1988 350i Front Brake Query
1988 350i Front Brake Query
Author
Discussion

keynsham

Original Poster:

377 posts

296 months

Wednesday 15th April
quotequote all
On inspection, I am pretty sure my 350i has Rover SD1 brake discs and calipers. It seems very difficult to get any info but they certainly look identical. And they look nothing like Granada Mk2 ones which seems to be what most sources suggest they should be!

Assuming this is correct, and if anyone knows, will 4 pot calipers and vented discs from the later SD1 fit? I have done a good internet trawl and the suggestion is that all SD1 brakes are interchangeable ...on the SD1 cars. I don't see why that would be any different on the TVR fitment? and Holden both do conversions for the SD1

Caddyshack

14,257 posts

231 months

Wednesday 15th April
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Martin Reyland “Reyland engineering” does all the tvr brake upgrades so I suspect he will know the answer and solution.

SEvans

1,183 posts

292 months

Wednesday 15th April
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Could they be princess 4 pot calipers? This was/is a common upgrade for the standard 2 pot calipers and it's what TVR used on the bigger engined Wedge cars. They can be used with a Granada vented disk (although there is usually some pad overhange) or TVR fitted larger AP bells and rota's.
Cheers Steve

Yatesy350i

1,029 posts

161 months

Thursday 16th April
quotequote all
keynsham said:
On inspection, I am pretty sure my 350i has Rover SD1 brake discs and calipers. It seems very difficult to get any info but they certainly look identical. And they look nothing like Granada Mk2 ones which seems to be what most sources suggest they should be!

Assuming this is correct, and if anyone knows, will 4 pot calipers and vented discs from the later SD1 fit? I have done a good internet trawl and the suggestion is that all SD1 brakes are interchangeable ...on the SD1 cars. I don't see why that would be any different on the TVR fitment? and Holden both do conversions for the SD1
Can you put a phot up of what you have.

When I got my 350i 14 years ago, it had standard front discs and callipers fitted. But in the boot where boxes of new bits for an upgrade. It turned out these where a pair of standard Granada? callipers and a pair of vented discs specific only to the Granada 2.8i estate of the same period. The standard callipers had been rebuilt with spacers to accommodate the wider vented discs.

The car never felt under braked.

My current 5.0L 400se has the AP 4 pot Prinsess calipers and vented discs. I can't say they feel any stronger than the setup I had on the 350I.

keynsham

Original Poster:

377 posts

296 months

Thursday 16th April
quotequote all
I think I may be getting this wrong!! My discs have a very large offset from the disc to the hub bolting just like the Rover SD1, and there are a lot of SD1 parts on my car! Pictures I have seen from new disc suppliers never show this, but I think they are only displaying a library photo of a generc disc. I found some real Granada Mk2 solid front discs for sale and the look similar to mine.

My discs look like this:



Granada Mk2:



And just for comparison, SD1:




So I am thinking Granada Mk2, which is sort of a shame as there are loads of cheap SD1 vented disc and 4 pot caliper options!!

Wedg1e

27,020 posts

290 months

Thursday 16th April
quotequote all
Yatesy350i said:
Can you put a phot up of what you have.

When I got my 350i 14 years ago, it had standard front discs and callipers fitted. But in the boot where boxes of new bits for an upgrade. It turned out these where a pair of standard Granada? callipers and a pair of vented discs specific only to the Granada 2.8i estate of the same period. The standard callipers had been rebuilt with spacers to accommodate the wider vented discs.

The car never felt under braked.

My current 5.0L 400se has the AP 4 pot Prinsess calipers and vented discs. I can't say they feel any stronger than the setup I had on the 350I.
My 390 had the vented disc Granada setup from new. I had brake fade a few times when driving 'enthusiastically'.
I fitted AP 4-pots with stainless pistons, braided flexis etc. but being brutally honest I couldn't say there was a marked improvement.
There's certainly no weigh-saving worth speaking of; the Ford and AP calipers weigh the same as near as makes no difference.

Caddyshack

14,257 posts

231 months

Thursday 16th April
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Maybe they just need some cooling. There are a lot of subtle solutions now for piping air from under the car.

TA14

14,332 posts

283 months

Friday 17th April
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keynsham said:
I think I may be getting this wrong!! My discs have a very large offset from the disc to the hub bolting just like the Rover SD1, and there are a lot of SD1 parts on my car! Pictures I have seen from new disc suppliers never show this, but I think they are only displaying a library photo of a generc disc. I found some real Granada Mk2 solid front discs for sale and the look similar to mine.

