Lotus Elan Central

I have purchased a set of the Dorman calipers and done some comparisons to the originals

Now apart from some casting changes (the stop lug is not on the dorman ones) and the levers I see very little differance between the original and the Dorman caliper.
The only major differance id the sliding pins!
The original is steel which if you get water ingress will rust and seize which is not apparently uncommon.
The Dorman caliper has hard anodised aluminium pins which in them selves will not rust.

Why not just get some pins machined out of high spec alloy and have them hard anodised?
Then it would be just a case of overhauling your current calipers and you have the same result as using the Dorman option

Bob

Bob

True. However, the Dorman option is very low cost and by the time you'd had bespoke pins made and overhauled the caliper, you may have spent the same money.

Candles.

The cost to get the pins machined and hard anodised is not too high Ok you have the cost of a seal kit to add in, S J price £17.25 +vat and delivery
But this is still a lower cost option than the Dorman calipers as you have the levers to worry about as well.
I have three sets being machined as we speak and a local company will anodise them (prototype set) for free.

If anyone wants a set I am prepared to get others machined up and hard anodised and I would think the cost would come out some where around the £20 to £25 a set which is close to the standard set.

If any one wants to try a set let me know

Bob

Bob

I'm very interested in this possible solution.
Do you mind if I split these last few posts out from this thread and start another one (with them) dedicated to your suggestion?

This thread has been formed by splitting the last few posts in the Dorman Caliper thread.

... and it appears to have worked!

I have cannibalised the Dorman calipers to overhaul the originals and all the parts seem to be interchangeable.

Have fitted same but have yet to check, but handbrake works out of the tin
Unable to test as I am in the process of doing the fronts as well with a GM caliper upgrade to 288mm discs

Awaiting the machined and hard anodised parts to come back from the plating shop then I will change them over to test

Note: there is a special tool for fitting the piston locator which I did not have so made up a part to suit
Consists of a cone that allows the piston locator to slide down and fit over the piston



Pics of calipers before fitting

Now there's a good idea!

I did think the same thing

If you want to overhaul your existing rear calipers rather than buy all the parts seperatly, just buy the dorman calipers and you have all the parts you need.

looking at S J's prices the parts to completly overhaul a caliper
REAR CALIPER PISTON EACH £42.50
REAR CALIPER SEAL KIT KIT £17.25
REAR CALIPER SLIDING PIN KIT £18.50
Total £91.94 + delivery each caliper

The Dorman options seem a lower cost way to go

The calipers are easy enough to strip down you only really need a spanner to fit the nut on the lever and a pair of circlip pliers
Rebuilding is slightly different as you will require a tool to get the piston locator back on the piston
Another advantage of buying the dorman calipers as you can remove the piston with the piston locator still in place as long as you remove the circlip first

The only area that is critical is the inside bore !

I thought the sleeves/guides on the Doorman calipers were the sliding pins fit were also of a different material and not just the pins themselfs

The pins are anodised Aluminium but the bores are just part of the brake caliper casting
There is no differance between the old sliding pins and the new ones apart form a material change
Originals are chrome plated steel and the Dorman ones are aluminium + they have an undercut in the center.

I'm not totaly convinced these will be a total solution as the casting will still rust, it is important to ensure the seals are in good conditon else water and road salt is just going to corrode them again

bobbrown wrote:I did think the same thing

If you want to overhaul your existing rear calipers rather than buy all the parts seperatly, just buy the dorman calipers and you have all the parts you need.

looking at S J's prices the parts to completly overhaul a caliper
REAR CALIPER PISTON EACH £42.50
REAR CALIPER SEAL KIT KIT £17.25
REAR CALIPER SLIDING PIN KIT £18.50
Total £91.94 + delivery each caliper

The Dorman options seem a lower cost way to go

The calipers are easy enough to strip down you only really need a spanner to fit the nut on the lever and a pair of circlip pliers
Rebuilding is slightly different as you will require a tool to get the piston locator back on the piston
Another advantage of buying the dorman calipers as you can remove the piston with the piston locator still in place as long as you remove the circlip first

The only area that is critical is the inside bore !

