Lotus Elan Central

ok std brakes are po.

brake upgrade first

addict wrote:ok std brakes are po.

brake upgrade first

Hope you've got loads of money ?.............cause it won't end there

Yeah, and you can't have a project thread without pics

Addict,

Well done on your purchase

main upgrades are:

Brakes (as u know)
ESM Chip
exhaust

i have started my doing homework. loks like sd rear discs with green / red pads at the rear with biggest posible discs upfront and brembos ?



feel free to suggest any solutions

Addict,
regarding front brake upgrades:

I believe Marie (LGM) is the only person on this site with a Brembo upgrade. She had to make custom brackets for them to fit. Check out her thread in Projects section.

If you go for Wilwoods, you will have the same problem; customised brackets are made by Brian (F1 Lotus) but I am not sure if/when he is doing another run. Drop him a PM.

IIRC the only manufacturers who do a brake kit for the Elan, which includes the brackets, is AP Racing (approx £1200) and Hi-spec (approx £600)

You will need bigger wheels for the brembo's if I recall.

AP's might have been £1200 in the 90's, but today's prices are £1600 and that's with 5% discount and free s/s hoses and 4 bottles of brake fliud from BG developments.

Still need to do my own thread about these as they were not straight forward either.

Gazza

ok have inspected the rear brakes today and i think i can save the discs i will whip em off get them skimed and maybe drilled then its red pads and rear done.

front however remains problematic.
not sure on the correct disc to use as after a good thumb throu a brace disc and pad book at the local auto factors the calibra turbo option is out however the smaller calibra disc at 280mm is a near match all baring the fact its 5stud and not 4 with a 70mm center hole not the 60mm the astra gsi has.#

astra gsi disc is
A 256mm
B60mm
C 41.0mm
D24mm
4 stud

basic calibra is
A 284mm
B70mm
C41mm
D 24mm

so a 5mm spacer and re drilling the stud holes may work ?

calibra turbo is
A288mm
B70mm
C43mm
D25mm
a bit to far out for comfort

fiat coupe 96>

A284mm or 304mm
B63mm ish
C45
D28


but i have found some 4pot brembos from a masarti FOC however they need full rebuilds ...

so a 5mm spacer and re drilling the stud holes may work ?

Gazza wrote:You will need bigger wheels for the brembo's if I recall.

AP's might have been £1200 in the 90's, but today's prices are £1600 and that's with 5% discount and free s/s hoses and 4 bottles of brake fliud from BG developments.

Still need to do my own thread about these as they were not straight forward either.

Gazza

not 100% sure thats correct afrer all pork boxters have brembos under 16in wheels.
its been done manytimes on vw bugs in the vw scene uk and germany.
brackets no problem i can get them custom made in trafford park.

fiat coupe 96>

A284mm or 304mm
B63mm ish
C45
D28

IMHO i wouldn`t drill the rear disk, infact i wouldn`t even fit drilled to the fronts.

If your after stock disc for the fronts have a look in the cross ref section there cheap from local motor factors, some of the members swear my Pagid blue pads but there will over £100 for a set

I may have my front wilwood kit up for sale in feb/march

Monty wrote:
If your after stock disc for the fronts have a look in the cross ref section there cheap from local motor factors

'93 Astra GSi, as fitted to mine without any problem.

Monty wrote:some of the members swear my Pagid blue pads but there will over £100 for a set

There are more alternatives available in the US. If you want to upgrade your rear pads, then the UK choice is limited to Greenstuff or maybe some very hard research.
The choice of pads available in the US is much better. More details in the parts cross-reference section.

the reason for the larger wheels on my upgrade is the fact that I also have the biggest discs on the forum. Rotors are just over 13" and the calipers are also way oversized being from a Mitsu Evo 8. To date none of the other cars I have driven with various upgrades quite get there though many are close. 1 major advantage, I don't have to rebuild my calipers nearly as often as the Brembos I chose come with dust seals. I could have used different calipers but the setup I have worked best for my needs.

i bought the biggest fiat coup discs today along with some vectra calipers.
euro carparts £65

after an hour standing around at the breakers yard i have 1x drivers side caliper and 1x pas side strut comp (JUST DONT ASK NUMSKULLS JUST DOES NOT COVER IT) for £80 ,,,, with hind sight i should of just got the 1.


ok the discs fit , the calapars fit it all fits under the standard wheel.
but i had tryed to buy the calapers for a 309mm vecra disc but they gave me the wrong ones.(see prev comment )
and to be honest the clearences on the caliper/wheel are just right. nice and tight .
the pad however is to far into the disc and there is surplus disc sticking out . so im going to get the smaller coupe discs tue and give them a go.
the disc may well be a little to thick and require something coming off it say down to 24mm

i have pictures but not sure how to post them

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290 ... 1199734849

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290 ... 1199735037

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290 ... 1199735063

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290 ... 1199735093

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290 ... 1199735150

VAUXHALL VECTRA C 2002 ONWARDS> (NEW SHAPE)> MODELS

1.8,2.0DTi,2.2,2.2DTi, FITTED WITH 286MM VENTED FRONT DISCS

THIS PACKAGE DOES NOT FIT THE 3.0 V6 MODEL

FRONT DISCS ARE VENTED TYPE DIAMETER IS 286MM ACROSS AND ARE WITH 5 STUD FIXING WHEELS

PLEASE CHECK BRAKE DISC SIZE ON YOUR VEHICLE BEFORE PURCHASING AS SOME RARE MODELS HAVE 303MM DISCS.

the 303mm disc and caliper set up will not fit under std wheels.
i think i would like to keep the std wheels as 17" wheels ar just a little wrong i think.

i droped the discs of at chumb in trafford park to get them turned down a couple of mm should i keep the dimensions quiet and market myown brake kit

It looks like your on to something good, this is all using the standard 15 inch wheels ?
Keep up the good work
Excellent pictures too

addict wrote: and market myown drake kit

that would be quackers !!

do you like what i did there..
you said drake and i said quackers..

so this is where you are hiding out , underneath it..
did you manage to get a test on the servo , or did you just come to the conclusion that the brakes are crap...


i think the latter...

nova gsi's spring to mind or the ATE set up that ESM did...

c ya.

clemo

addict wrote:and market myown drake kit

This lot sell brakes.

I presume you've found the original replacement brake thread?

Steve A wrote::goodposting: It looks like your on to something good, this is all using the standard 15 inch wheels ?
Keep up the good work
Excellent pictures too

i have sorted all the parts im using and all the macinework is being done currently can let u know more next week.
ps mines for 16in wheels when i have done i would need to try a 15incer for size to see if it clears .
but there are 10mm smaller calipers and discs avalible so the 15" should be easy. say 300 for all new stuff .front disc calipars brake lines rear rebuild and perf pads all round with a bit of yellow paint.