Brakes ... help needed please guys

[Jill450se]

Hi all

I need your collective experience here please as the front brakes and shocks are getting rather tired.

So far I've plumped for Gaz but some help would be useful as far as brake upgrades go.

Am I right in thinking that my 450 is Granada Mk 2 disk and hubs with Austin Princess calipers? Also have any of you had experience here

http://www.hispecbrake.co.uk/


Many thanks

[pistolar]

Greetings Jill,
You are correct in that your car will have princess calipers but the discs may be AP racing.

Option 1 - Overhaul your existing set up
Option 2 - Replace calipers with Hispec or Wilwood calipers
Option 3 - Fit 17" wheels and big Tuscan calipers and Discs

Cheers Pistolar

[SEvans]

If you have the Princess Calipers from original then it will have the AP Bells & Rotors. The use of the Granada disks with Princess Calipers was a later mod by some owners.

[leorest]

Without wishing to contravene the forum naming and shaming rules... Do your research on who to buy from.

[adam quantrill]

Cheap and simple upgrade is to get some fast road pads. I use Mintex 1144 and have a similar setup to yours.

I run quite sticky rubber but can easily lock up the fronts when I push them hard.

I'm sure other people have other recommendations for similar pads.

[Wedg1e]

SEvans said:

If you have the Princess Calipers from original then it will have the AP Bells & Rotors. The use of the Granada disks with Princess Calipers was a later mod by some owners.

Hmmm, I'm sure that the vented Granada discs were fitted with Ford calipers by the factory, well before the Princess calipers were ever used, Steve. The 390s had them some time before the 450SE was dreamed up.

[wooly350i]

ebc greenstuff for fast road, ebc redstuff for race purposes,give Richard Thorpe a call at RT racing cos thats where i bought my shocks and he advised me about brake upgrades.RT Racing;01142 817507

[grahamw48]

Here are the factory type discs and calipers as fitted to my 400SE ...1990




My 280 series 1 had been upgraded to the Granada vented, but with Ford calipers. If anyone is thinking of doing this, the early factory 14" Telecast (sp) alloys will not fit over them.

[Jill450se]

Blimey ... thanks for all the replies.

Now all I have to do is identify the parts of which you speak!!! How do I tell?

Not being the mechanical minded type and spanners don't sit well in my hands I guess I'm better off getting it fixed by a local specialist.

I've heard of RT but he is in the wild and woolly county and I'm darn sarf That's the reason I mentioned hispecbrake and after looking at their website I couldn't identify which disc pads/calipers I have on my car. I have had a quick chat with one of the guys there but it's all a bit technical and above my head.

So considering all that and I'm not far from London who would you guys suggest?

Once again thanks for all the input.

[Jill450se]

grahamw48 said:

Here are the factory type discs and calipers as fitted to my 400SE ...1990




My 280 series 1 had been upgraded to the Granada vented, but with Ford calipers. If anyone is thinking of doing this, the early factory 14" Telecast (sp) alloys will not fit over them.

Koni struts? If so I reckon that's on mine as per the original. As far as the caliper and disc is concerned I'm not sure but mine is five stud as shown in the pic.

[Wedg1e]

Jill450se said:

So considering all that and I'm not far from London who would you guys suggest?

The previous owner of my 390 used to frequent a place in Carshalton, not sure of the name without ransacking the loft to find the service history.
To say he threw money around is an understatement: absolutely EVERYTHING was done by someone else. There's a receipt from Demon Tweeks for an oil filler cap. You know, aluminium thing that screws into the rocker cover...? Open bonnet, unscrew old cap, screw in new cap, close bonnet.
Er... there's a receipt in the file for 'Installing oil filler cap: £15'.

I think the expression 'saw you coming' was coined for this bloke.

[barrington]

go for option 3 i have

[pistolar]

Where down sarf?

[Wedg1e]

pistolar said:

Where down sarf?

Anywhere south of York

[SEvans]

Wedg1e said:

SEvans said:

If you have the Princess Calipers from original then it will have the AP Bells & Rotors. The use of the Granada disks with Princess Calipers was a later mod by some owners.

Hmmm, I'm sure that the vented Granada discs were fitted with Ford calipers by the factory, well before the Princess calipers were ever used, Steve. The 390s had them some time before the 450SE was dreamed up.

I'm sure you are right. I don't think that's what I said.....

[mikeb]

You could simply refurbish you're current setup. Also fit some braided hoses, bleed the system properly, fit some tidy pads and disks.

Makes all the difference. And not big bucks either.

I wrote an article on the www.tvrwedgepages some time ago when my 450SE brakes actually caught fire one day!

MikeyB

[pistolar]

mikeb said:

You could simply refurbish you're current setup. Also fit some braided hoses, bleed the system properly, fit some tidy pads and disks.

Makes all the difference. And not big bucks either.

I wrote an article on the www.tvrwedgepages some time ago when my 450SE brakes actually caught fire one day!

MikeyB

Option 1

[mikeb]

Found it....

http://www.tvrwedgepages.co.uk/maint_brake_refurb....

Ahhh the good old days.

MikeyB

[mikeb]

And then of course.....

http://www.tvrwedgepages.co.uk/maint_brakes_upgrad...

MikeyB

[adam quantrill]

I forgot to mention - the completely free "upgrade" - use them hard!

If I haven't used one of the wedges for a few months the brakes are noticeably poorer. I have a habit of late and hard braking when going down from 60-30 etc (assuming no-one up my arse) and the brakes really do come to you after a few weeks.

When I bought the 400SX the brakes were atrocious, needed a lot of effort for not much stopping power, and no way could I lock them up. After a month or so the brakes were completely OK. It wasn't disk rust being cleaned off or anything like that, just occasional hard use.