Questions on Brake Calipers

[behold81]

2 questions

1st I have the HSV 4pot, 2 pot calipers on my car and wondered how much better the AP brakes are and if its worth the change still???

Also painting calipers.... anyone recomend a caliper paint that will not loose the HSV Embosed symbol when painted??

[SimonV8ster]

The diffence is apparantly like night and day.

But then you might not sleep at night as you'll have to spend 2K for them !!

[behold81]

Sorry need to correct that there 4pots all round... not 4/2

I could understand the AP over the standard bing night/day but i can't find any comparison on the hsv uprated vs AP.

[V8HSV]

First thing I did on mine was to upgrade to AP 6-pots, still the best mod of all

[MyM8V8]

I upgraded from HSV to AP and there is a difference in performance. Downside is purchase price and cost of ownership against what you have.

[monkfish1]

behold81 said:

2 questions

1st I have the HSV 4pot, 2 pot calipers on my car and wondered how much better the AP brakes are and if its worth the change still???

Also painting calipers.... anyone recomend a caliper paint that will not loose the HSV Embosed symbol when painted??

If you are painting the 4 pots, then just paint them and them clean off the face afterwards with some p1000 paper. This will polish up the bare alloy nicely and leave the logo..

[Bonnie and Clyde]

Dont HSV use AP's? I know VXR8 brakes are AP's.

[V8NHH]

Bonnie and Clyde said:

Dont HSV use AP's? I know VXR8 brakes are AP's.

Originally they were Harrop units on the old GTS and GTS-R's not bad but a huge difference to AP's when changed mine.

As for the VXR8 look like AP's to me. Think biggest con is bathurst upgrade for brakes extra piston for £2k same disc's decent fluid would see brakes fade less

[monkfish1]

The Harrop 4 pots are actually quite good, but they are not very resilient to the british climate, so are invariably suffering from binding pads which does nothing for feel or actual performance.

[behold81]

I take it the calipers clog up a bit then??? well i be cleaning them up before painting and would like to paint the HSV logo in white. Not sure on the caliper colour yet Red or black with white writing should look good.

[monkfish1]

behold81 said:

I take it the calipers clog up a bit then??? well i be cleaning them up before painting and would like to paint the HSV logo in white. Not sure on the caliper colour yet Red or black with white writing should look good.

Its the guide plates that go rusty which effectively clamp the pad in position. The guide plates are just plain steel and rust fast! The seals suffer too as do the bleed nipples. If you can get them apart its easy enough to sort out, but quite often they are corroded to a point that its just not worth it. Replacement parts are rather pricey, though we do some alternative seals for a lot less.

[Well_Fans]

sorry if its off topic but do monkfish carry "service" kits for VXR brakes - new seals etc. Got a spare set of calipers I want to refurb/paint and figured I'd be as well renewing all the perishables whiles I was at it. Be handy if the bits were available?

[monkfish1]

Well_Fans said:

sorry if its off topic but do monkfish carry "service" kits for VXR brakes - new seals etc. Got a spare set of calipers I want to refurb/paint and figured I'd be as well renewing all the perishables whiles I was at it. Be handy if the bits were available?

Cant say we do Bob. Never needed to use any to date.

[Well_Fans]

no worries cheers for the quick response, will just have to try hunt the interweb for them, just thought I'd ask seeing as you mentioned the kits for the older HSV stuff.

[Moanro5.7]

Well_Fans said:

sorry if its off topic but do monkfish carry "service" kits for VXR brakes - new seals etc. Got a spare set of calipers I want to refurb/paint and figured I'd be as well renewing all the perishables whiles I was at it. Be handy if the bits were available?

If u want Bob bring the calipers tomorrow and i can send them off to see if the 2 companies we use to refub them can do them for u. I might give them a call tomorrow and see what they say if u want?

[behold81]

As i have only just bought it and im not really wanting to spend 2k on new brakes right now. What would you recomend to me to do to make sure they stayworking for at least 2 years

Im getting some squeal at the moment which is either pads worn or just in need of some grease. Could be telling me i have some binding. but if they are coming off anyway what should i replace and check.

[monaro5.7]

dont know if this will help, But we use this company to recon calipers and racks and few weeks ago they did a TVR rack and have done some Chevy calipers for us.

www.amkauto.co.uk/default.asp

[behold81]

What sort of price?

[Moanro5.7]

behold81 said:

What sort of price?

The TVR rack was £425+vat and the calipers were about £120 a side +vat

They have branches all over the country give them a phone.

[TerryS]

I assume you mean the Premium brakes (think all UK cars got these)


I actually find mine pretty good, if noisy from high speed. I will probably change mine eventually, but only to keep them in top condition + have you seen the cost of replacement discs! BTW I believe the pattern of the front Calipers is the same as the Porsche 928 if you are looking at pads.