PNM Rear Brake Calipers Opinions

[dermotbell]

Anybody bought the PNM rear brake kit?

Living in Dubai and car is stored at Dads (he is Excel believer but loves driving mine) and rear system needs refurb/replacing. Really want to replace as handdbrake system, as we all know, is a shocker.

Any opinions???

I have Hi-specs on front but they are so expensive and Scooby owners say so many bad things about customer service that I am now wary of them.

[Megwenda]

Yup

I have just bought it and fitted both the front and the back, and am extremely happy.
Easy to fit, and works very well. At last I trust it to stop when I put on the brakes

Handbrake also works great.

Support from PNM was very good and I found them very helpful.

I did have one minute of heart attack when fitting, as it looked as if one of the brake hoses has been incorrectly supplied, however a few minutes of looking at it showed that the end fittings were removable, and they had simply been fitted on the wrong ends. Swapped them around, and the hose fitted no problem.

mfG
Dave

[Scott J]

Work far better than stock. 3 click handbrake. Customer service is good. They also supply hi-tec so can use PNM and avoid hi-tec customer service.

[dermotbell]

Thanks guys, sounds like they are the puppies for me.

Looking forward to working handbrake, especially at MOT time.

[dermotbell]

One last question, do they use standard size pads, and did pads come with (expecting not)?

[Artaban]

Since they supply pads of various types it might be worth getting them with the callipers. The pads were extra on top of the kit price but were only £24. PNM fitted mine and I've not had any issues at all with the HiSpec fronts and PNM rears. The car easily passes the handbrake test in the MOT now and has only needed to be adjusted once, just after being fitted once the pads had bedded in a bit. Not worried about parking it on a hill now.
My son's just out in Dubai at the moment running the British Polo Day event this coming weekend. Its an opportunity for the UK to show off the best of British goods whilst playing polo. You may see all the Range Rovers driving around with British Polo Day on the side. Needless to say its stuff a bit out of my price league. Ettinger brief case for £3,500 anyone?
Andy

[dermotbell]

My son's just out in Dubai at the moment running the British Polo Day event this coming weekend. Its an opportunity for the UK to show off the best of British goods whilst playing polo. You may see all the Range Rovers driving around with British Polo Day on the side. Needless to say its stuff a bit out of my price league. Ettinger brief case for £3,500 anyone?
Andy

LOL Andy, there are so many thousand Range Rovers here, mainly Evogue, but you still may struggle to spot them among the Landcruisers, Ferraris, Aston Martins, Lambos etc etc.
There is a Lotus dealer here now, embedded in another garage. I keep meaning to check it out, but from what I've seen on their website they seem over priced. Normally cars here are much cheaper as there is little tax on the sale, Lotus dealer seems to have increased his profit margin to keep prices at UK level.

[Artaban]

Yes I've seen Dubai's traffic. The British Polo Day Range Rovers tend to travel in packs and will be on their way to the event on the 27th which is hosted by the Habtoor Family at the Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club. You'll recognise a lot (probably all) of the places from last years film.

http://www.britishpoloday.com/films/dubai-2014/

McLaren had their road cars at a couple of events in the past but I think they probably pulled out after requests to fit a tow hitch for the horse box.
Seems like they love their horses as much, if not more, than their cars.
Must visit one day; looks a great place.

Your car must be pretty rare there though; I can't imagine many M100's in Dubai. Do you know any others in the area?
Andy

[vinnie]

I purchased the front PNM caliper upgrade last July and requested the rear upgrade in August and still waiting for them.

[dermotbell]

I purchased the front PNM caliper upgrade last July and requested the rear upgrade in August and still waiting for them.

Wow, that is a long time.

Andy - My car is in Scotland at my Dads. TBH I'd love to have it here but she doesn't have a/c so would be a Winter Queen.
I saw 2 Elans in my first year here but nothing since (3 yrs). I know there is one in Bahrain, but there is only a small classic car interest here. Most like big shiney new things.

[cliff]

Fitted my PNM rear brakes 2 years ago. Easy to fit and have sailed through 2 MoT's since then.

Pics here:

viewtopic.php?f=79&t=19040&start=80

Very happy with them and the Wilwoods on the front but that's another story.

Vinnie, have you spoken to PNM? Waiting 6 months without explanation is a bit unusual.

[dermotbell]

I got email back today and they are saying 14 days delivery time.

Think I will take plunge on this one.

[elanman610]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the great feedback about the rear kits. As with everything PNM do, feedback is important as that is the only way we can improve current product and introduce things which may be needed to solve issues on these and other Lotus cars. The road pads are a standard EBC pad but are modified by us to fit the Elan properly so you do need to order the pads from us. We can supply a greenstuff pad if preferred but it isn't usually required as it is the front brakes on the Elan that do most of the work.

Regarding delivery times, we are always very busy with many different aspects of the business (as Artaban will confirm as he regularly visits us) and there is only 2 of us at PNM, however these kits are made to order by us and our delivery time is usually arounds 2 weeks for this kit as it is all made/modified in house. Each Elan rear kit takes arounds 3 hours for us produce. These calipers are not produced by Hi-Spec and therefore there isn't the same 4 week delivery estimate.

