In a message dated 29/11/01 8:23:11 AM Pacific Standard Time, brian@uunet.ca
writes:
> My thinking is that while the drum brakes are
> more original, and there is a terrific argument to be made that one should
> drive within the capabilities of the car, I think that coping with the
> characteristics of drum brakes in a racing environment requires a quite
> high level of both driver and preparation skill.
It also requires even nerves. I ran a dead stock TR-2 once at a track
(Westwood in Vancouver), that was demanding of brakes. After 2 laps I
basically had very little braking left. A Triumph is one of the very last
cars you want to have to throw sideways to scrub off speed, and every lap,
doing 110 mph into the downhill hairpin, I had fleeting thoughts of mortality
and a passing wonder at why I was subjecting myself to all of this.
I would be all for fitting TR3 discs to any TR2. I'd almost be willing to
contribute to the cost of the conversion of any TR2 that was likely to be
allowed out on the track at the same time as I was........
>
> I say relatively happy, because while perhaps practical this goes against
> the idea of preserving the cars as they were. BTW, I'm pretty sure that
> the Healey 100-S was 4 cylinder and 4 wheel disc brakes.
>
The 100S did indeed have discs, but they are unobtainable. The calipers were
the early round-puck Dunlops, as used in the first run of XK 150. These have
almost all been converted to the later square pad versions used on Twincam
MGAs and many other cars. I suppose that someone might arguably fit Dunlop
calipers to the later Healey uprights that only came with Girling brakes.
Guess the Swallow was a better example - a car that NEVER had a disc brake
version. I'm sure people can think of many others, mostly from the early 50s.
Perhaps one example to consider would be the MG TD and TF, which never had
discs, but which did use essentially the same front suspension as was used on
the MGA, so converting is dead easy. Somehow, I still can't bring myself to
condemn that sort of conversion.
The E type guys that convert to Girling calipers from Dunlop, I view as a bit
on the sissy side - a real Jag man would work with the original parts - but
the ones that go all the way to larger ventilated discs from Camaros or
(much) later Jags, evoke a much stronger reaction in my inner 'do I think
that's right' detector.
And then there are the Jaguar XK 120 and XK 140 guys - fast cars, that never
had discs. Convert to Mk 9 or Mk 2 brakes? OK, no gongs going off in the
what's-right'detector. Convert to ventilated discs with 4 pot calipers? Those
sirens and red lights start going off!
See - hard lines to draw. Must be the off season again - we are talking about
rules instead of playing with our cars (anyone have a clue about how to get
an early Lamborghini through a smog test.......)
Bill
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