Or a newbi & his classic go to the shop !! Man the things I learned in the last month have come at price. I took the 62 MK 2 in too get the steering box replaced with rack & pinion kit a few weeks ago & was looking at about $1800 but the list of everything else that I wasn't expecting is going to be around another 5K-6K pretty much all of it in safety & ride quality & the list is long. The breaks being a major part of it, pure luck that the front caliper failed at the shop & not on my 80mph-90mph drive there ! I'm getting Wilwood calipers in the front and the caliper 1/2 kit for the rears + new rotors it should be a nice upgrade. What I understand & surprised at is the brake system is not a dual resovoir so if you loose the front or rear you loose it all is that correct ? If so has anybody changed out the master cyl. to a more modern dual reservoir ? I know it's pretty rare to have a hose or caliper fail but I'd feel much safer with a modern type master cyl.
Thanks
Lou

 

Yes, this is a single reservoir system and if something goes wrong you lose all brake function. I can tell you this from experience. During the mechanical restoration of my 66 Mk 2 ten years ago, the master brake cylinder was fitted with a new seal kit. Now it was time to take it to the paint shop.
I drove it out of my mechanic's shop, down 2 blocks, made a left turn going downhill and suddenly, no brakes. Pedal at the floor, pumping produced nothing and a busy cross street loomed at the bottom of the hill. Low gear and the parking brake saved my life as I reached the bottom of the hill, turned a sharp right on to the sidewalk (happily, no pedestrians) and stopped just short of a telephone pole. When I went back to my mechanic (on foot!) and told him what just happened, his face went an ashen white.
A brand new master cylinder was installed along with a new servo unit. Still a one reservoir system but the brakes are otherwise fully to a modern standard in feel and effectiveness. I admit that I would feel better with a dual system but that would require extensive new piping at this point.
She

 

Hi Lou,
You can change to dual circuit by using a 420 pedal box and dual circuit master, it is also possible to use XJ6 parts too, I haven't done this, but others have so I can't help with the technical side of this.
When you say caliper 1/2 kit, is that the upgraded calipers that use the existing handbrake being the 1/2 ?

 

There were no dual-circuit brakes when your car was built. You can use parts of later salons to convert, or maybe fit cupro-nickel brake pipes and change all the flexibles.

 

tilleyjon,
I think XJS callipers would fit the rear.

 

Not exactly sure what I bought, they were described as 1/2 calipers over the phone from Terrys Jag outlet the invoice reads "REAR BRAKE CALIPER HALFS" they were $179.00 each needed 4 of them the rears cost more than the Wilwood fronts. From Terry's description I don't think there OEM or a re-built part I'm guessing after market ?
I'll find out tomorrow now I'm curious & I think I'm going to get a new servo & master cylinder while I'm at it.
Lou

 

Ah, if you need 4 then they will be new larger piston copies of the Dunlop original, they simply bolt in place of the existing pots like these below I would guess.

 

Good point, they are almost identical and parts are more available, including stainless replacement pistons etc. I will look into these, I think they are available new for a lot less than the upgrade for the MK2 pots too.