GT wheel cylinders give *greater* braking effort to cope with the additional
weight, that is why roadster backplates and wheel cylinders have different
peg arrangements.
PaulH.
http://freespace.virgin.net/paul.hunt1/
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Schooler <schooler@erols.com>
To: xyzabcde@earthlink.net <xyzabcde@earthlink.net>
Cc: Charley & Peggy Robinson <ccrobins@ktc.com>; mgs@autox.team.net
<mgs@autox.team.net>
Date: 31 March 1999 13:25
Subject: Re: Wet brakes don't work, Part II
>Denise,
>
>I have always been amused by some of the "puffery" language used by VB
>in their catalog. "Upgraded" rear wheel cylinders are nothing more than
>the wheel cylinders for GTs. Different internal diameter yields
>different braking pressure.
>
>For your info file - in 30 years of driving the same MGB, only once did
>I experience weak braking from water. This occurred during an extremely
>heavy rainstorm, with lots of standing water on the road. Upon
>application of the brakes, braking from the front was ineffective until
>the pads wiped away enough of the water to grab. The effect was
>momentary and normal braking was restored rather quickly.
>
>I'll be most interested in what the probem is.
>
>Bill
>
>xyzabcde@earthlink.net wrote:
>>
>> Hi Charley,
>>
>> The reason I haven't tested any part of the brake system at this point is
that I
>> have 20 years and 200K miles of driving data to work with. In that time,
I've
>> verified many times that all portions of the the brake system work and
nothing
>> has changed lately. I asked for the list wisdom on this one before I did
much
>> investigation because I wanted to know which I would be looking for--a
problem
>> with my car, or a design defect.
>> Now that I know that I'm looking for relative braking power between the
front
>> and rear brakes, I know what I need to do to test it, including what you
>> suggest. I know that there's no major failure in my braking system, but
>> something is marginal and I plan to quantify it before I change anything.
>>
>> However, I was looking through parts catalogues today, and discovered
something
>> that suggests that this may just be "the nature of the beast." Victoria
British
>> offers upgraded rear wheel cylinders. Here's what they say:
>>
>> "Under heavy braking, MGB roadsters and all MGC's have a tendancy for the
rear
>> brakes to lock up. Replacing them with upgraded rear wheel cylinders
reduces
>> the rear brake pressure and creates a better balance between front and
rear
>> braking."
>>
>> If I can't find anything that would diminish the braking power of the
front
>> brakes, I may try these wheel cylinders. However, I still like the idea
of an
>> apportioning valve so I can adjust the balance to any value, but that
would
>> require major replumbing.
>>
>> Thanks for the suggestion and send along any others you have. I'll let
the list
>> know what I find.
>>
>> Denise Thorpe
>> BTW, black widow spider webs are tougher than other webs, so I can tell
by feel
>> when I'm in danger.
>>
>> Charley & Peggy Robinson wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi Denise,
>> >
>> > Have you jacked up the front of the car and tested the front brakes
to
>> > see how they work? Forgive me if I've missed something but all I've
>> > seen is conjecture.
>> >
>> > CR
>
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