Regarding Vinnie's kit mentioned above, this isn't a confirmed order and hasn't been paid for. We were hoping to get new larger rear discs made to compliment our caliper kit and Vinnie was waiting for these before ordering but we have been let down by our supplier thus far. The discs may happen, they may not but Vinnie did say he didn't want the kit without the larger discs. Therefore, we haven't hassled Vinnie as we don't have any new information regarding the larger discs. It must be noted that the discs aren't part of the kit and don't need to be ordered to fit our kit, they fit fine with the standard discs. If you would like to order this kit, feel free to give us a call to confirm and we will get it out to you in approx. 2 weeks like the others. Hope that clears things up. 6 months waiting for a kit is unacceptable and whilst things can happen beyond our control and delay things a little, we would not keep anyone waiting for 6 months for a brake kit. Unfortunately, we do get many people on the phone requesting information and who are definitely going to order various things but with all due respect, we can only set about ordering and producing things when an order is firmed up with payment or at least a deposit.

Thanks
PNM

[Scott J]

well said PNM, I had to let an Excel go a few years ago because nobody aftermarket was supplying parts and it was a nightmare. That has now changed with Lotus exelbits etc, so its good that some firms are taking an interest in the M100. The classic Elans/Elites/Europas are well catered for, and the modern cars, Elises etc. It seems to be the 80/90s vintage where we suffer from support and supply and PNM are helping our Elans/Esprits etc.

[vinnie]

I agree with John @ PMN I was wishing to increase the size of the rear disc. And did not place an order for the rear upgrade calipers. So John please except my public apology on this matter. I will contact you .

[epipete]

I put the car into the garage to repair my rear brakes, I was only getting leverage on the hand brake on the OS. A call from the garage today advises that whilst they have freed it off and that I can collect the car it is less than perfect and that I shall be requiring replacement of both Calipers!

I understand that the rear calipers are no longer available, so therefore, I guess, the next best thing is a refurbished/reconditioned (is there a difference?) pair. SJs are selling these at £150 each side on an exchange basis.

Without knowing the exact problems, although I understand it is the Handbrake that is the issue, what are the options, has anyone had there's reconditioned and if so where and what was the costs

Cheers

Pete

[John_W]

This is a thank you to John at PNM.

Having been meaning to get round to once more sorting out my Dorman rear brakes that have supplied me with endless hours of fun and several MOT Advisories over the last four years, I suddenly realised that the MOT was due in 4 weeks. A quick call to PNM ordered a set of new rears, and they were delivered a week ahead of the estimated time. A day to fit them (no problems apart from one recalcitrant hydraulic union and the usual 2 litres of brake fluid to bleed the brakes), and today I have a nice new MOT certificate with no advisories whatsoever. The garage owner even remarked that there were "no problems with the handbrake for a change".

Great piece of kit.

John

PS: anybody want to buy two sets of Dorman calipers with one set of Algirdas levers; one set done 10,000 miles, one set done nil? Still nice and shiny gold - might be useful for spares.

[John_W]

Pete,
Get the PNM kit.

I have had Dorman rear brakes for the last four years, but kept getting MOT Advisories. As the MOT was due in 4 weeks I called to PNM ordered a set of new rears, and they were delivered a week ahead of the estimated time. A day to fit them (no problems apart from one recalcitrant hydraulic union and the usual 2 litres of brake fluid to bleed the brakes), and today I have a nice new MOT certificate with no advisories whatsoever. The garage owner even remarked that there were "no problems with the handbrake for a change".

Great piece of kit. Cost about £400. If you want it cheaper, I can sell you four Dorman calipers that you could probably make a working pair from if you can be bothered to spend the time.

John

[Fredjohn]

Pete
I would rather agree with above post. Refurbishing the std callipers is becoming increasingly difficult due to lack of parts to do it. (According to PNM website). The PNM replacements are only £15 more than having old ones refurbished (plus pads plus VAT), but you get the benefit of having a handbrake that works properly.

I may be wrong but I think they use the rear calliper from the Golf Mk4 and make a bracket to fit the Elan.

I would suggest you ring PNM as they can also refurbish as well as supply their replacement kit. I am sure a chat with them will help you decide on your course of action.

Website link PNM

I may well be in the same position shorlty so could well be making the same call.

John

[dapinky]

The parts to recon the rear callipers are easily (and quite cheaply) availlable in USA - - the issue is that the old callipers need to be scrupulously cleaned before you start the rebuild, or the handbrake will never work well.

It is a time consuming, but easily done chore, but getting the bits here quickly isn't really an option, and not many people factor the work into the maintenance, so it only manifests itself when it fails, and you don't want to be off the road for a couple of weeks.

I'm actually looking at getting some old callipers rebuilt to keep in stock (but I can't remember where I've put them!) - so I can offer exchange units for a much better price than any of the commercial guys (but they are in business, so I don't complain that their prices are high - as I say, it aint a quick job!)...



.... unfortunately, it doesn't help you now!