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Brake Caliper Upgrade

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I thought you'd find this interesting, Steve. The drawings show a AH Spares logo on the caliper face, but I'm not sure that they have that on the actual caliper. I'm guessing shipping might be as much as $200. And then you might have to figure in a master cylinder change (although I didn't see it mentioned in the catalog). Seems like a fair price for what you get, though.
 
Now I see the AHS logo etched in the surface - still easy to paint over.
This kit comes with hoses and the other bits. AH Spares seems to work pretty hard at having all the bits.
Maybe they'd ship it for free.

You can use it without changing the front hubs and rotors. Pretty simple as-is.

Might have to go up to 3/4" or 7/8" MC then maybe add a booster.

Question - when will AH Spares commission a 1/2" rotor to fit on the older-style hubs to take better advantage of this caliper? 3/8" rotor is wimpy.
 
HealeyRick said:
Steve,

Are you sure you can't bolt the Bj8 rotors to the earlier hubs? If not, where does the problem arise?
Click to expand...

I don't know. My old hubs are the 4-bolt front drum hubs. Now I have late BJ8 stub axles, bearings and hubs. So can't help there.

Someone with a BT/BN/BJ7/early BJ8 would have to try it. If the distance from the center of the disc to the top of the hat is the same and the bolt pattern is the same, then voila!
 
roughly a grand when shipped to US. anyone stateside make a similar kit for a bj7 and maybe a bit cheaper?
 
maxwedge5281 said:
roughly a grand when shipped to US. anyone stateside make a similar kit for a bj7 and maybe a bit cheaper?
Click to expand...

Don't believe there is one.

You might be able to fit the DW 3.5" caliper bracket to a BJ7, then use a Toyota 4-pot caliper ($85 loaded). The Toyota and Volvo calipers are, like the Type 16 Girling, supposed to be used with a 1/2" disc. They might work with the 3/8" disc. Or the 1/2" late BJ8 disc might work on a BJ7 hub. Hoses would be straightforward.

Someone just has to spend some time/money and check these things out.
 
Hi All,

Other then racing, what is wrong with the original calipers to motivate the exchange? I have always found the calipers with standard sintered metallic pads to be more than adequate. Am I missing something?

Ray (64BJ8P1)
 
steveg said:
Don't believe there is one.

You might be able to fit the DW 3.5" caliper bracket to a BJ7, then use a Toyota 4-pot caliper ($85 loaded). The Toyota and Volvo calipers are, like the Type 16 Girling, supposed to be used with a 1/2" disc. They might work with the 3/8" disc. Or the 1/2" late BJ8 disc might work on a BJ7 hub. Hoses would be straightforward.

Someone just has to spend some time/money and check these things out.
Click to expand...

I agree with Steve, afaik there's no "kit" for a BJ7. Even finding a replacement caliper with the 3.25" lugs is difficult. I believe the Toyota calipers will work with the DW 3.5 bracket and that the 1/2" BJ8 rotors will bolt to the BJ7 hubs, but have not done it and am not 100%sure. I noticed Wilwood now offers a two piston aluminum caliper with 3.25" lugs, but don't know if it will fit and even if it does, whether it would be a substantial improvement over the stock Girling Type 14 caliper. Here's a link:
https://www.wilwood.com/Calipers/CaliperList.aspx?subname=Dynapro Single
 
HealeyRick said:
I agree with Steve, afaik there's no "kit" for a BJ7. Even finding a replacement caliper with the 3.25" lugs is difficult. I believe the Toyota calipers will work with the DW 3.5 bracket and that the 1/2" BJ8 rotors will bolt to the BJ7 hubs, but have not done it and am not 100%sure. I noticed Wilwood now offers a two piston aluminum caliper with 3.25" lugs, but don't know if it will fit and even if it does, whether it would be a substantial improvement over the stock Girling Type 14 caliper. Here's a link:
https://www.wilwood.com/Calipers/CaliperList.aspx?subname=Dynapro Single
Click to expand...

We need someone in the UK to call DW and find out if their 3.5" bracket will fit on the pre-BJ8 style stub axle. All DW's site says is it works in conjunction with their replacement stub axle.
 
Since about 1998 I have been running what DW calls "replacement" calipers for the early 3000, don't know their original application but they are essentially Type 16 calipers with the type 14 (3 1/4" mounting) so they bolt on the early mounting bracket. They use the BJ8 (type 16) pads. They have a metric hose thread & DW can supply the SS hoses. One advantage is they look stock/correct unlike Wilwood & others that obviously aren't "period correct" looking.

