Hmm. Time for some attention to the brakes me thinks

[jnoiles]

I found this hiding behind my back wheel today. Next week the whole braking system gets replaced because it's bad. But I hadn't realised it was quite this desperate.

[oukie]

Were you driving that

Looks like you rear claipers are seized as they are doing pretty much nought

[monkeymax]

Yup - as Oukie said... were you driving that? If not, the discs can rust pretty quick in my experience (a bit of driving clears them off though). If you were - is the other side the same?
Looks like you have a caliper that's not braking at all - scary!

[viperrr]

I'm also curious!

What kind of wheels do you have? I can see how you'd visually miss noticing any build up like that with the standard wheels.

[oukie]

Yeah If you were driving that the Caliper is almost certainly doing NOTHING what-so-ever

The rust looks pretty deep also looks to be pitted

Chris.

[superwhite]

Mine were like this - after I had not used the car for a year.

After 30mins driving it had pretty much gone but I do not think that did my pads any good using them to remove the rust...

[jnoiles]

I only picked it up the other week. I knew the brakes sucked and needed to be redone, hence my ordering of new discs, pads and stainless steel lines. I'm thinking that I'll need to do caliper rebuilds now.

But yes, it has done a few hundred miles in that state. And no, I haven't pulled the other wheels off it yet. That'll be next week once the spare set of calipers is complete and the rebuild kits arrive.

I should point out that I'm not actually driving it anymore in this state. The daily driver is the beast that's absorbing the miles at the moment.

[monkeymax]

That's probably just as well - if both rears are like that, then it wouldn't take much for the rear to overtake the front in a hard-braking situation. Glad to hear you're going to use rebuilt calipers - sounds like you should have a very good set up after that! (I've also got rebuilt calipers on mine as well as stainless hoses and uprated pads - made a significant difference)

[jnoiles]

Can't wait for proper brakes. New clutch already in. Shocks and lowering springs shortly as well. Then she'll go, stop and handle properly. Finally be able to start having fun with her.

[monkeymax]

And you just bought her? Wow - don't hang around do you?

[jnoiles]

And you just bought her? Wow - don't hang around do you?

A necessity really:

www.mr2racing.com

[phipck]

Shocks and lowering springs shortly as well. Then she'll go, stop and handle properly.

if your going that far i would do the bushes while the sus is off the car, then get full alignment done.

do it right, you'll only do it once!

[jnoiles]

Shocks and lowering springs shortly as well. Then she'll go, stop and handle properly.

if your going that far i would do the bushes while the sus is off the car, then get full alignment done.

do it right, you'll only do it once!

I'm of two minds about this. Shocks and springs I can do in a day, by myself, for free. Replacing bushes is a pain the ar$e. Pushing, cutting, burning out bushes is a pig of a thing to do when you have no press or torch to assist. Then there are the assorted other bits that will likely break or need replacing as the suspension comes apart. Which turns a day long job on the cheap into a hideous odyssey of parts ordering and eye watering expense. And getting someone else to do the bushes would only amplify this problem as mechanics tend to find a million things wrong as they go.

I'm keen to get the thing on the grid for now. I can add and improve later. If I feel that suspension is a problem after a race or two then I'll gather up drop links, rod ends etc and do it all in one hit. But for now, getting on the grid without going bankrupt is the key

[System-G]

I think you'll regret not doing the bushes, balljoints & droplinks now.

They really do make a massive difference.

May as well make the best start to a season as you possibly can.

You should see the prep that goes into prepping our Caterham Roadsports, Supersports, R300's & R400's for a race season and during a season

[jnoiles]

I think you'll regret not doing the bushes, balljoints & droplinks now.

They really do make a massive difference.

May as well make the best start to a season as you possibly can.

I'd happily do it all at once but I like being able to eat and pay the mortgage as well.

