289 progress........

[1985 CCX]

Great pictures, it does look like the original style units are shorter in length possibly aiding in wheel rub. Thus keeping it off the wheel however might need to get different rod ends or go simple hiem. I am told by a few folks that it will be fine straight with Mag wheels as they are narrower and cast a little different.

I did a bunch of looking through pictures last night and it looks like it's a 50/50 shot as to bend or not. Appears to weigh heavily on offset plus wheel choice dependance.

We will see, hoping this weekend we can set up and eye ball fitment.

[MAStuart]

Jeff I am going to try one of my wheels today. I don't think it's going to fit without bending. My wheels are Trigo Fia 7 1/2. They are supposed to fit an original car. I don't know why most makers make them 7 1/2 and 9 1/2. I believe original cars used 6 1/2 and 8 1/2-inch FIA wheels. Anyhow if your wheel fits without bending the steering arm, I might have to look into getting real Mag wheels in the correct sizes.

I am glad I got some bolts to see how things fit together. I have been wondering about for a while now. I am glad everything looks like it fits together well.

I have a question for you? How well did your old brakes work? How many pistons did they have and what size are they? Depending on those things, you might not have as much stopping power than you had. I went with the Girling's because that's that they had.

[1795]

I am not so sure that stopping power will be a potential concern. Based upon my experience with the race Girling calipers, they have plenty of stopping power. The only issue that I had to address was adequate cooling to the solid rotors to decrease warping under high temps so that they were not pushing the brake pads back. I doubt that there will be any problems during normal driving.

If you are going to track the car, you may want to check the pedal if you are going into corners right after significant braking for a prior situation. I found that braking for a corner after a long straight was not a problem, but having to brake for corners that were in close proximity to each other, after the rotors heated up the pedal would get soft and require some pumping to get the brakes to work. That was corrected with the addition of more brake cooling.

[ALF]

@ 1795:
Could you please provide some details on the break cooling you did add.
I've seen some pictures on your build thread, but would be great to get some details.
I assume best on a new thread.

[1985 CCX]

I would say that my current brakes are similar to what Jim describes above. Maybe 90% of the Girlings.
Based upon what I have experienced in the past Girlings are better as they are dual piston (one each side) vs single piston - static one side as modern brakes often are along with a bit more contact area on rotor.

The PBR type are used on typical 4000 cars etc... No quality issues, no doubt $$ factor
Girlings will set you back a couple dollars, generally not for weak knee's.
KMS uses Wilwood STD, Girling optional I think which are again improved over PBR type and work like manual brakes do.

To be honest, solid rotors do not move heat as well as vented. In racing conditions nothing is perfect and wear a violent competitor. Racing = brutal on wear items.

Why the change?
If you ask that you don't know me.....
I did have the option of Girling steel calipers, just went for the race. (I'll add a picture later)

I'll post pics once I assemble, the Magnesium wheels are 6.5" and also cast a little different than alloy. We will see together....

Below is Jim F car, set up by Cobra Automotive.

[1795]

Originally Posted by ALF

@ 1795:
Could you please provide some details on the break cooling you did add.
I've seen some pictures on your build thread, but would be great to get some details.
I assume best on a new thread.

Alf,

It is somewhat similar to what Jeff just posted a picture of from Cobra automotive. I will post some pictures and descriptions when it gets a little warmer out. Right now we are getting single digit to negative degrees Fahrenheit.

Jim

[1985 CCX]

I’ll help on this one ......
Here is Jim’s

[ALF]

Originally Posted by 1985 CCX

I’ll help on this one ......
Here is Jim’s

Many thanks for this great picture.
Yes this I head in my mind referring to Jim’s thread in my post.
I’ll contact Jim via PM to not highjack the build thread from Jeff any longer 😉

[1985 CCX]

Trigo's

Will have to add backset as what matters.

Hi-Jack away! It's all about open and fun discussion.

[MAStuart]

Hi Jeff. If you get a chance, could you measure the back spacing on your 6 1/2 inch wheels? Just wondering where they put the inch when they started to make 7 1/2 inch FIA wheels. All in the back, all in the front, half and half, or something else? My wheel will not fit without bending the steering arm.

[1985 CCX]

I'll look tonight.

[1985 CCX]

All parts for the most part are collected.

Mag wheel backspace 2.75” give or take.
Front calipers rebuilt by Cobra Automotive along with steering arm PU.
Thank you Curt and team.

Front pistons cleaned and polished and new rubber applied.
Did keep the patina, no cleaning, on outside.
Steering arms = steel: not stainless as they stick to magnet
Could be alloyed but my guess steel.

Will test fit this weekend. Will bend steering arms if necessary.

[1985 CCX]

Bonus day!
Thanks to a delivery from my friend Craig Combs I now have rear calipers along with insulated e-brake cable.

They are beautiful pieces and will be seeing the gold car after I get front settled.

[1985 CCX]

Couple extra shares from Cobra Auto

Curt’s Manx
My friend Mark R. CSX4000 car about to ship to UK.

Thanks again to Cobra Automotive team as it’s always a great visit.

[1985 CCX]

Ok
So here is a steering arm comparison.
The original style is looking to way straight when compared.
Time to install.

[1985 CCX]

So as you can see I will need to bend the steering arms.
Search up my require high heat and a torch I will have to wait until next week in order to pull it off.
I will use the other steering arms as an aid to know how far to bend the units so that that will work without issues.
The steering arms do appear to be ferrous steel therefore not stainless even though it looks like stainless.

[1985 CCX]

Brake alignment using these brackets actually seem to center the caliper on the brake rotor perfectly.
Thinking using the other brackets would make it difficult to center the rotor to the center of the caliper. ??
Planning to clean the whole area up tomorrow and try the other version to see if I can make it work.
Also need to try to judge how much of the caliper will need to be sanded in order to get the wheel on the car, might be requirement to use a spacer?

[1795]

Jeff,

Yes, you will need to bend that arm, way to close for comfort and will rub at some point.

regarding the calipers, it is just a lot of trial and error getting them ground down to the right size one the tips. I would suggest making sure that you spin the wheels fast after you think that you have the right amount of material removed, as you may notice a difference and some more contact with the wheel moving more quickly after you have done it slowly. Remember to look on the inside of the wheel for rubbing, in addition to one the caliper. Some paint or marker one the tips will help notice small areas of concern.

jim

[1985 CCX]

Thanks Jim
Your help has been awesome and invaluable

[PDUB]

Looks like you are making some progress on it, Jeff!