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1955 Austin A30

by Rob McCall

A30 Brakes, What Brakes?

I am the proud owner of a 1955 Austin A30 and I am currently in the process of restoring it. With some help from my dad we hope to bring the car back to its former glory! We purchased the car from Tatton Park Classic Car Show just short of a year ago

Before the work started

Anybody who has ever heard of the Austin A30/35 or “Baby Austin” will have undoubtedly have heard of the brakes, or as it was, the lack of them. It was then understandable not having the need to stop, but now in modern day traffic it is more than attractive to have a car that stops when you hit the brakes.

So with the help of my Dad, we set out to upgrade the brakes on my 1955 Austin A30. As the brakes on the back were a single cylinder, the kind you find on a trailer and the front were drum brakes, it is easy to see why this car had trouble stopping.

The first job was to get the car so we could work on it. So I got 4 axle stands and jacked it up. Once the wheels were off the size of the task was apparent as we had to use a slide hammer to get the hubs off, only to discover the bearings, seals and O-rings all also needed replacing. So with our list made and our old parts to compare them with off we went to get some parts.

We went to Autofactors first, they had the exact same brake cylinders that we needed. Unfortunately there was one problem, the locating pin was on the wrong side. So with some quick thinking we soon were on our way to our local MG specialist, as many parts between the MG Midget and the A30 were similar. After rigorous searching through old stock, our problems were solved. We returned home able to fit our rear brakes with no problems.

We then stood back to take a look at the work we had completed and then, oh, that long metal object sticking out from the floor, we had yet to fasten up the handbrake linkage. After half an hour of crafting a new handbrake linkage the rear brakes were complete. And they were as they are now, ready to receive the stainless steel coated master cylinder that I had had made.

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Editors note
I would like to highlight that Rob is only 14 years old which I hope you'll agree makes this article all the more interesting and impressive. Rob will be keeping us updated on his progress with further reports in the future.

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