Smoking!

[stamford]

Well that was a short Bank Holiday trip in the zed, funny smell coming from the car and some juddering. Then under braking it was squirming a bit so pulled over into a cul-de-sac and from the offside wheel arch bellowing smoke! Seized brake caliper, nearly on fire! Strange as Goodwood was hard on the brakes but survived okay and did the round trip to Longbridge, you never know what's around the corner! So for the second time in 9 years it was recovered back home by the AA (1st was the clutch slave).

SO does anyone have any quality ideas on brake upgrades, nothing bodgy please as looking for an upgrade after Goodwood where I found the limits of the standard set-up even with Mintex, DOT 5.1 and stainless hoses.

[Skillen]

I'm going for the brembo conversion.
Maybe something to look into or gbe do a wilwood conversion do they not?
And I'm sure ATR/ITR fronts would go on somehow.

[talkingcars]

Are you looking for a caliper upgrade or just a stronger pad/disc combo?

[Ritchy]

Mick try pull the caliper off and pump the piston to nearly out, had ome last week that was just dirty and that was why it wouldn't go back on, same thing brakes smoking, 2 mins with some wd40 and a brush and all was good

[stamford]

I need to look at going 4 pot now that I have hit the wall with the OE set-up, I do not think a change of material will give me that extra confidence, however I will try it first before writing them off.

Yes I will strip and clean them regardless as it was fine on the round trip to PoL so may have picked something up.

[petet16]

I would say Brembos, that's based on cost, performance, and durability, other kits are available from GBE, and Reyland.

The Brembo kit is not a 100% direct swap, you may need wheel spacers and extended studs if your wheels won't clear the calipers, when I fitted mine I wanted to keep the mk2 11 spokes, the problem is they have no clearance without spacers, life would have been a lot simpler if I'd used wheels with more clearance, something like OZ Ultralegs, or Superlegs would have probably fitted without spacers and longer studs.

[Jay-ZS+]

Happened to me once on a trip from Bristol to Salisbury. By Bath the front pads were smoking pretty bad, managed to drive the remaining 40 odd miles on purely engine braking and the handbrake! lol

I'd recommend the brembo setup although believe you may have clearance issues with the mk1 wheels.

[daytona365]

Just as it was back on the road lol.....It was trying to keep up with Pete on theM40 that did it.......................................

[stamford]

I have Pro Race 1.2s so should have enough clearance I would have thought?

[petet16]

The 1.2's look very promising for clearance.

[Jay-ZS+]

Ahh will be fine then, I had the 1.2's you'll prob have 5-6mm clearance.

[Maxfly]

If your going down that route, would the below be of use for a fair fee? :)

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/Maxfly/null-9.jpg (http://s15.photobucket.com/user/Maxfly/media/null-9.jpg.html)

[p_b82]

That looks very similar to the set that I had made up for the ZS.

not sure if there is any-one closer to you with a set fitted, but if you wanted to see/feel the brembodge in action, then I am sure we could arrange something - just have to be a bit gentle getting up to speed atm is all :'(

[stamford]

If your going down that route, would the below be of use for a fair fee? :)

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a371/Maxfly/null-9.jpg (http://s15.photobucket.com/user/Maxfly/media/null-9.jpg.html)


Guessing these are the brackets for the Brembo's then?

Anyone know what discs are used?

[Maxfly]

Pete should be able to advise on discs Mick, aye these are brackets with built in washers for spacing purposes. Kev got them machined up for his before he sold it. Others will be able to tell you what they are good for as you don't 'have' to have them iirc?!?

[Maxfly]

That looks very similar to the set that I had made up for the ZS.

not sure if there is any-one closer to you with a set fitted, but if you wanted to see/feel the brembodge in action, then I am sure we could arrange something - just have to be a bit gentle getting up to speed atm is all :'(

maybe...did you sell them to KevG on here?? :)

[MG ZS STE]

I'm sure there's a caliper that has larger pads that's a direct replacement. I think its a 600 caliper. Or you could get the Honda ATR calipers and source your own 300mm diameter with a 4 stud 100 PCD.

