Scary brakes

[saabfast]

All cars have different brake feel and need getting used to.
I have Saabs generally and they always seem to have 'soft' brakes (or at least pedal feel) but still stop OK. My wife has a Suzuki which has very sharp brakes, sometimes my first stop in that after other cars is a bit abrupt and gets dirty looks from her. The TR7 brakes I found OK when I got it, locking all 4 wheels evenly in a hard stop. As part of a refurb years ago I was rebuilding the master cylinder and found the lower piston completely frozen in. I tried a recon unit but that leaked (as apparently many do) so I bought an S&S uprated servo and master cylinder package (not sure if it was Sherpa or what). That improved the braking and I find it adequate with a feel somewhere between the other cars. I appreciate that the standard TR7 pads are not very large.
Of course, the pad manufacture can also make a difference, I found Greenstuff awful and, IIRC, I have Mintex now. So many variables!

[seven]

All this talk of poor brakes on the TR7's makes me wonder how any have passed MoT's, they must be adequate enough?
Perhaps for track days or racing on circuits or rallying they are not up to the stopping power needed, (brakes on race cars loose racing don't forget ) though isn't this the same as with any car that is converted for the track or forests.
I have a few older cars of different makes and models and all the brakes seem to work extremely well for there vintage but admittedly will not be as efficient as my more modern cars so adjust my driving style to suit. All the cars I have raced or prepared in the past have had ungraded brakes whether it has been disc's and caliper's or just pads, I haven't that I can recall upgraded any brakes for normal road use.
I have only ever driven 2 TR7's in my time (although owned about 6) and the first was 'Var the Seven' and his brakes seemed good, though they were what I believe were a Rimmer 4 pot conversion on the fronts (Austin Princess?) and Ruby who runs SD1 Vitesse brakes all-round which can be a bit overkill when I tested them to try out
The TR8 I broke up 4 odd years ago had bigger caliper's and vented disc's, well it was fitted with a 3.9 modified engine at 230bhp with print out, though I never drove that one either.......A deprived childhood.....
So I guess standard TR7 brakes might not be up to the job after all, though Morris Marina brakes I can remember as a bit lacklustre......?

[busheytrader]

All this talk of poor brakes on the TR7's makes me wonder how any have passed MoT's, they must be adequate enough?

IMHO

Adequate enough to pass on the MOT test equipment when cold - yes.

Adequate enough to sufficiently dissipate the heat from the brakes during spirited (not hooligan) driving on a winding A or B road - no. They would too easily snatch and lock up in the wet as well, the braking was from from progressive.

I uprated the front brakes on mine in the late 80’s before I thought about converting to V8.

[seven]

All this talk of poor brakes on the TR7's makes me wonder how any have passed MoT's, they must be adequate enough?

IMHO

Adequate enough to pass on the MOT test equipment when cold - yes.

Adequate enough to sufficiently dissipate the heat from the brakes during spirited (not hooligan) driving on a winding A or B road - no. They would too easily snatch and lock up in the wet as well, the braking was from from progressive.

I uprated the front brakes on mine in the late 80’s before I thought about converting to V8.

Fair enough.

Though I will have a word to my mate who worked alongside his mate who was or had something to do with test driving the TR7's and 8's when they were new.

I did fit twin calipers to my Triumph 2.5 PI, they worked so well I could just about raise the rear wheels off the ground on heavy brakes, but after 4 stops like this on the road the brakes boiled the fluid and then there where no brakes!

[timcar]

Some time ago I had a scary moment when turning a bend at 50mph found cars queued at road works. I then changed the standard brakes to EBC discs and yellow pads rather than green on their advice. This keeps the original size disc and caliper but does provide better braking. 5 years on and the brakes still give confidence pretty much like a modern car braking.

[CamGTS]

NOT scary brakes - 4 pot AP calipers with Gp4 Escort 257mm vented and cross drilled discs with Greenstuff pads

[Rich K]

Hi Cam, nice looking setup. What’s the spec of the adapter to mate the escort disc to the Triumph hub?

Cheers,
Rich.

[CamGTS]

It's the hub adapter that S&S sell (sold). Get in touch with Steve Wilcox. Discs came from Escort rally specialists

[seven]

I did have a chat with my mate and he recalls not much problems with the TR8 brakes when he tested his new one at a testing ground. The TR7 held up fairly well too.
If the car was put to the extremes on track and with continual heavy braking then there was some evidence of brake fade, but bearing in mind that these tests were to sustain capability for normal road and steep hill testing and not for high speed track use. The brake testing results were to be passed as fit for the job or as they put it adequate
For 1974/5 I guess they were fit for the job, just like 1930 Austin Seven's brakes were fit for the job back then, but compared to brakes now they are a laugh and we have become a society of poor drivers that the manufactures are having to build safer and safer cars with idiot proofing for non skilled drivers and of cause when we jump into our 45 year old cars they appear to have scary brakes. My sL55 has 8 pot calliper's and compared to my first TR7 whose brakes didn't work to me were adequate for the year and make
If you want to drive to keep up with modern day traffic a TR7 can do quite capability, it's being able to stop in the same stopping distance that has changed so a good brake up grade is very much a very sensible idea

[CamGTS]

Indeed, Of course there is another aspect to this and that is that modern tyres are just so much better. No point in being able to stop the wheel and tyre rotating if there is no grip on the road. And then there is suspension too.