This stuff adds up in a big way. Car, wheels, tyres, clutch, brakes, rain light, roll cage, plumbed in fire extinguisher, seat, harness, race clothing, boots, undies, socks, helmet. That's before you think of tools, spares, jerry cans, tow car, trailer, entry fees, club fees, ARDS test, license fee, track day practice, driver training etc etc. It adds up quick and you really have to draw the line somewhere, especially when - like me - it's coming out of your own pocket, not a sponsors.

I've got until March before we start racing and I'll get a track day in before then. If I realise I need new suspension bits (drop links, rod ends, rollbars, bushes etc) them I'll worry about it then. Doing it this way, at worst, all I've lost is a day of my time putting in shocks/springs.

You should see the prep that goes into prepping our Caterham Roadsports, Supersports, R300's & R400's for a race season and during a season

If I had a sponsor I'd have been all over the Caterham academy. But what is it now, £17k, £19k? Something like that? Plus any consumables. Plus the build time. And that's before you contemplate stuffing it into a wall or engines going bang on you. That's way more than I can justify at the moment.

So yeah, I'm not saying the suspension is a bad idea, just that I need to reign in the costs somehow. I'm learning fast that every job uncovers some new evil that needs to be dealt with. But that's part of the fun. Learning how to do stuff as a matter of necessity. Or on the pain of large garage bills at the very least.

[Jim-SR]

I'm of two minds about this. Shocks and springs I can do in a day, by myself, for free. Replacing bushes is a pain the ar$e. Pushing, cutting, burning out bushes is a pig of a thing to do when you have no press or torch to assist.

its so much easier than most people make out. common sense makes it an extremely easy job with minimal effort. youve still got to get a few ball joints out of tapered holes, but theres nothing a big hammer cant fix (hit the part that has the hole drilled in it, NOT the balljoint!! it'll drop right out)

the simple way to get the bushes out though is with a pair of sockets and some high grade bolts. if youve got a decent bench-mounted vice then that can make it even easier. a hydraulic press makes it childs play. position a large socket (larger than the bush) on one side, a smaller socket on the other (open side facing the bush, it allows it to squash more), bolt through the middle, nut on the end, tighten. washers may be required too, use lots of them or theyll bend. eventually the bush drops out the other side. the replacements wont need pressing in since they are usually just a tight push fit once greased up.

replace all the ball joints whilst youre at it and then you can just destroy those to make removal even faster and fit new ones. its worth doing anyway unless theyve been changed recently.

[jnoiles]

its so much easier than most people make out. common sense makes it an extremely easy job with minimal effort.

Appreciate the tips, I really do, but it's in the 'do it later' category at the moment. Plenty of stuff that I absolutely have to do first, stuff that regs insist on before they let you on the track. The ideal suspension setup will have to wait for a bit, unless anyone fancies donating the parts and labour in return for some laps on a track day

[System-G]

I'd happily do it all at once but I like being able to eat and pay the mortgage as well.

No offense, but if spending another £150 and 1/2 to a full day sorting them for the sake of paying the mortgage and to put food on the table, perhaps racing isn't right for you at the moment.

You could suffer more than that in one small incident in a race that could potentially risk those two issues in a big way.

But at the end of the day as long as you have fun and achieve what you're setting out to do - that's important

[monkeymax]

Don't forget that a proper alignment done for you could cost up to £100 anyway - if you do the jobs separately then there's a chance you'll have to get that done twice which is added cost anyway... I would - at the very least - do ball joints while you're doing suspension. They're easy(ish) to do (depends how brutal you are with the hammer) and not expensive.

Ultimately you need a car that you're comfortable with. If you can't drive it fast comfortably and with confidence then you won't be fast...

[Jim-SR]

Don't forget that a proper alignment done for you could cost up to £100 anyway.

a "proper" alignment will cost you £200-250 minimum. a half ar$ed laser job by the local alignment place costs £100. its fine for road cars, its worth spending the extra on race cars though. a few percent here and there can be the difference between 1st and 10th in a spec series.