[Mgs] Brake repairs started

[Rick Lindsay]

Hello Troopers,
   Interesting information has come to light.  I
talked to my '70 MGB's PO yesterday and asked him the
history of the brakes on the car I bought from him. 
(When I got the car the brakes were dead.)  I wanted
to know why.  You know, the 'Diagnose BEFORE surgery'
idea.  He told me that they just failed on him when
driving the car and he had to "pump them up to get
stopped."  Towed it home and hadn't driven it since. 
Okay, no failure-mode information there, just a report
of failure.  I then asked him if the fluid level had
been dropping.  Answer: "Dunno, never checked it."
   Upon examination, I discovered the reservoir so low
that air was entering the system.  There was no
evidence of having been topped-up recently (cap dirty
and kinda stuck on).  
   Last night I began pulling wheels looking for wet
slave cylinders.  I found none.  The master cylinder
is also clean and dry.  At this point I am thinking
that there may be no mechanical reason for the system
failure.  The PO may have just run the fluid level
down so low that air entered the system.  Then again,
the piston seals in the MC may be damaged.
  Okay, now for repairs.  I have rebuilt part of the
pedal box at the master cylinders. 
http://www.aubard.us/MGB/HPIM0644.JPG shows the newly
refreshed pivot and linkage.  Here's how it looked
before http://www.aubard.us/MGB/HPIM0633.JPG .  I
don't want to disassemble the whole pedal box because
I don't want to break the hydraulic connections.  I
just plan to carefully brush paint the surface-rusted
areas with POR15.  That work has already begun, as you
may detect.
   I have found that I need to replace the front
rotors.  They have been worn and/or turned beyond
their minimum thickness, as seen here
http://www.aubard.us/MGB/HPIM0649.JPG and here
http://www.aubard.us/MGB/HPIM0653.JPG .  Conversely,
the rear shoes and drums look just fine.  I suspect
they have been poorly adjusted for ages and haven't
contributed much to braking.  The handbrake presently
does nothing.  Here's a look at the driver's side with
the drum removed 
http://www.aubard.us/MGB/HPIM0650.JPG .  I have
already cleaned the old grease away from the splines,
threads and seating surface.   Here's a look after
'dusting off' the shoes
http://www.aubard.us/MGB/HPIM0652.JPG .  I'll clean
this whole mess carefully before reassembly.  BTW, the
drum doesn't need to be turned, only cleaned.  Of
course, I'll paint it while I have it off.

   Once the brakes are back working I will be able to
drive the car.  Next in the queue after that is to
restore the wiring in the engine bay.  This '70 car
has a '65 engine so the starter circuit has been
jury-rigged.  I'll clean all that up and refresh all
connections when I get to that project.  Here's a
quick look at the passenger-side inner wheel-well.
wiring http://www.aubard.us/MGB/HPIM0648.JPG .
   
   And one last picture: 
http://www.aubard.us/MGB/HPIM0645.JPG . This is a view
of the carbs with the air cleaners reinstalled.

Happy Thursday!

rick