Yesterday was the big day for brakes. It took a bit longer than expected due to reluctant brake pipes and missing tools but overall a pretty easy upgrade and it's made a huge difference!
I had gotten very bored of the regular drum brake adjustments, brakes going out of balance and rubbish brake cylinders that don't last long. I wasn't expecting much improvement in terms of stopping power as I don't have a servo but I've been pleasantly surprised. I can now stop in a straight line and have much more confidence on the brakes.
First job was to strip off the drums, and get back to the spindle. Then give it a good clean with a wire brush:
Next was to attach the caliper bracket. This took a bit of head scratching as I placed it on then read the instructions which weren't overly clear. After a bit of googling and looking at StuF's thread I went with my initial attempt. Caliper mounting holes toward the rear:
Fit the inner bearing and seal to the disc:
Slide the disc on then fit the outer. Tighten in the same way as for drums:
Assemble the pads in the caliper, I went for EBC green stuff following a recommendation from StuF:
Slide the caliper over the disc and secure with a couple of bolts. Then connect the Flexi:
The kit comes with a metal cap to cover the caliper bolts that is installed with a tool you hit with a hammer. I couldn't get a good enough swing at it so ended up using some grease to protect the bolt.
Residual pressure valves were removed from the master cylinder, ball bearings removed. To do this I had to remove the drag link for access but couldn't find my ball joint splitter so had to buy another.
Final job was bleeding, I tried a vacuum bleeder but only had a portable compressor which didn't provide enough airflow so went with the two person approach.
If the brake pipes come undone it should be a 3 hour job, i had to make 2 new pipes up and run around buying tools so it took double that. Well worth the effort though!
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