The typical brake configuration in BMC sports car is drum or disc brakes on the front wheels and drum brakes for the rear. To a certain segment of British car owners the brake system of these cars engenders a feeling of concern, fear and at best, dissatisfaction. These feelings may come from the comparison of driving more recent cars or SUV's outfitted with disc brakes at all four corners as well as the ABS feature. Disc brakes can provide excellent stopping power with minimal fade compared to drum brakes that are more prone to fade under heavy braking. My appreciation of a total disc brake package came from racing Formula Fords in the late '60s and early 1970's when very few cars were fitted with both front and rear disc brakes. Also at that time my daily driver, a Fiat 124 Spyder, which had disc brakes at all four corners.

In 1999 when I purchased a 1965 BJ8 through Martin Jensen, Jule Enterprises, Milton, Ontario, I was not impressed with the braking of the car. Over coffee Martin and I discussed the options. These options included dual brake circuit with larger master cylinder, finned rear drums, and disc brakes. Martin, an old hot rodder, mentioned that he had fitted North American disc brakes in place of rear drum brakes on several Healeys. He was of the opinion that this set up worked very well.

In 1999 there were three sources of disc brake "kits" for Healeys. Or there was the alternative approach the Martin Jensen option of using GMC, specifically TransAm or Cadillac, backing plates from the mid-1980s, and GM calipers along with modified GM rotors. Several days spent searching the major auto wreckers in the Saskatoon area, first evaluating the availability of the backing plate, the essential component in the Jensen conversion was not too productive. Five were found. They were either bent or damaged. In checking with the major GM dealers and after market suppliers in Saskatoon I learned this part was no longer available.

Using GM components called for minor modification to the GM backing plate, and this plate would replace the rear drum backing plate of the Healey. With the GM rotor, again either TransAm or Cadillac, the holes the studs pass through must be welded closed and new holes drilled using the Healey hub extensions as a guide. This exercise is best left to a very qualified machinist; not only is one concerned about balance but also the run-out of the rotor.

In my conversations with Martin we never discussed how to accommodate the Healey handbrake setup with the GM package.

After reviewing the contents of the available kits, and with follow-up phone calls to the British suppliers, I settled on the kit available from Cape International. The kit was purchased in April 2001; it accompanied Margaret and me from our original house in Saskatoon through two moves that summer and fall. Finally this past summer I was able to tackle the "easy" installation of Cape International rear disc brake kit from here on referred to as CI.

The three pages of CI instructions that accompanied the parts included: a page of written comments, eight lines of instruction, and an illustration per page (Figure 1). In part it was these instructions that led to this article. A friend Tom Benson comments on the shop manual for the six cylinder Healeys: "They're written for someone familiar with the car; that's why there is limited detail." Tom was trained as a Jaguar mechanic. The brevity of CI's page far outpaced that of the shop manual. As a Healey neophyte who had not worked on cars since the early 1970's and with concerns about the shop manual, these instructions especially the comments about "qualified professional" made me wonder why this phrase wasn't included in the advert!

Since I planned to replace the rear springs and u-joints in the propeller shaft, these tasks were done first.

I knew that the right rear seal was leaking so I purchased new seals, bearings, spacers, and axle gaskets in advance. Before starting I had placed several layers of saran-wrap over the brake cylinder reservoir then screwed the cap back on. This effectively stopped the loss of brake fluid. Next the differential was drained. The removal of the hub extensions (impact wrench), brake drums (screwdriver and rubber mallet), axle shafts (screwdriver), and brakes shoes (screwdriver and pliers) went with ease - I would suggest obtaining two wine boxes to store the original handed parts per box. Removal of the brake lines from the wheel cylinders proved difficult. The combination of heat from a propane cylinder and an excellent quality flare wrench (11mm not 7/16") did the job. Removal of the hub was accomplished with a hub puller (Figure 2) of my design; it made use of the lug nuts to hold the puller in position. But before the hub could be removed we encountered a major problem the removal of the axle tube nuts. The previous owner had driven these nuts on with a chisel. There were chisel marks on all six faces of the nuts. By the way these nuts are handed, and usually marked as to their respective sides. Once the locking tabs were bent back, the socket I had purchased from a British supplier would not loosen the nuts, in fact, it was too flimsy and slipped off. Thus axle tube nuts were removed with a chisel. Both were replaced with new ones. Next the backing plate, the handbrake rods and the rear brake lines were removed. The latter were removed with heat and a 11mm flare wrench. Before proceeding, all the running surfaces were scrapped, cleaned and lightly coated with oil to prevent rusting. The non-running surfaces were re-painted.

Prior to starting the installation I laid out all parts received, and walked through the assembly five or six times. I worked on a large clear area, six feet of workbench. I attached the calipers to the caliper brackets, the handbrake calipers to the main calipers, placed the rotors in place, the new handbrake rods to the handbrake calipers. I feel this is a very necessary step not only in the handling of the pieces but also to obtain an appreciation of the order of assembling the pieces.

