Black Hole Posted November 12 Share Posted November 12 My front left brake has experienced very uneven brake pad wear. I would suspect this is a sticky caliper that needs a rebuild. My car is a 2009 SV with the standard brakes. Can I confirm these are Girling type 14 brakes as used on Spitfire MKIII (and perhaps some Elan and Europa?) I don't see any obvious leakage, I plan to order a rebuild kit from Moss Any recommendations on brake pads. Car is primarily street driven with some AutoX and occasional track day. Moss Motors sells a pad made by Classic Gold and is listed as ceramic for the Spitfire. What are the pads Beachem sells (they areabout twice the price) Any comment on the cupping of the thin pad as shown in the picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Westfield Posted November 12 Share Posted November 12 They look like 14LFs Moss doesn't list the brand of their kits if it worries you, Girling kits at Pegasus If you plan to split the calipers, be aware that the seal between halves doesn't come in the kits, and if reused, it will leak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Hole Posted November 12 Author Share Posted November 12 Thanks for the confirmation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pethier Posted November 12 Share Posted November 12 I would never consider splitting the calipers. I had this sort of calibers on my Europa. I was able to remove the pistons and replace them with stainless pistons without splitting the calipers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toldfield Posted November 13 Share Posted November 13 On my car, a '82 S-3, the master cylinder has separate lines/circuits for the left and right front brakes. When I ordered a new Spitfire master cylinder it had one circuit for the left and right front brakes. The left side was worn and my brakes pulled to the left. Rather than modify the plumbing I found a shop that rebuilt/sleeved master cylinders and had it rebuilt. Jeff was not able to sleeve them but did an excellent job of rebuilding them. http://www.karpspb.com/cylinders I bought my pads from Porterfield. https://porterfield-brakes.com/ I bought a kit to overhaul the front calipers from Moss Motors and it came with the O-rings. No leaks yet... Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pethier Posted November 13 Share Posted November 13 The cupping of the pad looks very weird. I don't see how it's possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted November 13 Share Posted November 13 Looks like a stuck outer piston and someone tried to loosen the dragging brake (maybe on the side of the road?) with a screwdriver. You could reinstall the caliper without the pads and pop the pistons out far enough to pull with the brake pedal applied or with air to see how bad it is before ordering parts. Brake clean aerosol and emory cloth for minor clean up. Lube pistons and seals with brake fluid and start them by hand. If they cock and won't rock back easily, apply air or pedal to push them back out a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Hole Posted November 13 Author Share Posted November 13 16 hours ago, pethier said: I would never consider splitting the calipers. From what I have gathered it appears splitting them is not a big deal as long as you get the crossfeed gasket that is not in the rebuild ki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Hole Posted November 13 Author Share Posted November 13 4 hours ago, MV8 said: Looks like a stuck outer piston and someone tried to loosen the dragging brake I have owned the car since new so this did not happen. No problem with the brakes til now. I have 13K miles on the pads with about 8 track days and maybe a similar number of autocross. Not sure how fast this wear happened. I probably have about 1500 street miles (no track and maybe one autocross) since I last bled the brakes and would have looked at them. Don't recall it being uneven at that time (but I may have just confirmed I had adequate pad thickness and not noticed the uneven wear). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbcollier Posted November 16 Share Posted November 16 The problem is caused by the pad not retracting and staying in contact with the disc, greatly accelerating wear on that pad. The pad is not retracting for one of two reasons: - the caliper piston is corroded and is sticking in the bore, - the pad backing plate is tight in the caliper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Westfield Posted November 17 Share Posted November 17 I always clean up the top + bottom of the pads on the belt sander so they slide nicely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Hole Posted November 17 Author Share Posted November 17 18 hours ago, jbcollier said: - the caliper piston is corroded and is sticking in the bore, - the pad backing plate is tight in the caliper. 3 hours ago, 7Westfield said: I always clean up the top + bottom of the pads on the belt sander so they slide nicely Thank you. Parts on order to address these issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pethier Posted November 18 Share Posted November 18 On 11/16/2024 at 5:05 PM, jbcollier said: The problem is caused by the pad not retracting and staying in contact with the disc, greatly accelerating wear on that pad. The pad is not retracting for one of two reasons: - the caliper piston is corroded and is sticking in the bore, - the pad backing plate is tight in the caliper. I still don't understand how a pad wears concave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbcollier Posted November 18 Share Posted November 18 Without actually inspecting the car in question, I can't help you there. Photos only get you so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedwagon Posted November 19 Share Posted November 19 Possibly heat distortion from dragging, either pad backing or caliper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now