AP brake touching wheel...what to do?

[Lotus Boy]

Hi,

 

Recently bought a set of Performance minilite style wheels. All fit fine bar the n/s front. The wheel catches on the pipe that runs at the bottom of the brake

see here. The arrow is just pointing to the pipe not where it rubs by the way.

 

It rubs on the other side of the pipe and its touching the wheel here.

On the o/s front wheel there is a good 4mm clearance so not a design or incompatability issue with regards to wheel offset for example.

 

What is this pipe? Does it contain the fluid that runs to the other caliper?

Is there any adjustment on the unit in relation to how it sits on the hub i.e. can I slightly alter it to give clearance ? (my feeling is no otherwise it could touch the discs I suppose but thought I would ask). I guess my best and safest solution would be to grind off a mill or two from the wheel on that edge where it rubs??

 

Thanks for any help and advice.

 

Dave

 

Edited by - Lotus Boy on 11 Aug 2007 12:02:53

[rgrigsby]

Your correct that pipe is the fluid feed to the other side of the caliper, it's therefore fairly important! there isn't any way of adjusting how the calipers sit as far as I can tell so I think you're only option maybe to remove a bit from the wheel.

 

But I'd bit a bit cautious doing that...

 

Rob G

www.SpeedySeven.com

[Graham Sewell]

The pipe carries fluid from the inside half of the caliper to the outside. If it wears through, it could be catastrophic.

 

Have you tried swapping the wheels over to check that your N/S is not from a different mould/supplier.

 

Did you put the pink spacers in the correct location? That might move the caliper the necessary couple of mm from the wheel.

 

I had something similar when I was sold two left calipers rather than a matched pair, and the mechanic tried swapping pipes and bleed nipples to get it to look correct.

 

Cheers,

 

Graham

 

Cheers,

 

Graham

---

Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

[JampJ]

Know this may sound obvious, but is it possible to bend the pipe a little so it doesn't touch?

 

JFDI

(Just F*****g Do It)

[shn7]

Are the wheels the correct offset? Surely we should determine this before looking at alternative solutions?

 

Steve.

Sussex (West) AO

Not forgetting Percy the Polar Bear

[Powderpuff]

I seem to recall that clearance is an issue with the big brakes and 13" rims....there were 2 versions of the minilite replicas normally found on a 7...one fits...the other doesn't as my friend found out to his cost ☹️

 

 

[tweeky]

om the front lotus elise calipers also ap the fluid transferpipe is silconed to the caliper body. Just thoyght id give you guys the idea.

 

 

Mark c

 

Tweeky

 

In a purple haze

[ruff seven]

On Superlite wheels the balance weights sometime touch the caliper, cc ones are ok, minator I think

[Lotus Boy]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

 

I already have a set of minators which are fine though again the n/s front clearance is much less than the o/s to the point where you couldn't get a rizla between. As Powder Puff says - think it is just very tight anyway.

 

These superlites have just come off another Seven and offset is fine since I have no probs with the o/s wheel. It just seems to be that the left calipers sit slightly differently as it were. It's only marginally catching the wheel.

 

Graham - what are these pink spacers you talk of? Where abouts are they located and what is their role? Didn't build the car or fit the calipers so a bit in the dark.

 

Did wonder if I could bend the pipe in a little but didn't want to start playing with it till I knew was it all was.

I'm guessing that there is a fair chunk of metal on the wheel where it is catching on so should be ok to smooth off a little though do you not think??

 

Thanks

 

Dave

 

[Lotus Boy]

OK have done a bit more digging into the BC archives. As I understand it then the spacers sit on the hub and move the wheels outwards from the centre line of the car.

 

Soooo...another question if I was to do this...the studs don't look particularly long and if I put spacers on I will lose more thread. Will the standard threads be sufficient? If not, can you fit longer studs and how easy?

 

Would longer studs still allow me to fit the Prisoner wheels and their hub caps...questions questions arrgh why isn't anything simple 😬 😬

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[Lotus Boy]

Right! After more digging and some measuring this morning I currently have 32mm studs and about 5-6 turns of thread with these superlites so fitting spacers wouldn't be a good idea at present.

 

2 options:

1. Buy new superlites with different offsets. My wheels don't have any ET stamped on them, just the PCD. Will e-mail Superlite but anyone have any ideas?

 

2. Fit longer 40mm studs with 2-3mm spacers. Would seem my Prisoners will still fit if I use open ended nuts.

 

Will post up what I end up doing in case anyone else comes across this problem in the future.

 

Cheers

[Myles]

My wheels don't have any ET stamped on them

 

Don't rely on the obvious marks anyway - some manu's cast the 'out of the box' ET on to the wheel - and then machine the hub etc. to whatever is actually required...

 

          🙆🏻 🙆🏻 🙆🏻 🙆🏻 🙆🏻

Alcester Racing

7s Equipe™

^🙆🏻 🙆🏻 _🙆🏻 🙆🏻 ^🙆🏻

 

Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com

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[Graham Sewell]

Sorry for the delay in reeplying, but the pink spacers move the caliper slightly inward IIRC.

 

I am not 100% sure if that applies to AP calipers. Probably best to also give CC a call (Chris Lambert is generally very helpful).

 

Cheers,

 

Graham

---

Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

[Stationary M25 Traveller]

Changing studs is pretty easy ...... unless the fitter of the original studs glues them in with excessive loctite - as I found on my rears. The thin-headed bolts can be a real pig to loosen - I had to use a lot of blue flames and an impact wrench.

 

 

******************

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And racing around to come up behind you again. new link to photos