Discussion
it makes a noticeable difference, for a start you can actually lock the front brakes up! .. which I couldn't do before, it fills the wheel much better than the puny std items (and let's face it most brake upgrades are done for cosmetic reasons anyway .. mine partly was .. I hated how small the std discs looked). The parts came from my old XR4i via my old 3000M so they've been around a bit teehee. XR4is are pretty rare in breakers these days, but you can go for the granada single piston sliding caliper which is identical except for a different shaped spring clip on the outside, plus if you buy XR4i discs rather than the granada type TVR use then you don't need the spacer behind the caliper to make it fit. easy peasy.
rustoni said:
How much of a difference did this make and did you buy the parts striaght from ford ? I would like to change my brakes as they are quite spongy.
If your brakes are spongy then the first step would be to change the fluid ensuring that all the seals and hoses are sound before looking at anything else.
On a similar topic - what's brake fade? I have an old carlton I run around in at the moment and I braked hard down from, erm, 'fast' for a roundabout and the pedal sank to the floor at the last minute. What's happening there then? New discs, pads and fluids (edited to add: 3 moths old, well bedded in) and I've not got any leaks. 10 minutes later and all is back to normal and I can stand the car on it's nose again. Did my fluid boil allowing the resulting vapour to compress or did my pads just get too hot? It's been absolutely fine since then but then I've been braking a little bit earlier since then
Regards,
Mark
>> Edited by dern on Thursday 19th June 09:16
Brake fade - braking at a constant rate, but finding that you have to continually increase the pressure you are applying to maintain the rate. Usually the fade is relative to the rate at which the glaze builds up on the pad, or the rate at which the pad compound is worn away.
Yours symptom suggests boiling, so I think you are right on that. However the fluid is now probably degraded as a result. The only other cause would be seal failure, but you've already ruled that out.
On the EBC question, there is a noticable difference in braking once bedded in and I have found no brake fade at all with this combo, but I don't trackday, so they are not really tested to the max. EBC and others I think do replacement drums and shoes too, but I think the price of the drums is a bit much for the gains, just fit the EBC shoes. A disc conversion is the best route to improve the rear, but again pricey. It all depends on what you are going to do with the car, trackdays or just road use?
Oh, I use the green pads, by the way.
Andy
Yours symptom suggests boiling, so I think you are right on that. However the fluid is now probably degraded as a result. The only other cause would be seal failure, but you've already ruled that out.
On the EBC question, there is a noticable difference in braking once bedded in and I have found no brake fade at all with this combo, but I don't trackday, so they are not really tested to the max. EBC and others I think do replacement drums and shoes too, but I think the price of the drums is a bit much for the gains, just fit the EBC shoes. A disc conversion is the best route to improve the rear, but again pricey. It all depends on what you are going to do with the car, trackdays or just road use?
Oh, I use the green pads, by the way.
Andy
andyf007 said:The brakes do feel as good as ever now but I'll change the fluid out as a precaution. I'll also recheck the seals while I'm doing it.
Yours symptom suggests boiling, so I think you are right on that. However the fluid is now probably degraded as a result. The only other cause would be seal failure, but you've already ruled that out.
Thanks,
Mark
I think I`ll start by getting some Green stuff pads and shoes and change the brake fluid. If this doesnt improve things enough then I`ll see about fitting the larger discs up front. Has anyone had the rear disc conversion done and at what price? How much of an improvement did this conversion give?
Roy.
Roy.
dern said:
[quote=rustoni]How much of a difference did this make and did you buy the parts striaght from ford ? I would like to change my brakes as they are quite spongy.
If your brakes are spongy then the first step would be to change the fluid ensuring that all the seals and hoses are sound before looking at anything else.
- The car has only done 200 miles since it came back from it's service and the fluids etc where changed then so i think that can be ruled out.
Still Joolspeeds upgrade route sounds good and above all simple. Another one to add to the winter list of things to do..
How much are you charging for the upgrade then joospeed??
My suspension modifications are working extremely well, Cadwell was a revalation! I even harased Pat Smith in the Tamin Racer (Must of had a problem
) also had a bit of a battle with a carrera 2 the drver could not believe the S was standard.
What a wonderful car!!!
My suspension modifications are working extremely well, Cadwell was a revalation! I even harased Pat Smith in the Tamin Racer (Must of had a problem
) also had a bit of a battle with a carrera 2 the drver could not believe the S was standard. What a wonderful car!!!
rustoni said:
The car has only done 200 miles since it came back from it's service and the fluids etc where changed then so i think that can be ruled out.
Not in my opinion. Pads/discs won't make brakes feel spongy regardless of how worn or cr*p they are. If the brakes feel spongy then either the fluid is being compressed possibly because it has been contaminated with water or air perhaps through a worn seal somewhere in the system or maybe the seals are allowing expansion or possibly the hoses are so worn they are expanding under pressure or maybe a caliper has siezed on it's sliding pins so you are only pressing against one side of the disc pushing it sideways a bit. If it were my car I'd assume I had a fault that needed rectifying before I performed any kind of upgrade or indeed drove it very far just in case a seal went on me.
Regards,
Mark
>> Edited by dern on Thursday 19th June 15:22
Gassing Station | S Series | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff