Inlet manifold,no brake servo take off

[Moneypit]

Recently obtained an exhaust and inlet manifold for a 1275 engine which hasn't got the threaded hole for the servo banjo.
Firstly are these easy enough to drill and tap (cast iron all in one manifold).I haven't got a tap to fit.Any idea of thread size?
Secondly has any body run with the servo vacuum pipe not attached and do you still have reasonable brakes?
I know some on here have done away with the servo conpletely but the servo will still be in place for the mo as I need to get on the road asap.
The car's got metro 4 pot callipers with vented discs.
Cheers
Dave

[Hans Efde]

Yes, I removed the servo. If the servo is not malfunctioning, you should be able to brake without it. Braking should feel harder, but must not be spongy. In my case the brakes felt spongy, I could push the pedal to the floor without too much response. In the end I found out that it was the servo causing the problem and I removed it. A Midas is so light you could do without the servo. Even earlier Metro's were sold without a servo. Braking is harder, but it has much more feel.

[Jon]

This probably isn't a problem for you as I don't think you've had your car on the road yet, but if you fill in a detailed vehicle description form for your car's insurers and you tell them it’s got a servo, and then you take it off, you'll have to tell them or risk coming seriously unstuck if you have to make a claim. When I had a problem with my servo I ran the car briefly without it, and I would have been happy to continue without it, but in the long run it was easier to fit a new servo than to explain to the insurers why a car previously fitted with a servo no longer needed one. The sort of person you usually get on the phone wouldn’t know a servo from a saveloy. After both of the accidents I've had in my cars, the insurance assessor went over the braking systems very thoroughly, and found nothing wanting. If a servo had gone missing I think he'd have had something to say about it.

[Moneypit]

Yes, I removed the servo. If the servo is not malfunctioning, you should be able to brake without it. Braking should feel harder, but must not be spongy. In my case the brakes felt spongy, I could push the pedal to the floor without too much response. In the end I found out that it was the servo causing the problem and I removed it. A Midas is so light you could do without the servo. Even earlier Metro's were sold without a servo. Braking is harder, but it has much more feel.

For the moment though I would be leaving the servo in place and just running without it attached to the manifold. Any 'sloppiness' in the servo would still be present I suppose but to be honest I can get a reasonable pedal with the car just sat on the drive.I'm quite happy to use the servo but am reluctant to drill the manifold if I don't really need to.In my limited experience cast iron can be funny stuff and with years of heating and cooling I was wondering if I might get an unpleasant surprise when drilling and tapping it?

[Rich]

Would an MG Metro manifold system be more suitable for you?

[Moneypit]

This probably isn't a problem for you as I don't think you've had your car on the road yet, but if you fill in a detailed vehicle description form for your car's insurers and you tell them it’s got a servo, and then you take it off, you'll have to tell them or risk coming seriously unstuck if you have to make a claim. When I had a problem with my servo I ran the car briefly without it, and I would have been happy to continue without it, but in the long run it was easier to fit a new servo than to explain to the insurers why a car previously fitted with a servo no longer needed one. The sort of person you usually get on the phone wouldn’t know a servo from a saveloy. After both of the accidents I've had in my cars, the insurance assessor went over the braking systems very thoroughly, and found nothing wanting. If a servo had gone missing I think he'd have had something to say about it.

Good point and not to be ignored!
The car is already insured and I have driven it on the road all be it briefly.I wasn't asked for a detailed description but I'm sure if anything happened whilst the servo pipe was missing it would be frowned upon!

[Moneypit]

Would an MG Metro manifold system be more suitable for you?

This one is exactly as the broken one I took off ,just missing the take off for the servo.I think it fits the same as the MG system though except this is combined exhaust/inlet manifold whereas the MG's are separate(no water jacket either).Wolfie kindly offered me an MG inlet last week but this one came along.It's probably easy enough to drill and tap just be a shame to ruin it.

[Rich]

Would an MG Metro manifold system be more suitable for you?

This one is exactly as the broken one I took off ,just missing the take off for the servo.I think it fits the same as the MG system though except this is combined exhaust/inlet manifold whereas the MG's are separate(no water jacket either).Wolfie kindly offered me an MG inlet last week but this one came along.It's probably easy enough to drill and tap just be a shame to ruin it.

I've drilled and tapped cast iron without problems in the past, from memory the thread you need is 5/8th UNF

[Moneypit]

Would an MG Metro manifold system be more suitable for you?

This one is exactly as the broken one I took off ,just missing the take off for the servo.I think it fits the same as the MG system though except this is combined exhaust/inlet manifold whereas the MG's are separate(no water jacket either).Wolfie kindly offered me an MG inlet last week but this one came along.It's probably easy enough to drill and tap just be a shame to ruin it.

I've drilled and tapped cast iron without problems in the past, from memory the thread you need is 5/8th UNF

Cheers Rich.I'll have ago.