Well, as part of the ongoing project that is rapidly turning into a money pit (a bit faster than expected!), I've come round to looking into the brakes on the GTS. I took the callipers I had from a sierra, but it turns out that they are well and truly rusted.

Having previously worked in the car industry (Mercedes Benz parts department), I started to make a fw calls. I tried EBC initially, and they asked me to send the units in for inspection before quoting. They called me the other day saying wanted £80 per caliper to refurb them to new! So that phone call ended early and the old units are now back with me. I was quoted £230 for exchange units from XL Recon, but in the end I decided to bite the bullet and orde some new ones direct from Ford (using a contact from back in the day), and picked them up for cost pice as a favour.

But now I've discovered that the master cylinder needs replacing as well. I'm not going to scrimp when it coms to the build, as I'd rather spend the money and be safe. Having said that, I don't want to spend big bucks on units that aren't entirely necessary.

So, my question is this.... which is the best master cylinder to use on my GTS, and where do I get it from? I've been quoted £130 for a new one from the motor factors, but this seems a bit stee to me. Are there any similar ones that I could use that are better performance for the money, or cheaper (but not nasty) alternatives that I can use, and are also IVA friendly?

Expect more posts over the next few days, I'm spending al weekend working on it again....

hi Charlie, dont know about the M/C as im using a tandem system but dont beat yourself up about the brakes. £80 is the same as my pug ones cost to recondition to new from Bigg Redd. My local motorfactors are friendly and can get me exchange units for something like 170 (IIRC). Surprised you went with ford though! Brakes are just worth their weight in gold and new calipers look good for IVA/SVA, show youre not messing about .

Interestingly for me it was about the time I was buying my recon calipers that I decided my build was turning into a money pit too!

Maybe worth trying
http://www.biggred.co.uk/

they have a pair for £95 exchange in their e-bay shop.

They also do master cylinder stuff I think.

Matt

if you are after a sierra master, then beware there are at least 2 different types - differ by mounting holes.

I took my old one to Allparts and they managed to match it ; cannot recall price but it was around £ 60 ? I may have the receipt.

check ebay - I happened to look recently are there are quite a few new ones, again not sure if they are the same as mine.

do not throw the reservoir, for some strange reason, they are not included.

due to chassi being alread made to take the sierra master, I was stuck with this but take a look a Rally Design after makret masters- you may be better off buying one or two (separate front/rear) as they are less likley to become obsolete.

i bought a new sierra MC of the bay for £25

Yeah Bigg Redd are pretty good, give them a try.

I used Andrew Page to provide reconditioned calipers for my build from a Sierra. They cost about 35 each inc VAT with exchange. Perhaps phoning them about a master cylinder, they are a motor factors so may have one in your area.

Adrian

GMS CApri spares may be able to supply a new one. I payed £50 for a MK2 Escort one.