Thread: Brake upgrade on my Bloodbox

Applied Gloss Black to the other side of the backing plates this morning

now just need the LHS wheel cylinders and I can start on this job, cheers Dennis

Damn n blast it all, while cleaning the 2 front 3" drums this morning, I found one of them had a hairline crack on the outer edge possibly starting at the drain hole

I'm a bit surprised that the problem was not seen when the drums were skimmed!, anyway lucky for me I had a spare, so I kept plugging away at them, cleaning/grit blasting, etch prime/paint

I'm still waiting for the LHS wheel cylinders, yesterday I had to make 8 of these short bolts, as the hex/heads on the originals were a tad ordinary

anyway that has been part of my day, cheers Dennis

hey Dennis just done a bit of palm reading OMG

tells me those brakes are going to work mighty well !!!!!

keeping an eye on this when i do mine

While multi-tasking over the past few days, I have managed to get all the items needed to put the front brakes on

only issue I have is, I can't start the job (damn) as I have bought a rarther large compressor that I will have to fit in the garage in front of the Bloodbox, so I cannot start the job until I have taken possession of the compressor and got it into place, isn't it always the way, something else to slow you down, cheers Dennis

Well I have finally taken possession of all the parts required to start the upgrade on the 109.
I had to charge the battery, I have been using my boom - box off the battery in the bloodbox, anyway, I started the engine and moved it out of the shed, cleared away a pile of Land Rover bits, moved my frame that holds the oil's needed for oil changes etc, and put my old compressor under it, with that job done, get the Land Rover in place, make sure I could move around and work in the area without being too cramped, jack it up place stands under the front axle

using this 3/8"UNF bolt that I had machined, undo the flexi-brake hose, and screw the bolt into the steel brake line, this effectively stops the loss of too much brake fluid.

After removing the brake drum and hub assembly, a quick de-grease, and I changed the hub oil seal as well just for good measure

then fit the LHS brake backing plate and bolt it up, re-assemble the hub

well that was as far as I got, the grandkids turned up and it was getting too cool n dark, anyway hopefully get more time on it again tomorrow, cheers Dennis

Today (after lunch) I dismantled the RHS brake/hub assembly and refitted it with the Series 3 6cyl brakes

the bolt that I machined to stop fluid loss works like this

once you have removed the flex line, the 3/8"UNF bolt screws into the female nut on the brake pipe, thus stopping an awful lot of fluid loss, anyway tomorrow hopefully I will have the rear end done, and can make a start on bleeding the system, cheers Dennis

Well all my good intentions have gone south. Up early this morning moved the vehicle out of the shed

with 'Charli' watching me & Lulu (15.5 years) having her morning ablutions, a little while later jack up n remove the RHS wheel/hub assemblies, then remove the brake shoes, I always use a tyre lever in this manner, saves your fingers getting pinched/cut (LHS shown)

It didn't take long to complete the RHS, so release the brake hose clamp

then do the same for the LHS.
Now I knew the LHS wheel cylinder was the one with the stuck piston, that took almost a week to free up at the brake place on the Nth coast somewhere. The threads inside the casting are a bit of a headache, I always run a tap through them to make sure the thread is clean etc

anyway while trying to line up the brake pipe nut with the cylinder, either I got it off square or it picked up on the thread, anyway the end result was the same, ?? the cylinder is buggered.
I took it back off, run a tap through it again and was able to freely screw in a 3/8"UNF bolt and a brake union nut with my fingers, buoyed by this I lined it up and got it to screw home n tight, but when I undid the brake hose clamp it started to drip brake fluid, so I clamped off the flexi-pipe again, fitted the wheel hub/road wheel, selected low range and moved it back into the shed.
I'm very annoyed at myself for buggering it up $66.00 down the drain, I'm not sure if it can be repaired by the brake service, so my good wife is going to take that cylinder down on Monday + the LHS old cylinder which I removed today, so if it can't be fixed at least I will have another by weeks end, damn bugger n blast it all.
I did have all fittings loose which helps to line up and ease the union nut into place, but something didn't work to plan today, win some lose some, cheers Dennis

I rang the after hours number listed for the brake service this morning, my wife will be down there @ 0730hrs (Mon 23/6) to drop off the damaged cylinder + the one that was being replaced, that way I will have 2 irons in the fire.
The service manager said they may be able to remediate the damage, it is down where the double flare seats ? maybe you can see it in this image

I made a dead end fitting for the brake pipe, so I could release the clamp on the flexi-hose, a short piece of hex brass drill & tap 3/8"UNF, a 5/32 steel ball

drop the ball into the hex brass, offer up to the brake pipe, nip it up, release clamp, and no more drips (except me LOL)

so that's about it on this job until later in the week, at least I will be able to utilize some time on my Series 1, cheers Dennis