Front brake discs for the '97 4.2 are no longer available

[Ireland]

I rang TVR Power this morning to see if they got the front brake discs back into stock yet for a '97 4.2 and was told they haven't got them and basically don't know if they will be getting them again.

I know that a couple of people off here have had alternatives fitted and perhaps it's time to start an "options" list for these as I'm sure I'm not likely to be the last Cerb owner who'll be looking for them.

I actually tried ringing some of the suggested ones in the past but didn't have any joy with them.

They seemed to have very little interest in the low volume orders we'd be giving them.

I'm going to ring a local fabricator to see if he can come up with anything and will post my findings on here.

Anyone else got anything to add .....

[RUSSELLM]

The discs off my 96, were replaced by Horizon two years ago, I seem to remember there was a problem getting the old style ones then.

They fitted the "Red rose" drilled ones.

[amazon]

Hmmm, interesting. I had new front discs fitted earlier this year, but certainly within a year anyway, no supply problems flagged then. Things change though - I will perhaps speak to the garage and see if they have their own supplier?? Unlikely, probably just that I was lucky!

[SimonSparrow]

Mine were replaced a while ago too, they used Tuscan front discs (drilled) which aren't ideal for hard use such as track days etc. but are fine on the road. I'm pretty sure Trackcar has an option based on 4.5 bells and a more standard sized AP rotor.

[touching cloth]

I am about to go up to 4.5 brakes on mine (well likely a TuscanS one piece disc and 4.5 Calliper combo) - it's the latter that gets complicated you have to get the 4.5 callipers if you go above about 300mm disc size but reckon I might as well do it all now to make future changes easier - upside also being you get bigger discs to sit behind the wheels too... oh what price vanity

What size are the drilled Tuscan discs you have Simon, assume they are they off the 3.6 Tusc which are a bit smaller than the S/4litre if they work with the standard 4.2 callipers, or did you do a calliper change as well?

[amazon]

touching cloth said:

I am about to go up to 4.5 brakes on mine (well likely a TuscanS one piece disc and 4.5 Calliper combo) - it's the latter that gets complicated you have to get the 4.5 callipers if you go above about 300mm disc size but reckon I might as well do it all now to make future changes easier - upside also being you get bigger discs to sit behind the wheels too... oh what price vanity

What size are the drilled Tuscan discs you have Simon, assume they are they off the 3.6 Tusc which are a bit smaller than the S/4litre if they work with the standard 4.2 callipers, or did you do a calliper change as well?

Blimey TC - you aren't half sounding techie these days!

[SimonSparrow]

touching cloth said:

I am about to go up to 4.5 brakes on mine (well likely a TuscanS one piece disc and 4.5 Calliper combo) - it's the latter that gets complicated you have to get the 4.5 callipers if you go above about 300mm disc size but reckon I might as well do it all now to make future changes easier - upside also being you get bigger discs to sit behind the wheels too... oh what price vanity

What size are the drilled Tuscan discs you have Simon, assume they are they off the 3.6 Tusc which are a bit smaller than the S/4litre if they work with the standard 4.2 callipers, or did you do a calliper change as well?

Mine were just replaced at APM, no caliper changes or re-spacing required, so probably off the 3.6. I have the old ones kicking around, they could be used as a template by HiSpec or someone similar in order to create new ones. Given that the PCD is common to a lot of Japanese cars (I know, as I have aftermarket wheels on mine) you;d think that there would be something out there that would fit off the shelf.

[touching cloth]

amazon said:

Blimey TC - you aren't half sounding techie these days!

I bought a book

[THE BIG DOG]

I brought my brakes all round and pad with no problems.
Try speaking to TVR Carparts or David Gerald.

[amazon]

touching cloth said:

amazon said:

Blimey TC - you aren't half sounding techie these days!

I bought a book

I have that too, just not read it yet

[Ireland]

THE BIG DOG said:

I brought my brakes all round and pad with no problems.
Try speaking to TVR Carparts or David Gerald.

I did the "ring around" bit and all of them I rang told me that they have to get the discs from TVR Power and were not able to get any.

I'm going to be out of the country for a few days and won't be using the Cerb so I'm dropping one of my discs to a fabricator to take a pattern off them.

He was one of the fabrication crew on the JCB Dieselmax car last year so I'm confident he'll be well capable of doing the job alright.


Time to go out and get my hands dirty and take a disc off the car, methinks.

[shpub]

I have a prototype bell/rotor combination that fits and increases the disc size without the need to replace the callipers. Just working out pricing at the moment but I have a spare prototype set if you are desperate. PM me if you are interested.

Edited by shpub on Tuesday 16th October 10:07

[trackcar]

some of us have been doing these upgrades for years, there is no supply problem if you're willing to move away from OE

[SimonSparrow]

shpub said:

I have a prototype bell/rotor combination that fits and increases the disc size without the need to replace the callipers. Just working out pricing at the moment but I have a spare prototype set if you are desperate. PM me if you are interested.

Edited by shpub on Tuesday 16th October 10:07

Dammit Steve, will you stop producing shiny things that I must have?

Looks good, is that disc a little wider?

[shpub]

Yep. 31.8mm wide 297mm diameter rotor but uses the standard callipers. Slightly bigger than the original 291 but the kit comes with the spacers and mounting bolts for the standard callipers. It still fits under the original 16in wheel.

Edited by shpub on Tuesday 16th October 12:04

[Erich Stahler]

shpub said:

Yep. 31.8mm wide 297mm diameter rotor but uses the standard callipers. Slightly bigger than the original 291 but the kit comes with the spacers and mounting bolts for the standard callipers. It still fits under the original 16in wheel.

Edited by shpub on Tuesday 16th October 12:04

Now that sounds like just what i need, if they were grooved that would be even better!

[Ireland]

trackcar said:

some of us have been doing these upgrades for years, there is no supply problem if you're willing to move away from OE

I have no problem moving away form the OE ones.

In fact your offices were the first one I rang when I started looking for discs.

Pity I didn't get to speak to yourself that day.

[Erich Stahler]

shpub said:

Yep. 31.8mm wide 297mm diameter rotor but uses the standard callipers. Slightly bigger than the original 291 but the kit comes with the spacers and mounting bolts for the standard callipers. It still fits under the original 16in wheel.

Edited by shpub on Tuesday 16th October 12:04

Looking at that picture does the spacer fit over the existing wheel bolts, or are longer wheel bolts required? also doesn't the spacer mean the outer edge of the road wheel is now nearer the inner lip of the wheel arch?

[shpub]

The spacer moves the calliper out to adjust it for the larger diameter disc. You can't see it on the photo as it is on the other side of the disc. The aluminium bell just fits as normal. The road wheel position is not changed.

The discs can be grooved if needed.

Edited by shpub on Tuesday 16th October 20:01

[Erich Stahler]

shpub said:

The spacer moves the calliper out to adjust it for the larger diameter disc. You can't see it on the photo as it is on the other side of the disc. The aluminium bell just fits as normal. The road wheel position is not changed.

The discs can be grooved if needed.

Edited by shpub on Tuesday 16th October 20:01

Ah, so the aluminium disk in the picture is the bell? defo sounds interesting, let us know when you have a price.