Skipton01
Admin Team
Well, as many of you may know, I'm planning what could be the final mod for Tank, a brake upgrade to 312mm rotors, using effectively a set of TT front brakes.
The project has been prompted by the massive amount of brake fade I (and Grim Reaper, who nearly lived up to his name!) experienced at last years Castle Combe social.
This thread will be updated as things progress and eventually are finished and as I've not made great inroads until now, that's why I've not posted anything.
Until now!
Pending the purchase of a new pair of hubs/bearings and housings (knuckles), all the other parts are now in place.
The calipers were secured in early December last year:
As you can see, they needed some TLC and so a complete strip and rebuild went ahead over the Xmas period, which showed that the pistons were shot and the other mild steel fittings were past their best too.
So, I sourced some stainless bleed nipples and braided brake lines with stainless fittings (Hel if you're interested, not Goodridge) and whist stripped, I had the calipers and carriers blasted and powder coated.
Finding new pistons was impossible and I asked a workmate if he could turn me a pair, as he was an experienced metal worker. He couldn't get stainless bar in suffucuently large diameter, but used his links at Ferranti to secure some weapons-grade titanium!
However, it wasn't all plain sailing and he just couldn't turn the stuff with his tool steel bits. So, I asked our very own A2sumo for advice, as I knew he worked with metal in the aerospace industry. He did one better than this and actually fabricated a new pair of pistons, again from titanium and to say they are a work of art is an understatement:
As you can see, the old pistons were past their sell by date, with massive corrosion around the exposed top section and even starting to go at the base.
The new ones will not suffer this, as titanium is far more inert and less prone to rotting than steel, even stainless. It also has a lower expansion coefficient, so will be more stable at high temperatures. It is a lot lighter than steel and also about twice as hard, so the perfect material for pistons.
Here you can see one installed in the newly coated and refurbished caliper, together with the cleaned rubber.
And finally for now, a photo of the assembled, refurbed calipers, carriers and pistons:
That's all for now. The next step is to get the housings and hubs/bearings bought and then the swap over can commence.
As I will have a pair of nearly new discs and pads, calipers and housings and bearings all in good condition after the operation, if anyone wants them, please PM for prices.
Cheers,
Mike
The project has been prompted by the massive amount of brake fade I (and Grim Reaper, who nearly lived up to his name!) experienced at last years Castle Combe social.
This thread will be updated as things progress and eventually are finished and as I've not made great inroads until now, that's why I've not posted anything.
Until now!
Pending the purchase of a new pair of hubs/bearings and housings (knuckles), all the other parts are now in place.
The calipers were secured in early December last year:
As you can see, they needed some TLC and so a complete strip and rebuild went ahead over the Xmas period, which showed that the pistons were shot and the other mild steel fittings were past their best too.
So, I sourced some stainless bleed nipples and braided brake lines with stainless fittings (Hel if you're interested, not Goodridge) and whist stripped, I had the calipers and carriers blasted and powder coated.
Finding new pistons was impossible and I asked a workmate if he could turn me a pair, as he was an experienced metal worker. He couldn't get stainless bar in suffucuently large diameter, but used his links at Ferranti to secure some weapons-grade titanium!
However, it wasn't all plain sailing and he just couldn't turn the stuff with his tool steel bits. So, I asked our very own A2sumo for advice, as I knew he worked with metal in the aerospace industry. He did one better than this and actually fabricated a new pair of pistons, again from titanium and to say they are a work of art is an understatement:
As you can see, the old pistons were past their sell by date, with massive corrosion around the exposed top section and even starting to go at the base.
The new ones will not suffer this, as titanium is far more inert and less prone to rotting than steel, even stainless. It also has a lower expansion coefficient, so will be more stable at high temperatures. It is a lot lighter than steel and also about twice as hard, so the perfect material for pistons.
Here you can see one installed in the newly coated and refurbished caliper, together with the cleaned rubber.
And finally for now, a photo of the assembled, refurbed calipers, carriers and pistons:
That's all for now. The next step is to get the housings and hubs/bearings bought and then the swap over can commence.
As I will have a pair of nearly new discs and pads, calipers and housings and bearings all in good condition after the operation, if anyone wants them, please PM for prices.
Cheers,
Mike
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