mysteryjedi

So it's only the start of December but a parcel arrived...



With some smaller parcels in...



which contained...




I've only unwrapped the one but they look the business :-D Have just picked up some tin snips too to help butcher the heat shield and am gonna order some new discs from mtec so I can get cracking as soon as I've got some free time (hopefully soon!)

mysteryjedi

More boxes with shiny things




Also ordered pads yesterday which will hopefully arrive soon!

Thomas Guide

That's an interesting rotor design, can you share some details about it?

mysteryjedi

They're mtec's C-hook design.

https://www.mtecbrakes.com/technical/

Allegedly... "machined on to each disc and is designed to clean your brake pads through use as well as allowing the built up gases to escape."

From: https://www.rhdperformance.co.uk/mte...000-7755-p.asp

I've never used them before (although have used other mtec designs) but figured I'd give them a try, and I think they look smart :-)

mysteryjedi

Another wee update. These arrived just before christmas..


I spent a while reading various forums debating DS2500 & the Bluestuff NDX and while everyone had an opinion, none of them were consistent! It may turn out to be wrong but the message I thought I got was that the DS2500 are probably better on track, but the bluestuffs weren't far behind and had slightly better cold bite. As as result I opted for the EBC option. I'm guessing (hoping) with refurbed calipers either would be an upgrade but we'll see!

Also ordered and fitted these. Not exactly a performance upgrade but I think they just look a bit cleaner. I've ordered some jazz mist jets too to help modernise things. The current jets are body coloured but the new ones are black and I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. Might have to have a look "in the flesh" and decide whether there's a form over function decision to be made.... I also ordered clear side repeaters cos I think my offside must have lost a clip as it tends to be hanging off the side whenever I get back from a drive!




I'd forgotten to mention I'd also got my hands on this..



And I finally got a chance to fit it today along with this..



I'm delighted to say it all went according to plan and the dash controls now work :-) I also inadvertently did some weight saving as the old ipod module is massive!




Just need to tweak the mic position but getting there :-)

Also unwrapped the other calipers, installed the springs and checked the correct pads were with me. All being well I'm gonna have a look at installing the calipers and discs/ pads over the next couple of says so keep your eyes peeled for a "How do I fix....?" thread!! lol

mysteryjedi

I got the chance to spend some time with the S over the last couple of days and made some progress with the front brakes. Before I started they looked pretty minging:



After beating some stubborn bolts and screws I gt the old calipers and discs off and was able to start chopping up the heat shields and test fit the new carriers. As you can probably tell, I'm not a sheet metal worker by trade! My £8 or whatever tin snips from B&Q did the job perfectly! :-)







Once i was happy with the heat shields I cleaned up the hubs and mounted the new discs:




I'd left disconnecting the hoses from the old calipers in case I'd encountered an issue, figuring I'd be able to re-assemble without have to do a bleed. When I disconnected the old and connected the new calipers I attempted to use the locating lugs for the hoses but wasn;t happy with the hose position. As you may have seen in another thread, I asked what others had done and they confirmed they had also been unhappy with the bend so had not used the lugs so I reconfigured them and I'm much happier.

1st attempt:





Revised:





Front view:


Once I've found a friend I'll bleed the system and if they work, I'll turn the car round and start on the rears!

I'm hopeful the efficiency of the system will be improved as the old kit wasn't in the best state! Only three slider pins and one piston seem to be free and I had to hammer out both inboard pads from the carriers! The friction pad also came away from the backing plate on one pad so who knows how long it would have lasted!





Also took the opportunity while the front wheels were off to de-tango the front lights with some chrome style bulbs. I've also ordered some chrome style 501 bulbs to use with the clear repeaters I've ordered.

mysteryjedi

Brakes have been bled and wheels are back on. I'm liking the flash of blue behind the bronze :-D Now for the rears... (please excuse how filthy everything is - I'm waiting for it to be dry and above freezing so I can wash it!)




I used the eurocarparts sale to get some money off new plugs which will go in shortly and I also got a cabin filter for half price. I was reading one of the cabin filter threads on here which had some great pictures of black filters and in a weird way I was looking forward to seeing how gross mine was but was greeted with this... Oh well, installed the new filter and although I'm rarely out with the roof up, it might stop some crap coming through on those odd occasions. Looking at the condenser I'd be amazed if it wasn't full of holes but I might book it in for a recharge at halfords or somewhere as they basically pressure test the system and then send you away without charging you if it doesn't hold pressure. If it does, I'll be happy to spend the £50 and have cold air con!

mysteryjedi

A day of mixed fortunes today. Decided to attack the rear brakes so wheels off and had a look to see what I was confronted with - which (as expected) was tired and manky calipers & discs, and bolts with lots of potential for shearing heads!




Started off with the handbrake shield and yup, first bolt head sheared off. Moved over to the other side and the same thing happened. And I start thinking to myself, it's going to be one of those days...



Covers came off and then got drivers side brake pipe bracket off and handbrake bracket off, and handbrake cable free after more work than you'd think! Moved round to the passenger side and got the brake pipe bracket off and then the trouble started... Tried to get the handbrake bracket off but managed to round one of the 12mm bolts. I tried hammering on a 11mm socket but no joy so took a break for lunch and have a think. Had a look online and found a set of sockets available at screwfix that are made for this very job and they had like 100 great reviews which all said "perfect, saved loads of time, wish I knew about these sooner" etc so figured these were the perfect tool for the job and clicked to collect!



They're a cool bit of engineering but unfortunately i haven't managed to get them to work for me... yet.... I started with the 12mm but it didn't want to grip (with hindsight I think I didn't position it properly cos it needs an extension to hammer it on). I then moved on to the 11mm (one of the reviews online had said they'd had to use one 2 sizes smaller so was prepared for this) and this got some purchase but still not great. Part of the problem is that the bolt is in the caliper, not the carrier and there's some play through the slider bolts (typically this is the one caliper which doesn't have seized pins!) so a load of the hammering force is lost (and there's not that much room to swing a hammer cos I'm on axle stands, not a lift!). I then decided (which I now think was a mistake), to take the caliper, carrier & disc off the hub to see if I could get it in to a position to allow me better access to the bolt head but as the brake pipe and handbrake cable is still attached, I can't. At this point I decided to call it a night so soaked it in plus gas again and reattached the caliper and carrier. My current thinking is that I might reassemble everything tomorrow so that I can apply the handbrake and remove the slack, and then try the 11mm rounded head tool socket again.

This is the little b@stard in question:



Also got a couple more goodies in the post (sorry for rubbish pics):




And then a courier arrived with another package that I'd totally forgotten about (I really need to stop browsing adverts after I've had a couple of beers lol)

Fellblade

I had a lot of problems with my rusted handbrake bracket bolts as well, but they did come out eventually. Have you had a crack at it with a blowtorch yet? I've had success with left handed drill bits as well, but not on a bolt of that size.

mysteryjedi

No I haven't tried heat yet... Good shout though cos I'm guessing I'm better trying that while I can still get some purchase on the bolt head!

So annoying cos the others came out pretty easily!