A great day – braided brake lines fitted
Discussion
The slippery slope that is modifying my S1 Elise has this weekend focused on my brakes. The car is still running the original MMC discs and pads and these are in excellent condition and work well, so I decided that these would stay in place for the time being. The feel of the brakes did seem a little sloppy and soft but as I have been driving the car for over a year I had just taken this to be normal. Anyway I decided to get some stainless steel braided lines just to complement the MMC set-up and to give the brakes the once over before more engine work is done.
I bought the Goodridge stainless steel lines from Sinclaire’s in London. The guy there, David, was really helpful and he said that the kit would arrive next day. Total cost for the kit including VAT & delivery was £74.56. The goods arrived before 10AM next day, well done Sinclaire’s. The lines themselves are very well manufactured; all of them are stainless steel braided and also have a clear PVC over sheath to stop dirt getting engrained in the braided steel.
Fitting the lines and bleeding/re-filling the brake fluid was not a job I fancied doing so a trip to my local Lotus specialist, Jude Performance Services was arranged. I arrived at 9.15AM and after a chat Dan & Ian began getting the car up on axel stands to begin the work. The callipers were removed and the old lines disconnected. These were in a bit of a mess to be honest, the spiral armour and the end connections were really rusty. The new lines were all connected up and after a coffee we began the process of bleeding the system. At this point we discovered that the brake fluid that was left in the car was probably still the original from the factory, it looked more like diesel engine oil that had covered 100k miles! The system was flushed through and after working round the car we managed to remove all of the air.
After putting the car back together I went for a road test and the difference is unreal. The brakes are much more positive and need so little effort to slow the car down. The pedal is much firmer than before and inspires a lot more confidence in my braking. I think that just the fluid change alone would have made things much better as it was the original fluid and that means it was 7 years old. The stainless steel lines have also have a dramatic effect on the overall feel through the pedal so both together have been worthwhile.
A big thank you to Dan & Ian at Jude Performance Services, another excellent job. Anyone requiring work on their Lotus at very competitive prices should give these guys a call. You can contact them at www.judeperformance.co.uk
Wako
I bought the Goodridge stainless steel lines from Sinclaire’s in London. The guy there, David, was really helpful and he said that the kit would arrive next day. Total cost for the kit including VAT & delivery was £74.56. The goods arrived before 10AM next day, well done Sinclaire’s. The lines themselves are very well manufactured; all of them are stainless steel braided and also have a clear PVC over sheath to stop dirt getting engrained in the braided steel.
Fitting the lines and bleeding/re-filling the brake fluid was not a job I fancied doing so a trip to my local Lotus specialist, Jude Performance Services was arranged. I arrived at 9.15AM and after a chat Dan & Ian began getting the car up on axel stands to begin the work. The callipers were removed and the old lines disconnected. These were in a bit of a mess to be honest, the spiral armour and the end connections were really rusty. The new lines were all connected up and after a coffee we began the process of bleeding the system. At this point we discovered that the brake fluid that was left in the car was probably still the original from the factory, it looked more like diesel engine oil that had covered 100k miles! The system was flushed through and after working round the car we managed to remove all of the air.
After putting the car back together I went for a road test and the difference is unreal. The brakes are much more positive and need so little effort to slow the car down. The pedal is much firmer than before and inspires a lot more confidence in my braking. I think that just the fluid change alone would have made things much better as it was the original fluid and that means it was 7 years old. The stainless steel lines have also have a dramatic effect on the overall feel through the pedal so both together have been worthwhile.
A big thank you to Dan & Ian at Jude Performance Services, another excellent job. Anyone requiring work on their Lotus at very competitive prices should give these guys a call. You can contact them at www.judeperformance.co.uk
Wako
Well done, braided hoses tranform the brake feel in these little sports cars. Well worth having done and IMHO everyone should try this before pad and disk 'upgrades'. Had my Series 1 111s done and the brakes were the bogs dangles. Getting my S2 111s done in a week or two.
I don't know if you've had your Elise from new, but the brake fluid is usually changed every other service/year by the main agent's i've used. So i hope it wasn'nt the original stuff!!!!
Hope you enjoy your motors new found youth.
I don't know if you've had your Elise from new, but the brake fluid is usually changed every other service/year by the main agent's i've used. So i hope it wasn'nt the original stuff!!!!
Hope you enjoy your motors new found youth.
Hi Dave
yeah I'm well pleased with the results, top kit from Goodridge and even more pleased with the guys at Jude Performance Services who fitted the kit, top banana as usual
I am pretty much 100% that this fluid was original for a few reasons, first because the brakes have never been touched from the car leaving the factory, still has the original MMC discs and pads. Next none of the invoices from the lotus dealer show any info on brake fluid change and finally the colour of the stuff, it was like tar!
yeah I'm well pleased with the results, top kit from Goodridge and even more pleased with the guys at Jude Performance Services who fitted the kit, top banana as usual
I am pretty much 100% that this fluid was original for a few reasons, first because the brakes have never been touched from the car leaving the factory, still has the original MMC discs and pads. Next none of the invoices from the lotus dealer show any info on brake fluid change and finally the colour of the stuff, it was like tar!
paulwakinshaw said:
Hi Dave
yeah I'm well pleased with the results, top kit from Goodridge and even more pleased with the guys at Jude Performance Services who fitted the kit, top banana as usual
I am pretty much 100% that this fluid was original for a few reasons, first because the brakes have never been touched from the car leaving the factory, still has the original MMC discs and pads. Next none of the invoices from the lotus dealer show any info on brake fluid change and finally the colour of the stuff, it was like tar!
Blimmey! Well, at least it's sorted now, Enjoy!
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