Hi, After my recent sva and getting the car on the road im a little underwhelmed with the brakes. When i press the pedal its firm but i just feel im
not slowing down that much i cant even lock the brakes although i have probably only done maybe 100 plus miles in it. Anyone else with these and how
do you find them?
I locked my bias at the sva which im thinking could be half the problem but whats the best way to set up other than trial and error locking the front
whilst on the road?
cheers
Adam
You may be better with the Mintex 1144 pads that they do for the Wilwoods (Rally Design sell them). Not heard many good things about the current pads but are you sure the system is bled properly?? They do take time to bed in properly too
im pretty happy that they are bled right as the pedal gets very firm quickly but it doesnt feel like that pressure you have put on the pedal is transferring to the braking force you require.
Yep, I found the pedal was very firm and pressing it in normal traffic needed a heavy push. Under some spirited driving the same heavy push but it
would lock up as the wooden feel made me over compensate.
I now have Wilwoods with Mintex 1144's and the response is much better, lot more feel through the pedal and pressing the pedal slows the car down
progressively.
Only thing about them atm is they squeal real loud under 20mph.. still need to try the copperslip trick though.
Steve
copperslip hasn't stopped the squeal on mine. as its only with gentle pressure at low speed i can live with the noise as they are much better
than the smart pads.
the smart pads worked and could lock a wheel no problem but i didn't have much confidence in them due to the lack of feel.
the 1144's are much better
I have the low speed squeal as well. It really sucks. I am going back to the old pads,
Steve.
if you chamfer the leading and trailing edges of the pad it stops the squeel.
Fitting Wilwood caliper will save unsprung weight and add bling but they won't improve your brakes in fact all you are likely to end up with a
is spongey brake pedal andbrakes that don't work properly until they are hot.
Your car will have rearward weight bias so it is highly unlikely you need a pressure regulator in the rear circuit.
The problem is you require excessive pedal effort to stop the car, this needs fixing at the source. What is required is to bring the pressure
generated in the hydraulic system back to the level the calipers and pads are designed to work at.
The reason why the pedal pressure is excess is because because of lack of height in the foot wells a Seven type car must have much less brake pedal
leverage than the donor.
To make matter worse it runs without a servo which supplies 30 to 60% of the braking effort in a tintop.
Tintops built without servo always used much smaller bore brake master cylinders to keep the brake pedal effort within reasonable limits.
What type of master cylinders are you running ? If you have a Sierra or Cortina master cylinder you should change it for one with a smaller bore
(for example Mk1 Fiesta without servo or Triumph Spitfire 1500).
[Edited on 20/7/09 by britishtrident]
quote:
Originally posted by ashg
if you chamfer the leading and trailing edges of the pad it stops the squeel.
The reason why the pads are squealing is they are glazing --- the friction material is not getting anywhere near working temperature.
even with mintex or with smart pads?
[Edited on 20/7/09 by westy turbo]
what, squealing?
the smart pads don't squeal.
my mintex aren't to bad, only really when going slow in traffic, stop / start.
if the car was just for road use i would of stuck with the smart pads, they work well enough. they just didn't seem up to the job for hard track
use.
I will give the pads a bit more time and on longer runs to see if i can work with them and also try to adjust the bias as i think the system is good
and bled well. Is there some sort of conversion list of what mintex pads will replace the wilwood powerlite calipers and smart pads (pads are
150-8813K)?
Cheers
Adam
[Edited on 20/7/09 by bassett]
I have just been through the same experience. I had Smart pads in my setup (Dynalite front/ Powerlite rear) and they were as wooden as anything and
squealed like a stuck pig at low speeds. Funny enough I reckon they are more suited to the track than the road.
I have just changed the fronts to Mintex 1144 and there is a marked improvement in feel and braking efficiency. Rally Design stock the Mintex range
for Wilwood calipers. While fitting them I also put some anti squeal tape on the backs of the pads - this has stopped all the squeal and the pads
don't rattle in the calipers now so this is a tip that I would definitely recommend.
I am so impressed with the Mintex that I am now ordering some for the rear Powerlites. Incidentally I now have a set of Dynalite Smart pads for sale
if anyone needs some....
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Fitting Wilwood caliper will save unsprung weight and add bling but they won't improve your brakes in fact all you are likely to end up with a is spongey brake pedal andbrakes that don't work properly until they are hot.
i find the smart pads ok, no real issue yet and no squeal at any time.
I would try mintex but i dont think they make them for the Midilite yet 
As for the spoungy pedal it will be down to the master cylinder size if you are positive there is no air left.
I used an Ezi bleed kti but still had to unbolt the calipers and move them about to remove any trapped air.