Brake upgrade - Stage 1 front brakes on an 88?

As part of my SIII 88 rebuild I'm intending to upgrade the brakes. My plan was to fit the LWB 11" brakes to the front, keep the 10" on the rear and fit a servo as per post 1980 models. I bought a set of 11" TLS brakes from a forum member a while ago and I've finally gotten round to sorting them out...

The 11" brakes looked different to the manual and beefier than expected, I think that what I have are the 6 cylinder/Stage 1/ 1 ton front brakes, not just the bog standard LWB versions:







Shoe width:




Inside drum:


If I am correct, I now have a bit of a conundrum, do I:

A: fit the Stage 1 brakes on the front and 10" on the rear? Is this safe/legal or will I run into issues with the MOT/Insurance. If so, what master cylinder should I use? The standard 11" brakes just have thinner shoes so I assume the normal post 1980 master cylinder would work as the shoes have to travel the same distance?

B: try and track down the Stage 1 rear brakes? Or will this be too much for the 88? I don't tow or carry heavy loads and would like to slow down and stop instead of just skidding to a halt...

C: stop messing about and put the original 10" brakes back on the front and rear? Kind of defeats my work so far though...

I want the finished Landy to be as safe and comfortable to drive as possible, but I do realise it's a Series III Landy, not a 3 series BMW... also my pockets have a limit - I don't want to spend a fortune on parts.

Has anybody else fitted Stage 1 brakes to an 88? What did you use for the rear axle? Does it work well?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Cheers

I think you'll find 1tons have 11x3" shoes on the front, 11x2'' on the back

Cool, are the normal 109 11" shoes wider than 10" then? I assumed they'd be the same as the 10" my 10" shoes are about an 1 1/2" wide...

This is what I thought I had:


If I have a set of normal 109 11" brakes then all is well

One last question though, has anybody got an easy way to get the shoes off? The retaining springs are pretty beasty so I may have to resort to a crowbar!

Clip a pair of mole grips on the end of a shoe (in line not at 90') and it'll lift out the seat easy enough

cool, will give that a go tomorrow, cheers!

6 cylinders/V8s have 11 x 3" twin leading shoes on the front and 11 x 2 1/4" single leading shoes on the back.

They look like normal LWB ones to me. Do beware that you will change the brake balance front to rear and can end up with the back brakes engaging before the front if you don't have the right master cylinder. You really don't want the rears coming on first...

PS: Not wanting to put you off though, I've got an 88 and a 109 and some (I think) 1ton or maybe stage 1 brakes and want to do something similar at some point...

Cheers, I have 11" x 2 1/4" TLS for the fronts and 10" x 1 1/2" SLS for the rears so will stick a post 1980 SWB dual circuit master cylinder (and servo) on and all should be sweet

Now just need to track down a servo vacum pump for a reasonable price...

"now just need to track down a servo vacuum pump" Is it a diesel you are running ? If so forget about the butterfly operated effort on the inlet manifold, most are worn to the point of frustration trying to set em up. Buy an electric vacuum pump, I use a Hella U28 badged as a Volvo part. Around an hour or so to fit, wired through relay triggered from brake light switch. If the ignition is on you have servo brakes without the engine running, I paid about £70 new from a Dutchman on evil bay. With 11" brakes my 88 stops very well indeed.

Yeah I'm keeping an eye out for one of those, waiting for a cheap one

I did a chassis replacement rebuild on a 2a 88 back in early seventies , with a RV8 engine. I used all new brake components , but from a 109 1 ton S3 . In the dry the brakes were incredible , nearly popped your eyes out the sockets , in the wet you had to be really careful as the whole show would lock up as quick as a flash!
It was not uncommon to upgrade the 88 with standard 109 brakes back then esp if you intended to do a lot of towing , not even with a servo tho. the CB type master cylinder worked OK , mind it was a right pita to bleed . HTSH