Rover coupe shit brakes

[Teamcoupe]

Does anyone else think Rover coupe brakes are shit?


If so do you know if/how/where from braking upgrades can be obtained from?


cheers

[PJF220]

Depends what model you have. Rover were stupid in fitting the brakes from the 111BHP 1.6 on the 200BHP turbo. I have the turbo and agree the brakes in standard from are useless. Even upgraded disks don't help a lot. What I did was fit the front brakes from an MG ZS 180. I paid £100 from a scrap yard delivered. I don't know what country your from though.

Basically the MG ZR 160 and the MG ZS 180 use bigger 282mm disks and larger calipers compared to the standard 260mm disks on the coupe. May not sound much but it makes a hell of a big difference. If your car was made after 1996 and is the K series 1.6/1.8vvc then they bolt straight on without modification. If you have an earlier car, then all you have to do is put some 2mm washers between the calipers and the hub to give the clearance.

Also, it depends on what wheels you have fitted. If you have the 6 spoke turbo wheels then they wont fit under them. If you have the 7 spoke star shape they will. I have 17"ers fitted so no worries for me.

Sorry for delay in reply, I did not get the updated thread message like I should have.

[Teamcoupe]

I have a 1998 Rover 216 Se coupe with the 5 spoke 15" VVC wheels on it, and I just think generally the Brakes are of a poor standard when you are moving quite rapid and you need to stop.


So you reckon the rbakes off the MG ZS 180 brakes, sounds like a plan. Is it literaly just take off the old brakes and replace them, or would it be advised to be done by a garage?


Cheers

[PJF220]

Well, as you have the later coupe you don't even need spacers. I'm not sure if they fit under those alloys. Are you a member of any other forums? I am sure someone on Rovertech could confirm if they will fit or not.

If you are confident enough to change the pads on your own, you can change the whole brakes. You just undo the two bolts holding the carrier to remove the pads, then undo the two bogger bolts holding the caliper to the hub. If you are quick, you can undo the pipe to the caliper and put your thumb over the end to stop much leakage of fluid. Then get the MG caliper and quickly screw it onto the pipe. Dont panic but dont hang about or you'll lose loads of fluid. With the new caliper on, take the old disk off the hub which may be held on with one/two retaining screws. Put the new MG disk on and refit the caliper to the hub with the two bolts. Then fit the new pads and bolt up the carrier. top up the reservoir if required and repeat for the other side. You should only need to do the fronts and it wont knock the bias out enough to notice. With both new brake sets in place, you just need a friend to help bleed the excess air out. One fits a clear pipe on the bleed nipple on the caliper which leads to a container to catch the fluid, the other has foot by brake pedal. Open the bleed nipple and say "open" the other person then stamps hard as possible on brake pedal and says "down" lock the nipple shut and say "up" pedal gets lifted up and repeat three times. Check reservoir to make sure it doesn't get too low or it will draw air in system. repeat process two or three times and check firmness of pedal. Once happy, take for a test drive, hiting brakes regularly before attempting to drive at speed. if pedal not good, repeat bleeding and if necessary, bleed back brakes as well.

If you dont loose much fluid, you should not need much bleeding and you will have very good brakes. Just remember they will need to bed in so don't go braking too had or drive up people's back sides straight away.

It really is the way to go but if you are not confident or don't know how to change pads, get a garage to do it. If you live anywhere near Croydon, Surrey in UK, I will gladly help you for a couple of beers

[Teamcoupe]

Unfortunately I live in Wiltshire, in the south west. But thanks for the sound advice, I will have to research more into whether the wheels will fit over the newer brakes but it sounds like it should improve the braking quite nicely.

I will enquire to how much a garage will cost to fit the brakes, otherwise I will try it myself.

Thanks

www.teamcoupe.co.uk

[PJF220]

I'm making some enquires on the Rover Coupe forum I run. Hopefully will be able to tell you soon.

Click on my home page link if your interested in finding out more, but stay a member here or the mods will kick me ass, LOL.

[Teamcoupe]

Don't worry, I'll stay a member here, it seems really good. Likewise your site looks impressive.

If I can find the answer to this it would be magic. I have subscribed on rovertech as your suggested, and I'm awaiting a reply.


cheers

[PJF220]

I've just heard back from my resident VVC man and he said you will find you need to grind gown the callipers a bit to get them to fit without rubbing. It's not as bad as it sounds. I've done this before by fitting a grinding stone to a drill and shaving off the metal, rubbing it down, checking fitment and rubbing down more where required. The other more expensive option is to buy bigger wheels, like 16" or 17". 17" will work out cheaper in the long run as the tyre sizes are readily available and I pay £75 for an Avon ZZ3 where as I was paying about £100 for the standard 15" tyres.

[Teamcoupe]

Damn, ok I will have to see how difficult the grinding will be. Or consider upgrading my wheels.


cheers


www.teamcoupe.co.uk

[PJF220]

If wheels is too much for you, I guess you'll have to consider upgrading the standard size disks to something like diamond blacks. I'd only suggest grooved and not cross drilled as certainly Rover ones suffer from stress cracking. They will make a difference but the zr160/zs180 has a bigger surface area so ultimately is the best option.

Good luck with whatever you decide anyway

[Teamcoupe]

thanks

[b|ue.]

ive also heard you can get brakes off a bb4 prelude that'll do the trick too.. but i think u need more than just the calipers and brakes..
so i have 17" wheels atm.. i dont need to grind anything ay?
im thinking i need an upgrade too... on the 220 its just too soft ><

[PJF220]

Blue, if you have 17's fitted then they will just bolt on as described without ANY grinding. I have them fitted to my turbo with 17's.

Your right, there is a Prelude conversion but I didn't mention it, a cos I forgot and b, cos I just listed the easiest option. The prelude option means getting the parts of a very specific model and as the PCD stud pattern is different, you need the disks redrilled to 4x100 PCD. There is also the option of using Rover 600 callipers. I think these need work to make the wider MG disks fit. The Prelude kit will require 17" wheels. To be honest, I have two mates with coupe turbos, one has a highly modified car with custom body kit and circa 300bhp. He fitted the prelude disks ages ago and never complained about the improvement. Then my other mate fitted the MG ZS ones and my mate with the modified car helped fit them. He commented that if he'd known the brakes were that easy to fit and just as effective, he'd not have bothered with the prelude kit and gone for the ZS set up.

Just remember, it HAS to be the ZR160 or ZS180 as these were the only ZS models with the bigger vented 282mm disks. Scrap yards will often try and fob you off with the smaller brakes.

[b|ue.]

cool cool thanks man
so there are only 2 things i need? both the disc and calipers from the mg ZS160/180 then bolt on?
sorry im too lazy to filter through your posts and see what i actually need..

[PJF220]

Need disks, callipers, carriers and pads. Then, if your car is a pre 1996 model, ie a 216, 220 or 220 T you need 4x 2mm washers that sit between the calliper and the hub to bring the calipers out a fraction to stop them rubbing against the disk.

If you struggle, I can find a web site that gives quite clear instructions on it.