Next I took the CI diagram (Figure 3) which illustrated the modifications to the axle flange, and enlarged it to life size using a bed scanner. After placing the life-size diagram with the suggested cutout areas on the axle flange I was concerned about the amount of cast iron material to be removed. The amount to be removed could potentially weaken the flange. I consulted several lads who restore or customize cars. They all agreed with my solution to take away most of the metal from the caliper lugs or mounting points of the caliper and a minimal amount from the axle flange.

The areas on the caliper lugs slated for metal removal were marked from the life-size diagram. I allowed an additional 1/16", then blacked in these areas with a Sharpie permanent marker. The metal was removed from the "inside" of the caliper lug, the side adjacent to the caliper bracket where the caliper slides over the axle flange. The back or trailing edge of the axle flange was marked for metal removal. It is the black area illustrated in Fig. 3,approximately 1/4" of materia lto be removed. The calipers were first taped with masking tape except for the removal points, and then chucked in a vise. I used an air driven die-grinder with a 0.75" diameter tungsten coarse grinding bit to remove the metal from the lugs and from the axle flange (Figure 4). I fitted a cardboard box around the vise to reduce the flight of metal chips. Next I used a right angle die-grinder with 3M arbor and coarse emery discs to smooth the cut surfaces (safety wise in both cases wear protective goggles and gloves to protect your hands from the metal shavings).

Once I finished the metal removal I again walked through the kit but this time assembling all on the right rear axle. I mounted the "D" or caliper bracket to the axle flange (Figure 5). Then I attempted to mount the right side caliper to the "D" bracket to determine if sufficient metal was removed from the caliper lugs. Sufficient metal had been removed at least by visual inspection. CI had supplied two different lengths of 7/16" UNF bolt (0.25" difference) to mount the calipers. It was impossible to affix the lower caliper lug to the bracket using either length of 7/16" bolt. In addition, the upper lug was fitted with difficulty as the bounce tower obstructed a straight on insertion of the bolt to the threaded "D" bracket.

It wasn't until I looked in the Fall 2003 Moss Healey catalogue that I appreciated precisely why it was impossible to thread in the lower bolt to affix the bottom caliper lug to the "D" bracket. As stated earlier I'm a Healey neophyte. The illustrations in Moss (pages 72, 74, and 75) show both "classical Healey axles" from BN1's through to and including the early Mark III 3000 Healeys and the axle of the late Mark III's. There were differences and the answer to my problem. The attachment of the leaf springs differs between the two axles types, as does the setup for axle rebound. In the older axle the leaf springs are held in place by u-bolts passing through a u-bolt plate which sits on the bottom of the spring and is centered by the toe bolt of the spring. In the late BJ8's the leaf spring again is attached to the axle by u-bolts but there are three locating u-bolt plates, one upper and two lower ones. Between these plates are an upper and lower flanged rubber seating pad. Rebound on the early axle is accomplished with a rubber cone, called a buffer, which is held in place by the u-bolts. The late axle has a tower welded to the top of the axle near the axle flange that accepts a small bump stop. As mentioned, the tower interfered with inserting the bolt to secure the upper lug of the caliper. Using a die-grinder I cut a groove in the tower to eliminate this problem. The solution to bolting in the lower caliper lug was a bit more complex. First a floor jack was used to support the springs. The u-bolts were removed, then next were the upper u-bolt locating plate and rubber seating pad. Both of these interfered with placing and securing the lug to the caliper bracket. Grinding away part of the "ear" and "flange" modified the locating plate, see blacked out area in Figure 6. Next the outer flange on the rubber seating pad was also cut away. Once these pieces and the springs were re-fitted I again attempted to walk through the calipers installation (Figure 7). It was necessary first to insert the shorter 7/16" UNF bolt in the lower caliper lug then screw it in to secure the lower caliper lug. Next the caliper is swung up and back to secure it to the top of the "D" caliper bracket. Here a stubby 5/8" wrench worked very well as did these modifications. Another problem arose at this point. The bolts which affix the calipers to the bracket after they were inserted show more than 3/16" of the threaded hole exposed at the upper attachment point; and approximately 3/8" thread exposed in the hole at the lower attachment point. I wasn't happy with this. I took the calipers to a machine shop and had 3/16" milled off the outer edge of the lower lug. This allowed for equal "grip" at upper and lower attachment points.

After walking through the main calipers attachment process, I attempted the walk through for the installation of the handbrake calipers and handbrake rods. Note these calipers are Jaguar in-board calipers, either XKE or XJS. More problems, I could not stabilize the handbrake calipers in a vertical position. They would lean well past the center point where the rotor would be. Next the shorter of the handbrake rods that came with the kit extended forward from the balance lever past the bounce tower not allowing attachment to the handbrake caliper arm. The first problem was a missing part. The Jaguar manual shows this part as number 9750, a set of fingers that hold the handbrake calipers vertical (Figure 8). I obtained these from the local Jaguar dealership. As to the small handbrake rod on the right side, Pat fabricated a new one (Figure 9, the measurements for the rod). Although the hub, the half shaft, and the rotor were not in place I was confident that we had overcome all the problems, most not mentioned in the CI instruction sheets.

