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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - Brake Booster or Not?

Chaps, I know this topic has been covered in the past in terms of how to do it and where to site the servo etc, so apologies to those who have been here before. But, having had a couple of narrow squeaks this year with inconsiderate motorists pulling out right in front of me in the MGA (even though I leave a good stopping space between me and the car in front) when I have just managed to pull up in time (Mk ll with front disks) I am wondering how long on the UK's crowded and increasingly lawless roads my luck can last, and whether I can improve my chances by fitting a brake booster. So, I thought I would air this topic again to see from those of you who have fitted the kit whether you consider it a really worthwhile improvement, and perhaps get the views of those who haven't why you think not. Also, the brief description of the Moss kit in their catalogue suggests that it comes with brackets - has anyone used these, and where on the car would these site the servo? Pics might be helpful here if placement is different from that described on Barney's excellent site. And, my car has the Dot5 silicone fluid - any known issues with servo assistance here? Thanks, AB
A Bennett

Best thing I ever did. The booster on my drum braked 1500 A did not improve the braking efficiency but greatly improved the reaction time in traffic via much less pedal force to bring the brakes on.As I understand it disc brakes require high pedal pressure to work, there is no servo action. Just buy a small booster seperatly, a length of vacumn hose and have a copper hydralic made up and save some money.For the vacumn take of drill out the stud that holds the throttle cable bracket to the inlet manifold it is tapped into the manifold. Sean
S Sherry

AB, did you see the picture of a booster under the dash courtesy of Bruce Mayo on Barney's site?

I have a servo on the MGB and the braking does feel more akin to a modern car. Sounds like you feel you are not slowing down fast enough for you braking effort, if so, you will definitely appreciate a servo.

Personally, I haven't felt the need to fit a servo on the MGA as I have driven my cars pretty hard over the years and am used to stamping on the pedal! I feel as though I could lock the wheels without booster and like the standard pedal feel. That said it's not something that you would want to wait to get used to!

Don't start the Dot5 debate! There should be no issues there!

Neil
Neil McGurk

Is there a good source for a remote brake booster? What is the going price? Thanks and have a good day!

John
John Progess

I find the brakes (disc brakes) just fine without a booster.

You can get them here
www.holden.co.uk


dominic clancy

AB, there were no defects in my braking system (as far as I knew) but it was at best average. I therefore decided to fit a servo and they are now
v good. For reasons I'm not sure of there is now more 'feel'with the brakes. I installed my servo within the offside wing as pic.


J H Cole

John, your installation looks very neat, do you have any pictures of the engine bay? It seems to be a very discreet job.

Also the mounting seems very professional, how much fabrication did you need to do to the brackets?
Neil McGurk

Neil, please see pic showing s.steel braided take off from vacuum side of inlet manifold. Thereafter it changes to rubber hose and runs to to the servo via holes drilled in the side of the engine compartment adjacent to the servo positioned within the offside wing void. There's very little to see of the installation and I copied the main features from an example on Barneys site or a link from it? There are some issues concerning the support of the servo unit that needs to be fairly rigid and I fabricated a 'gallows bracket' for additional support. The Lucas 'L' bracket provided in the kit is nowhere near stiff enough. If you need more info I can provide a rudimentary sketch of the various pipe routes.


J H Cole

John, that really is a very neat installation.
Neil McGurk

I find the the brake booster to greatly help in stopping my MGA. It is easily installed in the front fender. The pictures on Barneys site is from my installation. I built my unit to be reomoved at sometime in the future when it fails. I bought mine from Victoria British. I used a tin shop to fab the mounting unit which also has the cruise control as you now have vaccum there.
JEFF BECKER

Jeff,just had another look at your site for servo installation linked from Barney's site. Should of course have attributed the assistance it gives to you.
J H Cole

Thanks Chaps. Useful comments, and leads me to think that it is well worth while to fit the booster. And good ideas about where to fit the servo (I particulrly like John Cole's installation). This could be my New Year project while waiting for the decent weather to return!! Adrian B.
A Bennett

This thread was discussed between 14/12/2008 and 23/12/2008

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.