My discs look like this:



Granada Mk2:



And just for comparison, SD1:




So I am thinking Granada Mk2, which is sort of a shame as there are loads of cheap SD1 vented disc and 4 pot caliper options!!
The 350i has a PCD of 112mm whereas the SD1 is 5" (approx 127mm)

KKson

3,469 posts

150 months

Friday 17th April
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The 350i had standard Granada Mk2 None vented discs and M16 calipers. Your discs look the same as these. Many of the larger engined Wedges had the vented discs and larger 2 pot calipers off the 2.8i Granada. Some were upgraded with the Princess 4 pot calipers, however from my experience, the vented Granada set up with decent pads (mintex 1144s, or EBC Greenstuff) were more than adequate for the job.

SEvans

1,183 posts

292 months

Saturday 18th April
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At the very least it's probably worth upgrading to vented disks and calipers. It would help with the cooling and although I believe the piston size is the same in both the caliper for the non-vented disk and caliper for the vented disk, the pads sizes are very different. The vented calipers use a pad size of 98mm x 68mm where as the non vented caliper uses pads that are 78mm x 66mm... so you would definitely get much more pad surface area.

I upgraded from a standard setup like yours to the 4 pot Princess calipers with the AP bells and Rota's (so larger than the standard Granada vented disk). I'm not sure the brake 'feel' is any better but I do wonder how much of this is down the master cylinder and servo assistance. I'm not sure if the master cylinder can move enough fluid for the extra piston sizes and I'm not sure the servo provides enough assistance.





Edited by SEvans on Saturday 18th April 13:12

Adrian@

4,557 posts

307 months

Saturday 18th April
quotequote all
I bought the Princess calipers a while ago (160.00 for the set inc Mintex pads, all the clips and postage), to change them, but I need a set of vented discs to go with them...is there a part number, anyone. A@

SEvans

1,183 posts

292 months

Sunday 19th April
quotequote all
Adrian@ said:
I bought the Princess calipers a while ago (160.00 for the set inc Mintex pads, all the clips and postage), to change them, but I need a set of vented discs to go with them...is there a part number, anyone. A@
Adrian, not sure of a part number but I think the vented disk is for a MK2 Granada 2.8. Only issue using this disk with the princess caliper is the slight pad overhang as the disk isn't really large enough. The AP bells and rotas were specially made for TVR and are very hard to find. These are larger so I think you need at least a 15" wheel to accomodate them. One other consideration is the correct caliper spacer for the disk thickness. The AP disk is thicker than the Granada vented disk so you need wider spacers.

20 years ago when I was building my car I spent a considerable amount of time trying to find a disk that was slightly larger diameter than the Granada one and had no luck. I hit lucky at the time and managed to source a set of AP bells and rotas.
Cheers Steve

phillpot

17,483 posts

208 months

Monday 20th April
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Adrian@ said:
I bought the Princess calipers a while ago (160.00 for the set inc Mintex pads, all the clips and postage), to change them, but I need a set of vented discs to go with them...is there a part number, anyone. A@


Despite what it says on the box the part number is MTEC025

Edited by phillpot on Monday 20th April 07:25

pwd95

8,445 posts

263 months

Monday 20th April
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TA14

14,332 posts

283 months

Monday 20th April
quotequote all
pwd95 said:
HISK31 and 33 seem to read OK (depending on disc dia) but the offset in the photo looks shallow for both. Is it a generic photo?

SEvans

1,183 posts

292 months

Monday 20th April
quotequote all
TA14 said:
HISK31 and 33 seem to read OK (depending on disc dia) but the offset in the photo looks shallow for both. Is it a generic photo?
I think they are generic photo's as they are all 4 bolt/stud mounting and the Granada MK2 is 5 stud. I'm not sure, but did the MK3 Granada have 4 stud mounting? If so I guess nothing listed for MK3 Granada will fit.

No idea if it would fit but... this looks good value for money
https://www.burtonpower.com/hispec-4-pot-billet-4-...
The 6 pot upgrades look good too but they are double the price.
Cheers Steve

Adrian@

4,557 posts

307 months

Monday 20th April
quotequote all
phillpot said:


Despite what it says on the box the part number is MTEC025

Edited by phillpot on Monday 20th April 07:25
Mike, are they going to do the job? A@

phillpot

17,483 posts

208 months

Monday 20th April
quotequote all
Adrian@ said:
Mike, are they going to do the job? A@
A friend of mine in Holland has bought them for his wedge, he has parts sent to me, then collects when visiting UK to avoid high postage costs and reduce the risk of parcels going astray.
He is presumably confident they will fit his wedge!

Do you want me to check any measurements while they're here?

Adrian@

4,557 posts

307 months

Tuesday 21st April
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Hi Mike, Ah, I see, I am just gathering parts (I don't yet have the car apart)...but you are saying I should ask Wim. A@

phillpot

17,483 posts

208 months

Tuesday 21st April
quotequote all
Adrian@ said:
Hi Mike, Ah, I see, I am just gathering parts (I don't yet have the car apart)...but you are saying I should ask Wim. A@
i have messaged you on FB Messenger smile