Final assembly; first the "D' caliper brackets were fastened to the axle flange. Then the hubs with the new seals and bearing were installed; Pat had assembled these in his shop and had applied synthetic grease to the bearings. The hubs were set on the machined axle housing and driven home with a hammer and a piece of pipe, one end of the pipe being machined smooth. The pipe was the same diameter as the lower race of the axle bearing. The hub seated with a light sounding "thud". Next the tab washer and then the axle nut turned into position until it was very snug and tab bent into place. The paper gasket with non-silicone glue applied to each side was placed over the studs and the half shaft slid into place, all were clamped with c-clamps, and the adhesive left to dry overnight (Figure 10). The rotors were installed and checked for run out with a dial gauge. For the front rotors the shop manual states "run-out must not exceed 0.004 in., as excessive run-out will cause knocking back of the pistons which may create judder and increased pedal travel." On the right rear rotor we attained 0.004 in. run-out but with the left rear rotor, after cleaning the half shaft surface and shimming with aluminium foil, we attained only a 0.005 in run-out. Rather then have the rotor machined we elected to leave it. Next came the attachment of the main calipers; the handbrake calipers were left off to reduce the weight while handling and for ease of inserting the bolts. With the rotor in place the installation of the calipers was a new experience even with all walk through practices. With the lower lug of the caliper secure on the right side I attempted to secure the top lug, only to find that if I measured from the centers of the respective holes, these holes were just over 1" apart. The top outer edge of the caliper was bottoming out on the shoulder of the rotor. The solution was straightforward; we ground a bevel from the outside edge of the caliper body to the inside edge removing an 1/8", see (Figure 11). This time the calipers fit ( Figure13).

With the calipers removed for the final time, I painted the central portion of the rotor and the first 1/2" of the rotor disc mat black. The caliper piston areas and the small brake pads on the handbrake calipers were masked, and then these parts were painted mat black (Figure 14). Once these dried, the calipers and the handbrake calipers were installed. I used new clevis pins to attach the handbrake rods to the handbrake balance lever and to the levers on the individual handbrake calipers. The clevis at each end of the handbrake rods was adjusted so that the handbrake balance lever paralleled the long axis of the car. The cotter pins were inserted and set for each clevis pin. Next the cotter pins were removed from the adjustment screws on the handbrake calipers, the handbrake calipers adjusted and checked by applying the handbrake. Once the handbrake calipers were set, new cotter pins were installed to secure the adjustment screws.

The final stage was to install and adjust the new steel brake lines that Mr. Finespanner had made for me. The adjustments included bending the tubing using a Record Pipe tool No 210 so that the tubing entered the calipers free of the handbrake rods, caliper levers, with no sharp curves. Although Doug had double flared the ends of the lines as I requested, I decide on a change. I took the lines to a local import car repair shop and asked them to ISO flare the ends. I think this type of flare gives a better seal as it fits into the cup rather than at the edges of the cup. The last part of the installation was to insert the brake pads into the calipers, and to the pads I added an anti squeal strip.

Next the brake system was bled using a Mityvac vacuum bleeder. First I removed the saran wrap from the reservoir top. I began to bleed the lines from the front left (as per the Mityvac manual instructions) and worked my way around clockwise, stopping from time to time to top up the master cylinder reservoir. I installed the wire wheels and tightened the spinners by hand. The car was lowered off the jack stands, and again tightened the spinners with my wooden spinner wrench. The moment of truth had arrived. It was raining, the top was down, and Pat had come up the street walking with his son and their hound. We looked at each other, I fired up the Healey, and we were off. The brake pedal felt great! A series of panic stops from 60 mph down to 15 mph indicated no piston judder, no brake fade, no rear end brake lock up before the front calipers began to brake, and the proportion of braking appeared to be from front to rear - we smiled at each other, no need to add a proportioning valve.

Comments on the three available kits: the Cape International kit and instructions were not complete. The first problem with the Cape International kit was the number of missing pieces. Cape International does not have a typed list of items included in the kit or a list of items that the buyer must supply After completing the installation it is very obvious that if Cape International had installed their kit on a late Mark III BJ8 they opted to leave the purchaser in the dark as to the difficulties I discussed. Of the other rear disc brake kit suppliers, with Denis Welch Motorsport the kit requires the purchase of too many spares, you have to supply the complete caliper assembly. Also you must fabricate the handbrake components and supply the calipers pads. David Ward, Big Healey Restorations, Nottinghamshire, England, theoretically his kit is complete.

Again thanks to Pat Graves (Studebaker maven) - Gerry and Tom Threlfall (fellow Healey nuts) - Terry Dopson (a MG nut) - in Regina to Bob England (Jagnuts) - Steve Jowett,UK Healey Center, Yorkshire, England, for spares on short notice and in Maryland, USA, my friend Doug Reid (Mr. Finespanner) for producing a set of brake lines on extremely short notice.