First, John, I am not saying the radio was the cause of my singing brakes. The radio came into the picture on the last brake test failure when I turn on the radio on my way back home and it started crackling before the mids and tweeters just stopped working. This was the final gotcha of the day and I just left the car in the garage until the next day. On Sunday, I pulled the console and it turned out that the one of the components installed under the console had loosened...never happened before.
Steve, I had purchased the sintered metallic pads as I have many times before and, since my Healey is not a daily driver, usually replace the pads when 2/3rds warn. To prepare for the change, I chocked and jacked the front end and removed the tires, pulled the retaining clips and retaining pins, and removed both pads from each wheels. I then lightly sanded both sides of each disk and also lightly sanded the pads. The installation was straight forward and I combined a Healey Shim with each pad from the box before inserting into the caliper. The all installations followed the same procedures with the following differences:
Installation 1. Pads were lightly sanded (not chamfered) with the box-original pads installed with standard Healey shims (box pads had what looked like black metal shims pasted to the piston side). Results - Singing Brakes
Installation 2. Box-pads and disks very lightly sanded and pads installed without standard Healey shims. Results - Singing Brakes,
Installation 3. Box-pads and disks very lightly sanded, pads chamfered and installed without standard Healey shims. Result- Singing Brakes.
Installation 4. Box-pads and disks very lightly sanded and stripped of original attached shims, pads chamfer examined to assure and pads with Standard Healey Shims installed. Result-Singing Brakes.
After the 4th test the radio went on the return trip and no further work ... due to frustration.
The next day, the multiple components of the radio were diagnosed to identify problem. The radio was repaired and a test drive was taken to identify any remaining issues. After a number of normal driving stops, I realized that the brake squeal, that had initially made itself present, no longer was present (as proven over a number of subsequent stops). Additionally, the radio mids and tweeters worked without any issues and I again drove home to the melodic sounds of the Beach Boys.
Hope this helps others, however, I am still not confident that the procedure I finally arrived at is correct and would not recommend it being followed by others. The pads that I had always ordered from Moss have changed and I wonder why a corrected procedure was not provided to eliminate this frustration. If Moss is pushing the premium ceramic pads and ignoring the sintered metallic, then eliminate the sintered metallic from the price list as this frustrating experience has not enhanced my confidence in acquiring additional parts.
All the best,
Ray (64BJ8P1)