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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - 1500 brake master cylinder

hi guys
Might be needing a new brake master cylinder for my '76 1500.
Are there good ones or suppliers to avoid, or just a case of pot luck rgds tony
tony boyle

Hi Tony,

Sorry can't help on the master cylinder front. But i have just spent about half an hour trying to find the thread on the MGB Damper conversion that you did, found it but it won't let me reply! Just wondering how it went and have you had a drive yet?

Ta!
Karl Bielby

Tony, I bought one of the tin can ones from Moss for a 1500 and it appeared to be of good quality and fingers crossed seems to be working well.

Not cheap at £95 but looks much better than the old rusty one that its replaced.
Tim Lynam

I bought a kit for mine, checked the bore, seemed perfect, reassembled it and fitted it. Brakes worked fine until I noticed a drop of brake fluid leaking from the rear pushrod seal about once a week.HMMMMMM
Straight off to the Old school brake bloke recommended to me by another owner. Stainless steel resleeve and new rubbers fixed it. Ive heard bad things on this very forum about new ones from the usual suppliers, it seems the rubber seals are not up to scratch. The old guys can apparently source seals from better suppliers.
HTH
Rod
R W Bowers

Tony

I would try a specialist brake supplier such as Powertrack: http://www.powertrackbrakes.co.uk asking for an AP Caparo manufactured master cylinder.

There has been reporting of variable quality of products from other manufacturers, such as TRW.

Also try Coasting Ltd and Past Parts Ltd, both do rebuilds as well as supply master cylinders and components:
http://www.coastings.co.uk & http://www.pastparts.co.uk


Best wishes
Mike
M Wood

hi all
thanks your comments
just back from mot...1st time pass...6 on the trot
one advisory
I was concerned about the mcyl as finding it hard to get a high pedal. I have a servo and it always is a pain, thought it may be mcyl time
hi karl...b dampers all fine. Used castrol 15w fork oil
as suggested by mr mamba as didnt want too hard shocks. The b ones seem to be smoother than the midget ones plus you have the triangulated top wishbone effect. I ended up with 2 1/2 degrees neg camber. This is adjustable. I do not go mad in the car but deff a better ride and steering . Make sure you wash out the shocks you get befor using the fork oil

rgds tony
tony boyle

Cheers Tony,

Sounds like a worthwhile mod maybe then? I have one good damper and one goosed one, massive play in the arm. I have been looking at alternatives for a while due to the rumours of quality of reconditioned midget dampers. Plus triangulation would be nice. So i either go with the cheap option and replace the damper with a midget one and make a triangulation arm.

Or i go down the more expensive route and do the MGB mod. Am i correct in thinking the mamba plates are £100ish? Plus the cost of MGB dampers.

Cheers!
Karl Bielby

Tony, is it single circuit (pre 77) or dual circuit (later) brakes?

I have a good used tin single circuit cylinder. I dismantled and refurbed it then never used it.

Karl/Tony: As standard I *think* the B used stiffer springs in the shock valves (might be wrong), so a slightly lighter oil (15w) with stiffer valving would probably work well for the Midget.

If you want gaskets, O-rings, oil etc. for refreshing lever arm shocks I have them.

Malc.
Malcolm Le Chevalier

The last quote I saw for the Mamba plates was £140 ish which is a bit more than I paid last year. You get a lot more than just the plates, lots of hardware as well as Nylatron bushes which will be too hard for everyday use.

Rob
MG Moneypit

hi all shocks
i was fortunate to get a couple of good clean b shocks, on eb.. Just a quick clean/flush and the fork oil and away.
Although i dont go mad in the car i pushed it hard round a couple of roundabouts and the whole thing seemed far more stable. Whether due to the twin lever arrangement or the neg camber i dont know but it certainly felt good.
Malc i will have another go at bleeding then may speak to you re the mcyl if no go. The calipers and rwcyls were replaced not long ago I expect mr mamba would knock of a few quid for not supplying the bushes...i didnt use mine, just used the poly midget ones. Good engineering and i think value for money..Complete waste of money really...went ok on the old set up..dont tell HID
rgds tony
tony boyle

Ok that's alright as mine is poly bushed also.

Il email for a price and see what they say. Really can't decide what to do! Got to make a decision soon though as it's all in bits and i have some trips planned!
Karl Bielby

Spoke to the fella at mamba today. They have changed the nitrile bush to poly now. Think I'll order them tomorrow.

One last thing, how did you know the camber angle you were setting? Is it marked on the plates or were you assembling then measuring?

Cheers and sorry again for mythering in the wrong place!
Karl Bielby

hi karl
i bought a gunson look alike camber tool on the bay. Chinese for about £15. Just had track done and the guy confirmed what i had set with the little level......Nice toy..magnetic base onto the disc or hub. you will need track set as what with the b shocks and the neg cam the track goes way off.
I was told to go parallel with the track. Drives very well
I am told anywhere between one and two and a half degrees
neg camber is ok. 2 1/2 degrees looks good!!!! More if you are racing !!!
Malcom LC if you are still reading this i would be interested in your mcyl and if you are selling the valve seals, a couple of them Do you have the gaskets?

rgds happy midget driver tony























tony boyle

This thread was discussed between 02/04/2017 and 06/04/2017

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.