No worries , I'll PM my mobile number though , get your father to give me a yell if he has any problems between Woodburn and Kempsey and I'll give him a hand .

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The drive through the mountains will be great in that car. Good chance to test your brakes.

When I drove my Rover back from Sydney I spent the night at Jindabyne and then drove through the mountains to Corryong, Corryong to Beechworth, then to Milawa (yummy cheeses, wines and mustards), then down the C521 to Whitfield, then through to Mansfield (more windy roads) , Mansfield to Yea, Yea to Tyaak and back onto the Hume for the rest of the way to Melbourne. Not the most direct way, but definitely had the most smiles per mile. I can thoroughly recommend it.

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1970 Mini Deluxe - 1275, Weber, Clive 346 cam, MS 4-pot slotted discs, Megajolt ignition Now with new improved Mambas... almost on the road
1966 Van with Traveller rear seat conversion
2008 Prado GXL
All in various states of repair...

Yeah, we have family in Myrtleford (hence the stopover) and property in Tallarook, so I know those roads like the back of my hand. I've never cut across the Snowy's before, and I'll not get another opportunity to do it in the Mini any time soon, so I'm looking forward to that

From Myrtrleford, it'll be over to Milawa, then Whitfield, Tolmie, Mansfield, Yea, then the back way via Flowerdale and Whittlesea before cutting back to the Hume at Donnybrook.

Great roads -- should be a great drive

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Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

yeah, Wodonga, so you'll miss me if you go over the mountains, I'll pm my number just in case you don't go that way

You're better off going through Canberra to the mountains rather than Gundagai aren't you? fingers crossed the whole area isn't on fire though, it's looking pretty grim for the summer

Kev, those balancers were the strip behind the spokes...

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

That was my first thought, but the road out of Canberra sends you too far south towards Cooma and the coast -- much less direct. Since this leg will be one day and I don't want to push the car too hard, I figured we'd leave the Hume at Gundagai, and head for Tumut, Batlow, Tumbarumba, Jinjelic, then join the B400 at Shelley and head for Tallangatta, Yackandandah, to Myrtleford.

Looks like a good route, according to Google Maps, that is

Any local intel?

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Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

ahhh, well in that case, you're not going over the mountains, just around the base of them.... if I was you, I would do the run down the Alpine Way, from Jindabyne, through Thredbo, past Tom Groggin and down through Corryong, which is the start of the B400.... amazing scenery, mountains, gorges, there is a mountain cutting where the cliff face is right on the white line on the road on each side... you also go past the Snowy power stations which are amazing... I'm not sure about how much time you'd lose, since Cooma is basically straight south of Canberra, then you go west, whereas Gundagai goes a lot further west then you come south.... you've gotta zoom right in on the google maps to see where the Alpine Way goes, you don't go near Adaminaby. Jeez, sounds like a cannonball challenge... Goulburn to Corryong

Studying the maps, I reckon if you decide not to go through Thredbo, definitely join the B400 before Corryong. The length of the B400 has some fabulous sections... there's a teriffic loop from Wodonga out on the north side of the river through Jinjelic, then back on the south side which is the B400, the south side has the best roads IMHO... what you want to do is leave the Hume at Tumblong (or via Tumut, whichever), then Adelong, but go east at Tumbarumba, east again at Tintaldra, and then you hit the B400 and go straight through...

Either way, you come within 10 minutes of my house on the run between Tallangatta and Yackandandah. You skirt around the Hume mud puddle and do a hard just before Wodonga, so instead, keep going straight and I'll take that coffee challenge

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Ahh, I didn't zoom in close enough to see the road thru Kosciuszko Nat. Pk. between Thredbo and Khancoban. Looks like a pretty tiny road, I assume it's not sealed? What's the situation this time of the year with snow? Chains are going to be OotQ...



Yeah, zooming out looking at both routes you might be right. The time estimate is about an hour extra, though... not sure what time we'd hit Canberra, so that might be asking a bit much.



Yeah, I think you're right there. Might be a goer.



See how we're going for time, I'll let you know

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Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

I've got the same calipers you installed on my mini. I think they're underrated, mainly because not many people have 'em in Oz. A couple of common pitfalls (which are all true and accurate) are slightly reduced pedal feel and clearance issues on the caliper/rim and caliper / tie rod end.