[petet16]

The discs are redrilled Focus RS iirc, Rob off RT can supply them, he's always been a bit cagey about the origins of the discs

[carmadbaker]

330mm AP's on front (reylands)
330mm wilwoods on back (rally design)
I plan on big red stopping as well as she goes :)

[Jay-ZS+]

Know where they are machined, as Pete said redrilled MK5 RS discs.

[Skillen]

Will it not mess with brake biasing having all that stopping power on the back?

If not I want some too! Purely for looks!

[MG ZS STE]

Ended now but something like this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-Accord-type-r-300-mm-twin-pot-calipers-h22a7-prelude-integra-civic-vti-/331170392206?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4d1b4b288e&nma=true&si=PBE8hmnmCFmhjGFkSQdy0dXpUCg%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[petet16]

They went cheaply, the problem is they are as rare as rocking horse s**t.

[petet16]

Will it not mess with brake biasing having all that stopping power on the back?

If not I want some too! Purely for looks!

Only 30% of braking effort from the rear brakes :)

[Skillen]

Where can I get these massive brakes haha!

I was actually researching twin pots for the rear to stop the annoying binding calliper problem but couldn't find a replacement.

[petet16]

Yeah, the binding rear calipers are a legacy of the Honda derived calipers having the handbrake function as part of the caliper, at least the Honda boys have the same problem with them as we do.

[carmadbaker]

I'll dig the email and numbers out later for you buddy, nathan with the supercharged zed has 330 wilwoods on the back, where i got the details from. They are basically the kit from an integra!

The look is a big-ish factor for me too, looks odd with 330mm on front and standard zs on the back

[p_b82]

maybe...did you sell them to KevG on here?? :)

Nope - mine are fitted to the ZS now.

just had to get new brackets made up as the ones I got in the kit were past their best in rally_matt's eyes.

I have a very thin spacer on the hub side I recall matt saying to help with clearance, but nothing else was changed stud wise, and they happily fit under the ultralegguras.

[p_b82]

I'll dig the email and numbers out later for you buddy, nathan with the supercharged zed has 330 wilwoods on the back, where i got the details from. They are basically the kit from an integra!

The look is a big-ish factor for me too, looks odd with 330mm on front and standard zs on the back

I have to say it is even worse with the smaller 'standard' TD disk on the back.

It is exceptionally obvious that almost all the stopping is done by the front, and because the front heavy bias it does make the squirming under exceptionally heavy breaking a little more obvious as a result.

on the plus side you dont need to really weigh the anchor quite as often when you have stopping like this, as mine are certainly good enough to catch a dozy following driver out and result in a nasty shunt - so I am a lot more careful now about hard stops than i was before lol

I have spoken with Matt a number of times about balancing the rear, but he like most of us, is not aware of anything that has a 'better' time with the handbrake side of things or we can get our hands on without spending silly money.... something I have been keeping my eye on but not really looking for as a result.

[Dan1971]

Fairly sure that the guy with the BRG Mk1 saloon that he was using on the track - OllieZS maybe ??? - had a Willwood set up done for his one and he rated it.

Edit....***

http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=15056

Post 155.

[petet16]

Link for the gbe kit http://www.gb-ent.com/cars/index.php/drivetrain-and-chassis/brakes/rover-mg/gbe-4-pot-front-brake-kit-rover-400-mk2-zs-45.html

[peterzs]

Ouch!

[stamford]

It's probably the only one tbh. I like that.

[mattyprice4004]

If you're after a quick-fix for now, I'm sure you could pop the piston out, clean it up and carry on using it for now - have done this many times over the years. It's usually corrosion on the piston and the outer rim of the caliper itself - with a quick clean you should be back on the road again.