Mini World – June 2019

46 June 2019 MiniWorld

[ Expert advice ]

Bad vibrations

I have a 1983 Mini with 10" alloy

wheels and standard drum brakes

all round. I am fi nding that the

front wheels start to judder very

badly when I apply the brakes

at speeds around 50mph. The

juddering becomes even worse

when braking from higher speeds.

In an a empt to correct this, so far

I have had the tracking adjusted,

the wheels balanced and I have

swapped round the wheels. None

of this has helped. There does

not seem to be anything wrong

with the brakes themselves either

and both shoes and drums are in

good condition. I could convert

to discs but feel this is not really

necessary for a standard engine.

Barry Hardy

A well-maintained and correctly-

adjusted set of drum brakes, with

twin-leading-shoe front drums,

is adequate for a standard-

engined Mini, even in today’s

tra c, provided you drive

appropriately, and they should

not judder. I would suggest you

start by thoroughly cleaning the

inside of the drums with emery

TOP QUESTION

Fitting different brake

drums, provided that they

are in good condition and

are not out of round, can

cure brake vibration.

Which

cam?

I have a 1275cc Metro

block with an unleaded

cylinder head, HIF44

SU carb, MG Metro

inlet manifold and

a Manifl ow exhaust

system. I would like to

have the block rebored

to 1293cc and have been

o ered a set of 21251

pistons at a bargain

price by the machine shop.

Could you suggest which camsha

and rocker gear I should fi t?

Harry Davies

Your proposed mods sound fi ne  but

I would suggest you fi t AE Federal

Mogul 21253 pistons, if your budget

allows, as the 21253 pistons are

9.75:1 CR, as opposed to the 21251

type’s 8.8:1. The carb and inlet sound

fi ne. I suggest using a K&N or similar

fi lter and, as a future mod, a gas-

fl owed head would help even more.

Camsha -wise go for a Kent 266 or,

for a li le more power but slightly

less-smooth idle, a 276. Your standard

rockers will be fi ne or you could

upgrade to 1.5:1 roller tips. If possible

have the crank tu rided and all

rotating parts of the engine balanced.

You will need to make sure that your

transmission is in su ciently good

condition to withstand the power of the

engine: rebuild it if there is any doubt.

Above: AE Federal Mogul 21253 pistons

are excellent for a fast road 1275 engine.