Front brake upgrades

[Geordie]

Hi all
I’m new to lotus elan and forum ,so,apologies if this is a repetitive question ,but is there a good upgrade for elan se turbo brakes which will allow me to keep original oz wheels
Geordie

[muley]

Quite a few people get the upgrade from PNM

See here

https://www.pnmparts.co.uk/elan-m100/el ... bo-se-s2-j



I did, but it was a waste of money because, apparently, the supplied calipers were defective

[Geordie]

Hi
Cheers for reply but as was told the Pnm upgraded callipers don’t fit with the 15” oz wheels ?
Geordie

[alan e]

yes you can still fit your 15in wheels with no problem.

[dapinky]

Geordie,

There are 2 different 'kits' from PNM - the issue of 'not fitting' is only relevant if you find a second-hand set for sale and need to clarify what they are (and hope that the seller either knows or can use a tape measure!). The disc sizes are different (and the mounting brackets).

Rear ones are the same for both wheel sizes.

[Geordie]

Hi guys
Is there any alternatives to pnm,such as willwood (think that’s right) or hi spec ,what are the front brakes same as ie Vauxhall etc
As heard different stories about pnm ,such as just rebranded
Cheers in advance
Geordie

[Saltire]

As I understand it (and I’ve never fitted any of them because I find the standard brakes - well maintained - to be more than adequate for my pedestrian style of driving) there are three options for replacement front brakes:

- AP Racing
- Wilwood
- HiSpec, a.k.a. PNM

My understanding is that AP Racing are “reassuringly expensive”, Wilwood less so, and HiSpec/PNM favoured by most people these days. I have been told that PNM are pleasanter to deal with than HiSpec, and that’s why people have gone down the PNM route. As I say, I can’t speak from personal experience.

What I would say is that if you have only recently taken ownership of the car, you might want to consider a thorough overhaul of the existing system before forking out for an upgrade. In my case, simply changing the brake fluid made a huge difference (the old fluid was the colour of creosote when I bought the car). Proper bleeding also makes a big difference; it’s not that easy to do on the Elan (unless you know how), and that will help too. Finally, it’s cheap and simple to ensure the sliders are working properly and the seals in good order.

Once I had that done, and new Mintex pads and discs, I was more than happy with the pedal feel, travel and effectiveness of the existing brakes - and it hadn’t cost me anything like what an upgrade would have done However, YMMV; my days of driving like a hooligan with the car on its doorhandles are well and truly over, so don’t let me stop you going down the upgrade route if you feel you need to.

Hope this helps

[Fredjohn]

Hi
Cheers for reply but as was told the Pnm upgraded callipers don’t fit with the 15” oz wheels ?
Geordie

A quick look at the PNM link provided will confirm that the 15" conversion is possible.

NOTE Wilwood do supply suitable calipers and ''rotors'', but getting the correct top hat and mounting bracket may prove almost impossible. I was lucky and got a complete used kit.

[MPx]

I'm one of those that found the standard brakes lacking and invested in an upgrade many years ago through a group buy on here. It was based on the HiSpec kit, but as Jonathan alluded, HiSpec are impossibly frustrating to deal with so you need an intermediary willing to deal with the ag. PNM is a great engineering set up and Lotus specialist. When that original group buy got into trouble with the rears, and HiSpec failed to respond in any meaningful way for a year or two, PNM took some trouble to sort out an alternative rear set up based on a Golf calliper. I had an early set of those (to replace the HiSpec upgrade) - and being the first with an already modified "BobBrown" rear, I sent them one of my brackets for them to see and they made their kit fit the BB modification as well as the std car. Excellent service. Against that....they've been rebuilding the engine on my Esprit FOREVER! First contact was over a year ago....car eventually deposited with them 1st December.... Engine out and dismantled early in Jan this year.... Still not rebuilt yet - latest update suggests ready early July, but I'm not holding my breath. But if you want a specialist to do the work, there aren't that many left active who I would trust to do it properly. Hence they all have more work than they can handle. Its just how it is.

[dapinky]

with Jonathan and John....

..... to clarify, PNM take Hi-Spec Billet-4 callipers and have them re-branded with their own logo - you get the exact same kit, but pay a few quid more from PNM as they make a cut on the wholesale price. Some may say that it makes them untenable, as why not go direct to Hi-Spec and save some cash.... the answer is in the 'customer experience' that you will get - you pay a small premium to get them from PNM, but if you have any problems, they will answer their phone and sort it out - quickly! Hi-Spec have a history of taking your order (and money) and then having delays after delays and when it all arrives, it not being quite right. They will sort it out eventually, but if it were me, I'd pay the few quid more.

Wilwood, being an American company, was the option used by Brian when he first looked at a brake upgrade, as he is based in USA! The callipers are all available off the shelf, as are the rotorz - the bells were custom-made back in the day, and when they were gone, they were gone - unless you find a second-hand set, it is only viable if you can locate a set of drawings (which I've never seen) or can create a new item from scratch, or reverse-engineering one that someone will lend you.

I have always said that a well-maintained OE set is fine - even for track use (with a decent set of pads), but I have Hi-Spec on the car I'm currently restoring, so will be keeping them.... but I wouldn't spend £500 on a set!

The whole issue is that there is insufficient space inside the 15" wheel to do very much in the way of disc increase, so once you have 'better' callipers, and 'better' pads, that's about it - until you fit larger wheels.... the rear is a completely different story, as a huge increase (to match whatever you do to the front) is possible by changing the pressure limiting system, or fitting bigger discs, or better callipers (not necessary unless you have an issue with the current handbrake) etc etc.