Wilwood 16" kit caliper issues

[DeeAitch]

Mini Cooper also circa 18ft, ABS chirping away.
Will try the Elan again tonight Surely it can't be that bad

BTW please consider balance weights when checking clearance.
I'd never though about it until I was sitting outside the local Tyre fitters waiting for 2 new tyres to be fitted when a car drove off the ramps - Fiat Coupe with OE Brembo's ?? - and it was clicking away, sounded bad.
Fitter must have been there before - he was quick to spot that the stick on balance weights were hitting the caliper
I guess they would soon wear down tho':-D

[bobbrown]

BTW please consider balance weights when checking clearance.

been there, read the book, seen the film, got the tee shirt

[Monty]

BTW please consider balance weights when checking clearance.
I'd never though about it until I was sitting outside the local Tyre fitters waiting for 2 new tyres to be fitted when a car drove off the ramps - Fiat Coupe with OE Brembo's ?? - and it was clicking away, sounded bad.
Fitter must have been there before - he was quick to spot that the stick on balance weights were hitting the caliper
I guess they would soon wear down tho':-D

Yep on bigger brake upgrades you need to have the stick on weights fitted on the outside off the rim, well you do with my current wilwood kit

[rip]

BTW please consider balance weights when checking clearance.
I'd never though about it until I was sitting outside the local Tyre fitters waiting for 2 new tyres to be fitted when a car drove off the ramps - Fiat Coupe with OE Brembo's ?? - and it was clicking away, sounded bad.
Fitter must have been there before - he was quick to spot that the stick on balance weights were hitting the caliper
I guess they would soon wear down tho':-D

Putting the wheel out of balance again
& damaging the caliper at the same time (if only cosmetically).

[nitroman]

My impression of stock brakes, having driven them 800 miles in the last 4 days.

Switching back & forth between stock & Wilwood (cars), which is my norm, leaves me feeling OE Elan brakes are crap. Having had some time now with no comparison, it does seem the OE are adequate, at least in a car which just turned past 13k miles yesterday. The brakes do 'improve' with constant use, and acquire a bit more feedback, although you can equally attribute it to driver adjustment to the "impaired" feedback! Only to say, I did just drive down the street attempting to lock the brakes about 8 or 9 times. I never could. From about 25mph and down, no "non-stop" is detected. Above that speed the feeling of inadequate clamping force is evident via the "Is this thing gonna stop?" feeling creeping into your mind. Having now accustomed myself to the OE brakes, I am hesitant to drive the Wilwood car just yet, knowing how it will decrease my opinion of the OE brakes!

Whoever said (recently) that the extra effort required to stop makes for an increased "driver input" time, is very correct.

One thing I had forgotten are the numerous small fluid runouts on the wheels. Both my other M100s (so all 3) did this on their stock brakes as well. The fluid observed in the master has not dropped even a mm, nor are there any droplets of fluid on any componentry; but as noted there is radial runnout of fluid in 2-dozen places on both front wheels. Whether this is merely an accepted part of the design, or something possibly attributed to old brake seals, I do not know.

One last thing. The Wilwoods, when not driven for a long time, do not require prolonged use before returning to their sharpest action. If for no other reason they should be considered a huge improvement, as who wants to wait 200 miles for more effective brakes?

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Motor oil:

... Changed on this car (for the 1st time) prior to this trip. It is usual that it takes 3 or 4 oil changes when switching to synthetic before grime left there by petroleum oils is removed. This is due to increased amounts of detergents in most syn oil, although I have only only used Mobil 1. As such, the oil is already dirty after 800 miles! Although it's been out for 2 years, only my last 2 oil changes (in all cars) has been with the reformulated Mobil 1, as I had so much of the old stuff on hand due to Mobil hocking it for less than $2 to clear out the old formulation. The new formulation says it has twice the detergent level of the old. If you wonder if that's good, apply the thought to shower soap... "um, I'll have the cheaper soap which leaves me somewhat dirty please."

[Paul.P]

There's one thing no one can argue with Matt, & thats you are in a unique position having the 2 cars, you can experience what others can theorise over .

[paza1]

nChase got 70ft from 70mph with HiSpecs see http://forum.lotuselancentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=10802&p=132066&hilit=stopping#p132066 Seems good to me. I wonder what the OE were?
Mark

[L.G.]

Mark,

I believe there is a misprint on that one (70 mph in 70 ft) because a Ferrari F430 can't stop that quickly. Let alone the Ferrari I've never heard of a car stopping 62 - 0 mph in less than 100 ft. A local magazine had a test drive on the Elan in 1998, it's 62 - 0 figure was 137 ft.

L.G.

[paza1]

L.G. good point, well spotted.
Thanks for the magazine info.

Cheers
Mark

[L.G.]

You're welcome.

Cheers,
L.G.

[nitroman]

Summit pushed back the "ship date" on the 6811 calipers again, so I decided to place an order such that my place in line is kept. It may say Oct-17 on their site, but it printed Oct-24 as the estimated ship date on my invoice.
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch ... &N=700+115

The complete brake fluid requirement with 6811-front & Bob's HiSpec rear calipers is less than that of the 6816-fronts by themselves. Notwithstanding, I'll install the 6811s before the HiSpec rears, so I'll still be able to report incrementally on each component.

[lotos]

Dear Tigerdog:

Let me check with them Tuesday. I was beyond slammed this last week. The last time I talked with them, we were in the $110-115 range per caliper.

Sincerely,

Algirdas

Any update on a discount price? Did I miss it?

[ailwyn]

This is just for calipers, you'll need hats & brackets which were a limited run for the 6806/11/16 calipers.

However if you're prepared to wait a couple of months then drop me a PM and you can buy mine if you're so inclined.

[Monty]

This is just for calipers, you'll need hats & brackets which were a limited run for the 6806/11/16 calipers.

However if you're prepared to wait a couple of months then drop me a PM and you can buy mine if you're so inclined.

He`s already found the kit

[nitroman]

This is just for calipers, you'll need hats & brackets which were a limited run for the 6806/11/16 calipers.

However if you're prepared to wait a couple of months then drop me a PM and you can buy mine if you're so inclined.

He`s already found the kit

The kit I bought from him ealier this year? (Why get information from the horse's mouth when you can ask other people? Gossip rules!)

[Monty]

This is just for calipers, you'll need hats & brackets which were a limited run for the 6806/11/16 calipers.

However if you're prepared to wait a couple of months then drop me a PM and you can buy mine if you're so inclined.

He`s already found the kit

The kit I bought from him ealier this year? (Why get informattion from the horse's mouth when you ask other people? Gossip rules!)

Don`t remember asking you if you bought his kit

My post was a statement, not a question

[lotos]

Matt - yep I sold you the kit and then (finally) found my Elan... life is funny ain't it?

[nitroman]

The old (and formerly somewhat rusty) rotors rescued from my red Elan. Scraped them of rust where possible. In the vanes I sprayed a de-ruster which leaves behind a zinc-phosphate coating. On the face & outer circumference I sprayed several layers of zinc, then coated with 3-layers of a clear ceramic for protection (it also has high anti-oil & grease properties).

I trust the pads will soon wipe off the swept area, but here's hoping the rest stays on!

[nitroman]

.

[ailwyn]

Matt - yep I sold you the kit and then (finally) found my Elan... life is funny ain't it?

Like I said, my kit will be available shortly if your interested.

Ailwyn