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Brake Disks And Pads - What Are They And Can I Change Them?


Rory's Dad

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Yep pads is usually the first thing to address.

After that, the only off the shelf properly matched set up OS the AP caliper kit with AP master cylinder.

You can get close with the various 4 pot callipers from Willwood, Hi Spec etc, but the trouble is you either go for something that "works with" the standard MC, though I wouldn't really call them properly matched as such. Or you go for something with bigger piston area and start modifying the rest of the braking system to match.

What do the TÜV regs let you do? Can you use adjustable bias valves etc to re balance the system, if you go down an "unusual" calliper route?

as far as I know there are very little restrictions with regards to braking system... dont know what braking power is required to pass tüv tho... im very close to being at the registration stage now so will be able to tell you soon! worst comes to worst, the tell me the brakes arent good enough, and I'll replace and upgrade!

a quick question.... I fancy replacing the discs as theyre looking a bit tired... if I replace them like for like size wise, but then later need to upgrade the brakes. can I still use the discs, or will I be needing a bigger set?

I saw the ones at the start of this thread that were drilled and grooved and seemed a bargain....

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The standard discs are plenty good enough unles you're planning to do endurance racing. Drilled / grooved *might* give better wet performance and may cool better, but cooling isn't usually an issue for the fronts as they're pretty much outdoors already. Drilled / grooved discs also arguably keep the pads cleaner too. If you get grooved discs, make sure the grooves go the right way. When driving forwards they should appear to spiral to the centre of the wheel...

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Some people do report an odd "feel" to the pedal with drilled and/or grooved discs on a Westfield.

Also bear in mind that the sort of drilled discs typically fitted to Westfields aren't, how can I put it, exactly top tier Motorsport products, as far as the manufacturing goes. If fitting, do check regularly for any cracking at the drillings

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Do it all yourself. Straight forward. Discs are Cortina. form memory, which wasn't that long ago actuall, disc diameter is 247.5mm, thickness 12.8mm, overall height something like 26mm. I have a pair of solid ones if you want them. Looking for around £30. If you want cross drilled and grooved RD them. I bought mine off Ebay, here, very quick and good comms when I was checking the dims out.

http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1439.l2649

it was these discs I was thinking of... seem a cheap buy-have no idea of quality.

need to measure mine, but guessing the std discs for cortina are all the same arent they? on th back Ive got the golf calipers... will the discs still be sierra setup tho? if so, anyone got an idea of sizes?

@ gatgetman, cheers for the brake pad headsup.. did know about the ferodos not being legal tho. would you recommend no going down the drilled route-with fears of cracking? just grooved then?

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The Magpie in me is drawn to shiny drilled, grooved discs that look like they should stop you from a trillion miles an hour :d

If that's what you want, fit them and keep an eye on them.

I've got regular solid Cortina discs by the way. No grooves, no drillings, they've worked spot on both on the road and on track. :)

(if I was changing, I'd fit separate rotor/bell style discs - but that's only 'cause they look even better! ;):blush:)

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cheers mate. they do look nice.... my discs arent looking the best, although might perform perfectly well.. nice shiny discs do have a certain wow factor!

am thinking of getting the grooved ones, as they "supposedly" do help the pads stay clean.... but in effect, itll just be a nicer looking solid disc for all intents and purposes.

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it was these discs I was thinking of... seem a cheap buy-have no idea of quality.

need to measure mine, but guessing the std discs for cortina are all the same arent they? on th back Ive got the golf calipers... will the discs still be sierra setup tho? if so, anyone got an idea of sizes?

@ gatgetman, cheers for the brake pad headsup.. did know about the ferodos not being legal tho. would you recommend no going down the drilled route-with fears of cracking? just grooved then?

Not all cortina discs are the same. The OD varies, 247.5mm is the largest. My drilled discs showed not sign of cracking even with 2mm worn off them If you look the holes are very well countersunked. I know others have had the problem but was it DIY drilled without countersinking I don't know.

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No, commercially available countersunk disks have gone too. Of course, by no means all will go, just like not all Westfield chassis will break ;) it's just an item to pop on your "pre flight check list".

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My lightened/drilled/counter sunk disks have just started to show sign of cracks. Not done many miles on them, about 6 sprints/yr over 3 years. Cracks may have appeared due to recent swap to higher friction pads.

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on th back Ive got the golf calipers... will the discs still be sierra setup tho? if so, anyone got an idea of sizes?

Depends what model Westfield you have. On many Westfields the rear discs are Mk3 Escort FRONT discs, gripped by either Golf or Sierra calipers.

If you have an SDV (Mazda or Sierra) then that might be different, but I don't know :blush:

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My last car swapped from M16 to cat outlaw callipers, the old ones with external cross over, and was initially worst due to long peddle and poor feel. A swap to a different bore master cylinder fixed the long peddle and bleeding for 20 mins fixed the feel.

Set up was 245mm x 9mm cross drilled and groved cortina disks mintex 1155 pads and standard drums out back Dot 5.1 fluid...awesome.

These old callipers are bigger swept area and piston area over M16's, so can exert a greater clamping force, but both set ups could lock the fronts, so not really needed.

My advice, try a different fluid and pad first.

Hawk pads used to have iron fillings in them, excellent performance, but red hot iron filings looked cool sparking from the wheels but ate straight into the alloys and b*******ed them up a treat

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carbon lorain pads or pagid rs14's or 42's

though cl pads have had a few fail recently with the material coming away from the backing cl say its a bad batch ,though the feel and performance from coldwith cl is second to non , i suggest you try em you will never look back , i use pagids just my preference

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Just be aware if you've got a Westfield for road use registered after April 1st 2001 that pads need to be R90 compliant; AFAIK, Mintex 1144 are, but Ferodo DS2500, 3000 etc aren't.

For the record, I've just bought a set of 1144s and they have no sign of an e90 approval and the box states "not for road use".

Does anyone else find they are noisy when "standing-off" at the rear? I get a regular chirping from my rears which disappears when braking. Just wondering if it's "TADTS" or I have a run-out problem.

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Interesting, my box didn't have anything like that on there when I got them. (Though they are seven odd years old now)

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