Twin Caliper Upgrade

[cammmy]

Hi Guys

I've heard that the saloons can have twin calipers on each side without too much trouble. What's involved in doing this?

I can see where the second caliper would bolt on but there is a steering arm in the way.

I'm interested mainly because I have a heap of spare calipers so seems like a good option. I'm guessing heat may be an issue; although hopefully having cheviot hotwires on there rather than the standard steelies with hubcaps will help keep them cooler.

Ta
Cam

[esxefi]

how do you drive your car?

are you experiencing brake fade?

fitting twin calipers will,as far as i can see wear out the disc quicker,add unnecessary weight and overcomplicate things.

[cammmy]

Fair enough point.

The plan is for a gt type cruiser which will also be driven at pace on the back roads.

Also planning to put an RV8 in it at some point.

Just seemed like a way to increase stopping power without having to spend a lot, as I already have 4 spare calipers

[Ridgetone Triumph]

880 wrote:

Hi Guys

I've heard that the saloons can have twin calipers on each side without too much trouble. What's involved in doing this?

I can see where the second caliper would bolt on but there is a steering arm in the way.

I'm interested mainly because I have a heap of spare calipers so seems like a good option. I'm guessing heat may be an issue; although hopefully having cheviot hotwires on there rather than the standard steelies with hubcaps will help keep them cooler.

Ta
Cam

Hi Cam,

Don't bother with this conversion, I did it to my PI race car over 10 years ago.
First off it was super fantastic stopping power,  stopped that quick it nearly lifted the rear wheels off the ground, but after 6 times doing this the front brakes faded to nothing,  the fluid boiled and the disc got so hot it buckled, and we had a small flame, which damaged the pads.
I also found that the calipers and pads covered far too much disc to let it cool down efficiently even for spirited driving.
It is a little more work than just bolting on the calipers too,  you have to swap the steering arms from left to right which then are upside down, the tie rod ends and calipers have to be modified,  there is not enough clearance to fit.  
However if you want it for normal everyday driving there would really be no benefit.
My racing PI ran standard brakes right down to the pads, It was tried with metal kings and all the proper bits, until I went back to the standard equipment.
When I reverted back to the single system I kept the calipers on the front of the hub, which I found to work better than the factory positioning, aided with cooling ducts.

Regards
Pete the old Kiwi racer    

[nang]

I fitted Austin Princess 2 pot calipers to my TC some years ago. They literally just bolt on. Just have to modify the brake lines.
To be honest not too much improvement. Think I probably need a bigger bore master cyl. to make them work better.

[cammmy]

Pete, are you in NZ?

Okay guys cheers for the advice, I won't bother.

Just thought it was worth looking into as I have the bits ;).

Pete. Should I swap the calipers to the other position then? Much involved?

[Lord Sorbington]

If your brakes are capable of locking the wheels then surely that's as good as they can be?

I guess that the purpose of any brake upgrade on these cars is to reduce pedal effort which is a bit high compared to that of a typical modern cars - roughly double according to the figures I have.

Obviously cooling is a factor too, I can imagine that having the calipers at the front of the car allows a better flow of cooling air to be ducted at them.

[Ridgetone Triumph]

880 wrote:

Pete, are you in NZ?

Okay guys cheers for the advice, I won't bother.

Just thought it was worth looking into as I have the bits ;).

Pete. Should I swap the calipers to the other position then? Much involved?

I'm in the UK, used to live there,  Auckland, Glen Murrey, Lawrence and in that order ;)

TBH I would keep the brakes as they are, if you are wanting better braking in the future then maybe go Stag, these were a slight improvement on the standard 2000 brakes.
It is a little involved setting up to fit the calipers on the front as I mentioned previously, and unless you are doing any sort of racing it's not worth the effort.
What I achieved was reduced brake fade on the race car and this system work well, doing long tracks like Silverstone and Snetterton there was no brake fade  at 20 minute runs, just needed to replace the std pads regularly ;D    

Pete

[esxefi]

nang wrote:

Think I probably need a bigger bore master cyl. to make them work better.

this is ok if you want less pedal travel as you are shifting more fluid for a given stroke,but fitting a SMALLER bore m/cylinder will improve pedal pressure but with the disadvantage of a longer pedal stroke.

[cammmy]

Cool guys. I'll forget about this then.

Cheers
Cam

[kenv8pi]

If you do want vented brakes heres what ive done. Renault 21 turbo diesel discs 265 mm volvo 4 pot calipers austin princess servo and master cylinder .a great setup dont fade   ??)

[Mioraet]

Which model volvo do you steal the calipers from Ken?

[kenv8pi]

254 wrote:

Which model volvo do you steal the calipers from Ken?

HI

They came off a 240-245 i think they a between 1975 and 1986 but you will have to look it up
the 740 early may have had them aswell

Ken

[Nick Jones]

Earlier 240s have them.  Later 240s (the last of them really) have sliding calipers.  Only ever seen sliding calipers on 740s.

Nick

[kenv8pi]

its just what ive been told and mine came off a 1980 245 from a braker in south gloucester
and as far as i can remember  

[Van]

I fitted stag discs and calipers, can be fitted to the same hubs and uprights but I bought s/h hubs and new wheel bearings and built up the hub/disc/bearing off the car. Xmas project 2004. Calipers, Discs, Hubs, Pads, Pad retaining bits, disc bolts, bearings cost about 300 from Robsport. No need for anything better.

[cammmy]

Cool.

Nothing wrong with the current setup but was just a "I have the parts so why not?" kind of thing ;)