2nd hand Hi Specs on ebay...... (SOLD)

[simonbuk]

In case anybody is interested - a set of second Hi Specs on ebay -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291840656514? ... EBIDX%3AIT

[Fredjohn]

Interesting: the price includes complete kits for front and rear. Also says rear discs are grooved, so it must have a rear hub conversion too as std discs were plain. But hubs nit included or mentioned!

[simonbuk]

Do you think these would need rebuilding or are they relatively maintenance free ?

[lotusflasherman]

Do you think these would need rebuilding or are they relatively maintenance free ?

I'll let you know...

[Fredjohn]

Nice one Phil

Just make sure you prise the rear hubs out of DVB too and you'll have a bargain!!

[simonbuk]

Oh good- saved me some cash !!

[lotusflasherman]

Nice one Phil

Just make sure you prise the rear hubs out of DVB too and you'll have a bargain!!

Yeah - Was immediately pinging messages and agreed with Steve S' that he'll just remove castelled hub nuts and supply rear hub and disc - my argument was it isn't a 'complete conversion", as described, without them. Think it's also easier for him than trying to undo those setscrews.

[HJ2]

[lotusflasherman]

Arrived today... hubs included, 11 1/2" front discs look like Subaru (5 hole to 4 hole conversion) and 10" rear discs look like ... Elan fronts! (The plain disc in photo is OE Front that was on it's way to dump due to min thickness). Shouldn't be too expensive to replace discs when needed. Will check hubs are exactly the same as those I'm running on and can go on the SE on SORN which is being 'unSORNed' soon. Still trying to form an opinion on ventilated rear discs ... OE don't get very warm so is extra weight really justified. 10" good idea but not sure about ventilated - unless I direct exhaust heat through the slots to pre-warm the pads... (Only joking!)

dv hispec.jpg

[simonbuk]

So did you have to rebuild the calipers or were they working ok ? Reason i ask is that i have aquired some HiSpecs and don't know whether to whack them straight on or see if i can find a rebuild kit before hand. Don't know if these are relatively maintenace free or not ?

[lotusflasherman]

So did you have to rebuild the calipers or were they working ok ? Reason i ask is that i have aquired some HiSpecs and don't know whether to whack them straight on or see if i can find a rebuild kit before hand. Don't know if these are relatively maintenace free or not ?

I didn't want to use the Elan front discs on the rear, as per the Bob Brown conversion, far too heavy and no need for ventilated on rear, so changed the central spacer in the rear calipers and engineered new mounting so I can run 264 x10mm discs on the rear. Fronts went on as they came. Fitted in September '16 and they worked well for several hundred miles but I had issues with hydraulic handbrake seals in OSR caliper keeping pads in contact. Disc got red hot after a couple of miles and had to open bleed valve to release trapped pressure - info here ..
hispec rear brakes sticking
hispec brakes beware

January '17 I got a seal kit and overhauled OSR caliper and it's been fine since, though I now generally avoid using the handbrake. To make it work it needs pulling up hard and is a bugger to release - I have only got the short levers and making long levers is on my 'To Do List' . There is still the issue of "Do not press brake pedal when handbrake is on or handbrake seals can be displaced".

I did take photos of the rear caliper rebuild so suppose I ought to post them sometime ... to self... I'll put them on the 'Rear sticking' thread.

[simonbuk]

I've only ended up with the fronts so no hand brake issues. I had them off today and found one seal broken - although it didn't look like it had been leaking ?
Anyhow, no straight swap for me, got to order some bits !!

At least I'll know how it all works in the end !!

[simonbuk]

Having just talked to my neighbour I realised that it's just the dust cap and not the seal itself.

[simonbuk]

Ok, were your fronts a straight swap ? Just went to put the hispec on my car, the bolts on the existing caliper are massive !! The head of the bolt is over 22mm (I don't have anything bigger if course), but the bolts that came off the hispecs are alot smaller. Or should I say the allen key heads are a lot smaller, maybe the bolt size/thread is the same but can't see on the existing caliper ?

[lotusflasherman]

Ok, were your fronts a straight swap ? Just went to put the hispec on my car, the bolts on the existing caliper are massive !! The head of the bolt is over 22mm (I don't have anything bigger if course), but the bolts that came off the hispecs are alot smaller. Or should I say the allen key heads are a lot smaller, maybe the bolt size/thread is the same but can't see on the existing caliper ?

Straight swap that didn't take long but was also changing discs to 295mm re-drilled Subaru that came with them. Quite straight forward with the right tools & equipment ...
Are you changing discs? - most HiSpecs on M100's seem to use bigger discs.

Order of play for me was :
Jack up car on full lock so the caliper to work on is more accessible and remove wheel.
Remove caps and undo socket head bolts that hold caliper onto mounting bracket and remove flexi hose clip from wishbone bracket - remove caliper and stand on block of wood or axle stand at back of wheel arch.
Remove socket screw that holds disc to hub and remove disc.
Remove two bolts that hold caliper bracket to hub carrier - as you say, they are big, M12 thread, and not removed for servicing the brakes so probably still as fitted in factory. Felt like they'd been torqued to 100 ft lbs with Loctite but 2 foot long 1/2" square drive breaker bar 'cracked' them.
Replace with HiSpec aluminium bracket and bolt to hub carrier with M12 Cap Head Bolts with spring steel washers to stop digging into aluminium, Loctite on threads and torque to 100Nm.
Fit 'bigger disc' and use wheel bolts taper to centralise it and replace & tighten socket screw, and check disc with dial gauge for eccentricity and run out... if OK proceed to ...
Fit HiSpec Caliper with hose by mounting on aluminium bracket with M10 Cap Head Bolts & washers, Loctite & torque to 60Nm. Fit pads to caliper in their original positions.
Open both inner and outer bleed nipples on HiSpec caliper 1/2 turn.
Remove flexi hose clip from wheel arch bracket and unscrew hose to pipe union - brake fluid will come out so prepare for spillage. Can now get OE caliper & hose out of wheel arch and fit braided hose from HiSpec caliper to pipe and then clip to bracket. Keep an eye on fluid level in master cylinder as fluid is filling both pistons of the HiSpec caliper. (HiSpec suggest calipers will fill under gravity but it will take several minutes.)
Clip hose to wishbone bracket and check position of hose with respect to rubbing anywhere when turning from lock to lock.
When fluid appeared at the bleed nipples I closed them finger tight and fitted my bleed tubes - big bore screen wash tubing with aquarium one way valves, opened them again and pumped with the brake pedal to check no air left in system.
(Lotus Service schedule has 'renew brake fluid at 12,000 mile service' (ha ha) 'or every 12 months', which I'm sure comes sooner, so I have no worries about flushing out old brake fluid when I'm working on the brakes.)
Close bleed nipples, remove tubes, fit dust caps, replace wheel and do further checks for hose clearance to wheel and tyre... if OK, job done.

and I think it took me longer to type that than to do the job itself .....

[simonbuk]

Thanks for the detailed thread. I've run out of time as I'm on a plane early Wednesday morning !!

Will pass on your info to the person that gets the job !!

Look forward to getting them on my car, they were impressive with barely legal tyres on them !!