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MG MGA - Dual circuit brakes

Doing a few jobs on a friend's MGA project car and he has decided to fit dual circuit brakes--I've worked out roughly a plan but am interested to hear from others that have done it in case there might be an easy / simple way of doing this that I haven't thought of----------
William Revit

Hi William,
I have looked on line for any specific dual-circuit brakes articles but I haven't found one yet.

I have seen a kit with 2 master cylinders and a clutch master cylinder on Car Builder Solutions website.

The kit they advertise comes with fluid reservoirs and brackets etc, it looks like they are designed to be used as separate circuits for front and rear brakes with a balance bar connecting them so that you can adjust the rear/front brake balance.

It seems to me that you could use these as a dual circuit system if you re-plumb the brake pipes to give a suitable crossover set up.

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/CatalogueRequest

This is a link to their catalogue.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

I'll check that out----------
I've been looking at the Mk2 Escort kit from Retro Ford but it's underslung under the dash, and to turn it over and mount it on top means making up longer pedals, so a bit messy all up- Best option so far is a Howe floor mount kit, which I've used before on other jobs but it restricts legroom length a bit in an A unless the m/cyls are poked out through the firewall-also getting messy
Thanks
willy
William Revit

I think the later (rubber bumper) MGBs had dual circuit brakes - might be a useful source of parts.
Cam Cunningham

Thanks Cam, -Yep that is one choice as the A has MGB brakes all round but was trying to stay away from power assited brakes--although, maybe the m/cylinder itself could be ok -Hmmm
William Revit

Here's some info regarding the installation of a dual system:

https://mgaguru.com/mgtech/brakes/bt206.htm

....and a recent discussion on another site:

https://www.mgexp.com/forum/mg-motorsports-forum.41/mgb-dual-circuit-master-cylinder-in-mga.3785601/
Nick Kopernik

Cheers Nick
William Revit

You don't need twin masters and a balance bar as in the attached picture, but if you fit a separate Girling clutch master (e.g. as used on TR4) to a new front plate welded to the stock master bracket and a single tandem brake master like the 1968-74 MGB (later ones have a servo), you can do it pretty easily.

You will need to offer the cylinders up to the new plate and old pedals to see how much you might have to move a pedal pivot etc. My advice is to locate the hole for the brake first, and only offset the clutch by cutting and welding the top of the predal - safer welding that than the brake parts.

Sorry I don't have pics of a welded pedal.

PS - that is a Girling reservoir from a TR3 in the race car, one side for each master



Bill Spohn

Thanks for that Bill- just the sort of setup we're looking for
Fell on my feet the other day and was visiting a friend who's rebuilding his oval track car and is changing his pedal box from floor mount to overhead, I took his floor mount box for a try but it just gets too tight down there to get it to sit properly,it sort of fits but the m/cyls would have to go out through the firewall down the bottom, just a bit too 'messy' so when his new top mount one arrives I can borrow that for a try-Going by the picture of it it should sit up through the bulkhead nicely and will only need the original MGA pedal box replaced by a fabrication to support this new assembly----
This one, below--It's all set up with a balance bar and brackets for clutch and brake m/cyls
I've used a fair bit of Howe stuff in the past---but didn't realise they did a top mount pedal kit though----till now

https://howeracing.com/index.php/store/cockpit/pedals/pedals-overhead-assy-howe.html
William Revit

This thread was discussed between 25/10/2019 and 09/12/2019

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