Mike,
My son and I have three MG's, two are Midgets. I have done three brake jobs
on these cars. Two were normal wear, one was a complete failure of the rear
brakes due to a restricted rear hose which got the brake very hot and ruined
the drums too!
If you have done a brake job yourself, you probably have noticed the rear
shoes are the about size of a riding mower and the front pads are also rather
small. The rear design is probably forty years old and the front Lockheed
disk design maybe thirty years. I'm sure someone on the net can elaborate on
that.
Conventional wisdom suggests to leave the car in gear because the amount of
braking you will be doing on those unusually steep and / or long hills will
be quite different than typical driving. You also should check your fluid, pad
s and shoes before the trip.
Braking converts speed into heat. You will exceed safe temperatures if the
brakes are used continuiously. The design assumes cooling time between uses.
Once your shoes, pads reach a certain temperature, they will start to fade (a
sort of melting of the high temperature materials). Then, you'll be pushing
on the peddle for all your worth and generate even more heat. Even before the
fading, the brake fluid in the front calipers and rear cylinders will be
heating. When it reaches the boiling point (depending on which grade fluid
you use), you will have no brakes at all. Another possibility is that you
will have a fire.
If you experience any of the failures mentioned, your're going to have a very
exciting ride. In some areas you will find special gravel lanes designed to
help you stop. In other areas you may not find these lanes and will have to
slow the car by grinding the right side of car against the mountain.
I assume you love that car and the dog, don't want to have do a brake job
during the trip (where would you find the parts?), catch the car on fire,
wipe out the right side or have a death wish. I also suspect you knew all or
most of this stuff already.
My 2¢ worth. Use your own good sense. Be careful!
R. Johnson - Dallas
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