Mk1 Focus RS powered Puma, now going RWD, JWRC

I think that's the sort of stuff that Ford put in when you buy a crate engine so you can wear the edges off nicely

So, while it won't stop raining, I thought I'd better start seeing to my brakes. I have the ST170 setup all round as some of you will know, but it's been appalling for a long time and I like to be able to stop quickly and efficiently.

Saw Eurocarparts had 30% until midnight tomorrow so thought I would take advantage as this is the best offer they have had for a while. I bought new Brembo discs all round and Brembo rear pads. I've ordered some EBC yellowstuff pads for the front, separately.

Here's the rears that have seen better days - none of which are at their wear limits, but have not worn well.



Nice new discs and pads..



Should be able to do the fronts on Friday when the pads arrive. I'm hoping the weather gets better so I can get on with running in! I don't drive it in the rain

Hi Ben
Do you keep your car in a garage or outside like mine? I think yours is on the same brake set up as mine (ST170s back and front) but my brakes seem to be getting worse. I think the reason for that is every time I go out the discs are fairly rusty and my pads are now contaminated with rust. I just wondered if you had the same as you don't use yours much as well.
Barry

Could be the case Barry.. It was practically outside (under a pop up garage) Winter 2014-2015. Usually kept in where you see in the photos though.

But yes, I don't use it often and that won't help.

Looking good, I need to strip and rebuild all my calipers over the next few weeks.

Car is look excellent and the engine bay is stunning, keep up the good work.

Thanks Jay.

I want to get all the callipers electro-plated and that will mean re-building, but the callipers themselves function well at the moment. A winter project! M also not sure whether with the heat, the plating comes away more easily?

Hi Ben
Not sure but I think the calipers may be passivated as standard and heat doesn't affect it.
Barry

Hi Barry,

The only reason I question it is because I've had reconditioned callipers in the past and they come zinc plated, but it seems to 'wear off' and th callipers just go rusty :?

They should be ok after electro plating, I've ordered all new seals & pistons for mine, 4 years of track days ad heavy driving has ruined them!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/726634-brake-caliper-refinishing.html

Any help?

Thanks Barry, interesting read. Will go for plating when I get round to dissembling them in the future. The platers I use are pretty good on brightness, so a gold passivate should be nice and shiny!

It's a strange thing about the passivate as my Westfield calipers are over 14 years old and the passivate is still in passable condition. Maybe it's brake dust which collects on the surface of hard used calipers that causes the rot. You can also see that it's a silver to gold colour rather than just the silver of zinc plating.
Barry

My local platers told me that the gold passivate has a better corrosion resistance than just plain zinc, so I guess that's why.

So had to take the sump pan off because it was leaking :roll: and got to the point where it was marginally better than a colander :lol: so had enough, took it off, cleaned up both faces and re-sealed with Loctite 5890.

I've left it setting without putting oil back in. Will put it back on the ground tomorrow at some point and fill with oil. Hopefully that will sort it!

Hi Ben
Forgot to mention this to you before but with a little machining of spacers you can make a silvertop sump fit your blacktop engine and it's a one piece sump that's designed for a vertical installation as in my Westy. What you would need would be a silvertop alloy sump +windeage tray+ oil pick up+ the 4 extended main bearing bolts(which fit on bearing caps 2 and 4 I think)
Everything's a straight swap apart from the main bearing bolts as they are longer and have threads going down to bolt the windeage tray to so whats needed are some spacers(19mm) long machining up that go under the main bearing bolts (as the silvertop mains are deeper) so that the level of the windeage tray is kept the same. If you're interested I'll bring a set down with me to Fordfair.
Barry

Hi Barry,

This is interesting, and thanks for the info. Before I waste your time (I'm assuming you mean bring spacers to Ford Fair? Which is very kind of you) I need to consider some things!

1. Does the silvertop sump bolt to the MTX75 gearbox the same way the blacktop windage tray does?
2. I currently have the intermediate bearing carrier on a standard but modified 2.0 N/A bracket that bolts to the blacktop windage tray, so this would need supporting from the block I'm guessing.
3. I would need to weld on oil breather drain and turbo drain fittings - but that's not really an issue.
4. Is the silvertop sump any deeper than the steel pan?
5. Is it going to be worth it if the gearbox is still sat at an angle? I guess it would mean the dipstick would read correctly and the windage tray would be correct.
6. I *may* have ARP main bolts, but I'm guessing they would do longer versions for the silvertop version anyway. Also I'm a bit uneasy about touching any of the engine now that it's been built - but it is only swapping a couple of bolts.

I should have just mounted the engine at the same angle as in the Focus!! No one seems to do it though :?

Hmmm, thinking time. Thanks Barry.

Ben

Hi Ben
I have everything for the sump kit apart from the spacers but there's a few people out there that machine them up including a guy on 105speed(forum) so if you're interested just send me a reminder before Fordfair.
1. Unlike the raceline sump the silvertop does have the boltholes at the bottom of the sump for the gearbox.
2. I don't really understand that.
3. The sump's alloy so drains no problem for you.
4. The sump overall is about 2" shallower than the combined alloy/steel one on the blacktop but it holds the same as it doesn't go to a point like the blacktop one.
5. Correct and no danger of aerating oil or wrong dipstick reading.
6. I can understand that but if it's better for your engine....

Lots of stuff on the net if you type in silvertop sump on blacktop engine.
Barry

Yup, thanks Barry. Have been looking at the sump etc. through Google.

Ah, I see, cool - I have a friend that can turn some spacers up if I get the material. I'm guessing that they're usually aluminium.

I'll have a think! Might be worth doing..

Hi Ben
I wouldn't have thought they were aluminium as they will have to have the same compressive strength as the mains caps otherwise you might get a false reading on torqueing up the mains bolts.
Only other problem I can see is if you have anything running underneath the sump but as I said the silvertop's shallower.
Barry

Yes, thinking about it aluminium was a silly guess!

Thanks.