Cars
Mini Rebuild
Step 31 - Parking Brake
For starters the lower dash is back in the car. Looking ahead I realized that I would need a place to mount the engine ECU as well as a few other electrical components. I didn't think the engine bay would be a good place for those so at this time I'm planning on mounting what I can underneath the lower dash. This necessitated the addition of some new steel panels to my current lower dash. I fabbed something up and it works, it just isn't pretty. I'll have to go back and redo it a little nicer.
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Here you can see the lower dash back in place. I've also refitted the central instrument binnacle.
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Time for the parking brake system to go in. I had to special-order these 12" long spot weld tongs so that I could re-attach the parking brake mount. I ended up 'supplementing' the spot welds with some Mig welding but they should still come in handy later for some body work I have planned.
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The system went in quite easily.
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And now time for the rear brake lines. I purchased a standard Mini brake line kit from England, where cunifer is commonly used. So far, it seems to be good stuff. It bends relatively easily and flares well.
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One part that didn't come with my Mini and wasn't readily available anywhere that I could find, is swing arm brake line brackets. These are just little L-shaped brakes there the rigid lines meet the flexible SS lines. Time for me to fabricate - and if you've seen my work you'd scream too!
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The hard line is uncomfortably close to the bracket. It took some work just to get a gap at all. In theory there should be no relative movement between the line and the rest of the swing arm but I'm going to keep a close eye on these for any signs of contact/wear.
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And here you can see the rear brake pressure regulator. This limits the maximum brake line pressure that can be sent to the rear brakes and helps prevent lock-up under heavy braking. I wanted it somewhat accessible for the initial adjustment but tucked out the way since it shouldn't require much if any further adjustment after that. This seemed like a good spot.
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I will be using the original R1 dash to get speed, odometer, trip meters, coolant temp, as well as turn signal and high-beam indicators. I decided to mount it to an aluminum plate but with the original rubber grommet to lessen vibration. I should have a nice attachment bracket to complete things soon. More billet machine work...
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A local Mini owner spotted my posts on a car forum and stopped by to introduce himself. He was nice enough to take me for a spin in his RHD car. It was a lot of fun. I can't wait for when I can return the favor.
Continue to Rebuild Step 32
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