• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Brakes still not up to snuff

Share this page

7

70herald

Luke Skywalker
Country flag
Offline
I am still trying to solve a problem with weak brakes.


While the engine was apart fluid leaked onto both the pads and rear shoes. I have taken all the brakes apart and first cleaned (with brake cleaner) and then sanded off the surface. Today, I let the engine run for a while with the hand brake on very lightly to burn off any remaining contaminants.

After running for a while the pads had a slightly shiny black dirt on them. Is the normal color? It does not appear to be a hard glaze. There is plenty of material on both front and rear pads/shoes.

Hydraulics appear to be alright. Even pushing hard, the pedal is still at least an inch from the floor.
 
once you contaminate the pads with any fluid you have to throw them away and install new ones no amount of cleaning or sanding will get all the fluid out of the pad

sorry
 
As I recall, the larger Spitfire or GT6 front discs are a bolt-on replacement to the Herald's. The Hawk street/race pads make a big difference too.
 
Spitfire discs are the same size as those for the Herald (9"). The GT6 discs are larger (9.7"). Offhand, I don't if the larger discs will bolt to a Herald/Spitfire hub, but I suspect you'd need to change to the larger caliper as well. In such cases, it's usually easiest to use a complete GT6 (or Vitesse) vertical link/hub/brake caliper assembly.
 
Yes Andrew is correct, its not just the disc. Not sure if the calipers need to be swapped, or if you can just get away with replacing the caliper mounting bracket which moves the caliper futher out. But as Andrew says, if you want to go this route then just swapping out the entire front assembly is probably the way to go.

Rob.
 
hondo402000 said:
once you contaminate the pads with any fluid you have to throw them away and install new ones no amount of cleaning or sanding will get all the fluid out of the pad
Click to expand...
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif
You can get those pads looking just like new, but as soon as you try to use them, the heat will drive more fluid out from where it has soaked into the pores.

You might ask around at local auto supply places; I have one that can get shoes & pads relined at a reasonable price.
 
TR3driver said:
hondo402000 said:
once you contaminate the pads with any fluid you have to throw them away and install new ones no amount of cleaning or sanding will get all the fluid out of the pad
Click to expand...
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif
You can get those pads looking just like new, but as soon as you try to use them, the heat will drive more fluid out from where it has soaked into the pores.

You might ask around at local auto supply places; I have one that can get shoes & pads relined at a reasonable price.
Click to expand...

Well this is clearly my problem. The brakes worked quite well two years ago before I started taking stuff apart. I guess I will just have to take it all apart and bring them in for relining. At least that is easy around here, I know of at least two different shops which can do the job locally.
 
Back
Top