I was going to put an alternative master cylinder in my car (mazda 323 rwd master cylinder i'm told works a treat, 13/16 bore - 8% bigger than the good 3/4 bore mini master) but decided against it, just 'cause it's not that bad - a touchy pedal isn't that important, as is knowing the brakes are up to it! BTW i've got s/steel brake lines, so they're as good as their going to ever be!

re: clearance issues, I had to sell my ROH contessas due to a *big* clearance issue, and got some mean 10x6 miniators instead... they will definitely not fit steel wheel rims. 12 inch rims have no problem, and I believe there are various types of original 10 inch rims which will clear the caliper fine... but for gods sake don't go shaving 1/16 off the caliper... are you serious??? Oh yeah and when you get your rims balanced - demand they put the weights on the outside of the rims

The last problem, which you unconciously solved by going 2 deg negative camber, is the tie rod hitting the caliper. If you have anything less than 1.5 neg camber on the front you will notice them hitting, usually when going over a bump. I've found 1.75 neg is the sweet spot, not too much neg camber and no fouling on bumps.

RE: Pads availability... there's plenty, unlike being locked into the KAD bling bling pads, you can take any metro pad, shave the top corners off and slap 'em in (it's the outer edges, which do bugger all, to quell that mystery/debate).

BTW: What brake pads are you using?

If you have any more issues / questions feel free to PM me.

Actually, I have neither of these problems. At normal ride height, the calipers clear the caster arms just fine, and while I've currently got a reduced pedal height, pedal feel is actually really good. The low pedal is probably down to my inept ability at bleeding brakes, rather than anything else



I have a full set of braided lines to go on the car, but left them off for the time being in case there's any question of their ADR compliance. The rubber hoses on the car currently are all reasonably new, so there'll be no problem getting through RWC in Victoria with them on while there might be with the braided ones.



Really? You had a clearance problem with ROH Contessas? That's surprising (unless you had LS offset items) as mine are bog standard 'S'-offset Contessas and they fit, but only just. There's only a couple of millimetres in it, but a miss here is as good as a mile. No need to shave anything off anything, there's no way I'd even contemplate that as there would be zero chance of getting that through RWC in Victoria.



I actually think that particular problem is unlikely to bite even with less camber. On my car, it can only become a problem with the suspension at extension and the leading edge of the wheel turning in beyond about 2/3rds lock. Thinking about that, when the wheel is in that position you're going to have the suspension compressed, not extended.. so the clearance problem is a non-problem



A few people in various threads have condemned the pad modification necessary with these calipers, but it's totally uninformed. All that is necessary to get the inside pads to fit is the removal of a 3mm corner off the backing plate of the pad. This is nowhere near the friction material, and so can have totally zero affect on braking performance. There's no way an inspector is going to pull the pads out either, which is the only way they'd spot the mod. I doubt they'd complain either way.



The ones included in the Mini Spares conversion kit: GBP258KEVLAR. I'll see how they perform over the next couple of months and then assess whether it's worth changing them for green/blackstuffs.

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Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

snow season is closed so no need for chains (not like there's really been any this year anyway), and the road is sealed all the way through



what's the condition of your pedal clevis pins etc. it's easy to lose travel in the pedal with wear in the components, and .5mm here and there really adds up



it seems like there are 2 types of alloy caliper from MiniSpares - one to suit 7.5" brakes and one to suit 8.4" brakes... BoostedMini in Sydney has them as well, ans he says they won't fit under contessas...

are you running vented rotors?

Simon, Simon... Simon

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

I think it was replaced recently, but not sure. I have a replacement here either way, I'll check it out when I get the car back in town.



Yep, with the narrow clearance I have with the non-vented caliper to the Contessa's, there's absolutely no chance a wider caliper would fit.



Yeah, what's with that?

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Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

they say to use the metro turbo frive flange when you're running the vented rotors... as it's fatter. I'll be very interested to see them in the flesh

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Well, it's probably time for a final update on the brake mod. A few weeks ago when I left the car, the brakes engaged at about half travel. At that point, they started to work really well, and with a pump or two before the stop the height was good.

Now, after a couple of weeks use, they are far, far better:



Nice one, you were probably right on the money . I've done nothing to the brakes after finishing the conversion, and the pedal has improved ll by itself to the point of being nearly perfect.

The drive from Brisbane to Melbourne took in some fun hilly roads, and on the long downhills these brakes were awesome, actually improving in feel and bite as they got hotter. Really, really confidence inspiring.

I'd recommend these discs and calipers to anyone contemplating a drum - disc conversion. My brother's clubby has got standard 'S' 7.5" discs, and they are rock hard, feeling a lot more wooden and less communicative than the alloy 4-pots. These stop brilliantly, dead straight, and with lots of information via the pedal.

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Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

I'm glad they're working so well for you.


gotta go & show this to my wife - I was right for once

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Too many cars, and too little time.

So after you drove through the mountains with all those tight twisty hairpins, any issues with the adjustable arms and the calipers coming into contact?

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1970 Mini Deluxe - 1275, Weber, Clive 346 cam, MS 4-pot slotted discs, Megajolt ignition Now with new improved Mambas... almost on the road
1966 Van with Traveller rear seat conversion
2008 Prado GXL
All in various states of repair...