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What rear caliper (not sierra -golf)
bikkel - 28/6/09 at 11:26 AM

for my car (lotus europa) I want to convert to disc brakes:

I am looking for a light (alloy?) caliper for a 255 mm solid 10 mm disc.
for the optimal brakebalance I want as big a piston as possible (sierra = 43 mm golf = 38 mm)


thanks

koen
netherlands


any suggestions

omega0684 - 28/6/09 at 12:29 PM

what about the hi-spec rear calipers,

HERE

lsdweb - 28/6/09 at 12:45 PM

Peugeot 106 / Saxo rear calipers are nice and light and have a handbrake mechanism built in.

Previous posts

They also work really well when they're not all crudded up!

Wyn

britishtrident - 28/6/09 at 02:00 PM

The OP is correct he needs rear calipers only very slightly smaller than the front --- I would guess the required braking split will be roughly 60% front 40% rear to 55% front 45% rear.

On racing Davrians which have slightly more rearward weight bias than the Europa we used to use the same size caliper front and rear with the bias bar dead central this gave a perfect 50-50 brake distribution for dry

No way are tiny Saxo calipers going to be big enough even if the OP retains the original Europa (Triumph Herald) calipers on the front.
Hi-Spec rear calipers --- the problems have been pretty well documented.


What is required is a front brake caliper with a built in handbrake as used on some Citreon models, Alfa-Sud and I think some SAAB models.

Also I am not sure what size caliper was fitted to the MGF -- it was at least Sierra sized

I would caution againts using very large calipers on the front of a Europa as it will just lead to very difficult to solve brake snatching problems.

rusty nuts - 28/6/09 at 04:45 PM

There may? be a problem using Citroen calipers as they are normally used with LHM fluid rather than brake fluid which could cause problems with the seals

britishtrident - 28/6/09 at 07:16 PM

Some Citrons used conventional brake fluid --- can't remember which though.

rusty nuts - 28/6/09 at 08:32 PM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Some Citrons used conventional brake fluid --- can't remember which though.


Non that I can remember that have a large bore caliper with a handbrake . Saxo's etc have a small bore caliper but not sure of size

MikeRJ - 28/6/09 at 09:26 PM

Saab 99's, early Saab 900s and some old Subarus also had handbrakes operating on the front.

Another possible solution is to use a separate handbrake caliper which significantly opens up the choice of suitable main calipers. Wilwood sell a nice small, light alloy handbrake caliper.