And, Yes you can run the 1/2 BJ8 discs, however for a street driven car I would stay with the earlier 3/8" rotors myself because the thinner ones are much lighter and less rotating mass so you don't give up the light responsive steering and I don't think the extra thickness is needed for the street. How many times do you break hard from say 100 to 20 or 40 over and over again without time for them to cool? Get yourself some Porterfield R4 carbon kevlar pads, they work good when cold but get better and better the hotter they get.
Dave
 
Someone mentioned the Toyota 4 pot conversion, this is fairly common on TR6s, and is a pretty straightforward bolt on. The TR6 and BJ8 share the same caliper, has anybody aver tried this on a BJ8? The 4 pot calipers do need to have more fluid moved to clamp on the binders, so you either will have a lower pedal, or will need a new M/C with a bigger bore.
 
glemon said:
Someone mentioned the Toyota 4 pot conversion, this is fairly common on TR6s, and is a pretty straightforward bolt on. The TR6 and BJ8 share the same caliper, has anybody aver tried this on a BJ8? The 4 pot calipers do need to have more fluid moved to clamp on the binders, so you either will have a lower pedal, or will need a new M/C with a bigger bore.
Click to expand...

Moss sells a kit to do just that. Moving the juice is no problem for the BJ8's 7/8" master cylinder. My 3/4" MC works just fine, too.
 
red57 said:
Since about 1998 I have been running what DW calls "replacement" calipers for the early 3000, don't know their original application but they are essentially Type 16 calipers with the type 14 (3 1/4" mounting) so they bolt on the early mounting bracket. They use the BJ8 (type 16) pads. They have a metric hose thread & DW can supply the SS hoses. One advantage is they look stock/correct unlike Wilwood & others that obviously aren't "period correct" looking.

And, Yes you can run the 1/2 BJ8 discs, however for a street driven car I would stay with the earlier 3/8" rotors myself because the thinner ones are much lighter and less rotating mass so you don't give up the light responsive steering and I don't think the extra thickness is needed for the street. How many times do you break hard from say 100 to 20 or 40 over and over again without time for them to cool? Get yourself some Porterfield R4 carbon kevlar pads, they work good when cold but get better and better the hotter they get.
Dave
Click to expand...

Dave, thanks for the info about the BJ8 discs on earlier cars. Having gone from drum brakes to BJ8 discs, I noticed no difference because the brakes weigh the same. One thing about the Toyota 4-pots - their design seems to preclude the need to change to a smaller master cylinder or add a booster.

A friend with a BN6 recently mounted the same DW kit. Pedal effort was unacceptable, so he swapped the 3/4" MC for the 5/8" MC. The Moss Gold Ceramic pads work great when broken in.
 
red57 said:
Since about 1998 I have been running what DW calls "replacement" calipers for the early 3000, don't know their original application but they are essentially Type 16 calipers with the type 14 (3 1/4" mounting) so they bolt on the early mounting bracket. They use the BJ8 (type 16) pads. They have a metric hose thread & DW can supply the SS hoses. One advantage is they look stock/correct unlike Wilwood & others that obviously aren't "period correct" looking.
Dave
Click to expand...

These are M16 calipers (M for metric) used on various English Ford products and on the Mercury Capri sold in the US. IIRC, they require a special mounting bolt with a metric shoulder and standard threads to mount to the Healey bracket (it's a TR6 item) There are some details here: https://www.cardomain.com/ridepost/2589454/7705722/1963-austin-healey-3000/ I tried to do that conversion on my car but found the caliper body would rub on my 72 spoke Daytons.
 
@HealeyRick That's interesting.... The calipers I got from DW do not require any special mounting bolts - they bolt directly to the early Healey caliper mounting brackets exactly as the originals did with 7/16" bolts. The only metric is flared fitting threads - so you need hoses with metric on one end and SAE on the other end as described in the link you posted. I don't have wires, so I had no idea there was clearance problems with wire wheels. I also don't run the stock dust shields so I don't know it they will fit with the M16 calipers
 
red57 said:
@HealeyRick That's interesting.... The calipers I got from DW do not require any special mounting bolts - they bolt directly to the early Healey caliper mounting brackets exactly as the originals did with 7/16" bolts. The only metric is flared fitting threads - so you need hoses with metric on one end and SAE on the other end as described in the link you posted. I don't have wires, so I had no idea there was clearance problems with wire wheels. I also don't run the stock dust shields so I don't know it they will fit with the M16 calipers
Click to expand...

Dave,

This is all coming from memory when I looked into it a couple of years ago. I believe the metric holes in the lugs of the M16 are a little larger than the Type 16 holes, so they might fit but with a little play in the bolt area. The amount of rubbing was pretty slight and it was on the top outside edge of the part of the caliper that houses the piston. It was enough that it would've destroyed the wires pretty quickly. Another thing I found was the supply of the M16s at the time had dried up in the US and although one side could be bought fully loaded for under $40, the other side was completely unavailable.
 
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