Sorry if I wasn't paying attention before (I certainly am now! ) but what is the cost of Dorman calipers, and assuming they have to travel across the pond, how much does it cost to get them over here?

My Dorman calipers were $124.85 + delivery + import duty (£23.00)
Not sure what the deliverycost were as I have yet to see the Card statement but others will know

For both calipers shipped and duty you are probably looking at around the £120 mark

bobbrown wrote:For both calipers shipped and duty you are probably looking at around the £120 mark

Mine came in at $79.90 for the parts and $64 for delivery - making a grand total of $142 (approx £75).

Add on the £42 odd for Algirdas' handbrake levers, and the total is £117ish.

At that price, it wasn't worth re-building my old ones (not that they needed it anyway, when i got them off, the pins move freely and both didn't leak fluid).

I like the idea of the anodised sleeve/slider to go in the original caliper, if you have otherwise good ones, but can't see the advantage if they need re-building

Maybe a good option for the future (now?) though, if the supply of Dormans dries up.

{and i still have my originals ready to re-use or sell in due course }

That I suppose that depends on where you get them from
I got mine from Summit, calipers are/were $99.90 handling $24.95 + shipping + £23.00 duty
where did you get yours from for $79.90

The cost of the levers pushed it up at £42.00

Bob,

I got mine from me old mates over at Rock Autos! (Oh, how i wish i'd asked them for a 2% commission when i first got stuff from there )

To be honest, the reason i went to them (and still do!) is that the price you see is the price you pay - they will calculate all handling and shipping charges up front - that way there are no nasty surprises when the card statement turns up with horrendous shipping charges on it.

I know that others have used Summit (and continue to do so), but as i have always had excellent service, and good prices, from 'Rock Autos' & 'The Parts Bin' i will continue to use them where i can - loyalty costs nowt, and I'm an Englishman through and through!!!!! (besides which - they are usually chepest by a few bucks, there is a 5% loyalty discount code - availlable for anyone, published on the wiki - and i can pay by PayPal without incurring fees.

bobbrown wrote:The pins are anodised Aluminium but the bores are just part of the brake caliper casting
There is no differance between the old sliding pins and the new ones apart form a material change
Originals are chrome plated steel and the Dorman ones are aluminium + they have an undercut in the center.

I'm not totaly convinced these will be a total solution as the casting will still rust, it is important to ensure the seals are in good conditon else water and road salt is just going to corrode them again

Didn`t realise that the bore were just the same as ours

bobbrown wrote:If anyone wants a set I am prepared to get others machined up and hard anodised and I would think the cost would come out some where around the £20 to £25 a set which is close to the standard set.

If any one wants to try a set let me know

Bob

Bob , when you say £20 to £25 per set is that just for one caliper ie two sliding pins

I was trying to get all 4 in that figure but it could be less

The problem may come in as much as the company that said they can anodise them have a minimum order of £50.00 and as they said each one would cost £1.50 I would ideally like to get 8 to 10 sets done at the same time
The first batch they said they would do for free like that number
Machining is not to much of an issue as a CNC machine will turn these out very quickly

MrBrown,

If you can get all 4 done for that price or less then i`m in

1) Monty


BTW, what about having the sliding pins made up for the front calipers for those who are on stock calipers (not me thou i`m on the Wilwoods )

[quote="Monty"]MrBrown,

If you can get all 4 done for that price or less then i'm in

1) Monty
2) addict

Monty wrote:MrBrown,


BTW, what about having the sliding pins made up for the front calipers for those who are on stock calipers (not me thou i'm on the Wilwoods )

Did think about the fronts for those with stock calipers
A change in material may be the best option as these move more that the rears and I was thinking along the lines of making them out of Stainless Steel.
They work differently that the rears as there is a rubber ring fitted internally which I think is suposed to pull the caliper off the disc after the brakes are released in much the same way as the caliper seals do
"Not a lot of people know that"
Would certainly stop the rust problem on the pins.