Braking System
The orignal brakes were actually very good and, once I had fitted a slightly harder pad, stood me in good stead. Calipers all round pull up a 700kg car just as quickly from 130mph with 120bhp as they do with 200bhp.
However, the brakes had been sitting around for nearly twenty years and I had to remove th ecalipers in order to get the car out of the shed so they would need, at the very least, an overhaul.
As the rear hubs were going to be Sierra I therefore decided to replace the whole lot with Hi-Spec aluminium calipers, four pot fronts and 2 pot rears with built in handbrake mechanism. More than enough stopping power, even without servo-assistance. They have the added advantage of being just under 11kg lighter!
Original Sierra Cosworth bearing carrier next to alminium Sierra replacement. The plate is designed for the smaller Sierra disc.
The Elan's original discs were a little strange, with the rears being a bigger diameter than the fronts. The new set up is similar, but the brake bias system should be able to sort out any issues I may have. The rear discs were going to be even bigger (RS Cosworth) until I converted to aluminium bearing carriers which are only available for the standard Sierra so I had to use Sierra sized discs. Not a problem as they are also lighter :-)
RS Cosworth and standard Sierra discs.
Once the discs (rotors) were finalised, I set about lightening them. On Graham Hatherways advice, they were skimmed to 10mm thick fronts and 8mm rears. They also had their circumference made wavy and the pad area drilled. The integral rotor hats were also lightened. A total of just under 2Kg were removed.
CNC drilling discs. Only way that I could ensure that the holes were drilled accurately.
I don't have a 4th axis on my CNC mill so had to drill rotor hats manually using a dividing head.
Chamfering holes in order to reduce the risk of cracking, again using dividing head.
Discs finished and ready for fitting.
In order to get the discs sitting exactly in the centre of the calipers, some fettling was required to one rear caliper and one front spacer.
Mounting face skimmed to adjust the caliper location slightly. The handbrake mechanism has also been removed.
Front caliper bracket being adjusted. Note it has also been lightened.
Calipers and discs fitted. Note that even the pad pins have been lightened! Anal? Moi?
Front
Rear
On checking the MOT regulations, it transpires that my car is old enough to be allowed a hydraulic handbrake. So the manual handbrake mechanisms were removed from the rear calipers.
A linelock will be fitted into the front brake system to aid burnouts at the drag strip.
Linelock
Linelock
Hydraulic handbrake
