Anyway, what makes you say they don’t? Have you had this experience? What didnt fit?
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Thanks for the info on the disc brake conversion, my brother in law is looking to change the drum brakes on his Mini Clubman which currently has 10″ wheels. He cleverly blew the 1100 engine up a few weeks back and now has a 1994 1275 engine under the bonnet, a little more stopping power is now required! Just for interest I have a 1967 Cooper that has a 93 Mini Rio enigne including the servo. The wheels and brakes are from a Cooper S and they are the business, the only trouble is the bonnet hinges on the Mk1 are directly in line with the servo. To get around this the hinges have been removed and the bonnet fixed with bonnet pins at the top and leather bonnet straps at the bottom. If anybody needs any of these check out http://www.oCoop.com. Cheers Daz