FRP Duratec Turbo Project!

[Wild E. Coyote]

Guys, sorry for going back a little. I can see you are all very handy around cars (I assume you are doing it for living), but I am not in the same league. I am about to do brakes overhaul on my focus (MK 1.5 1.6 zetec SE) and would like to know a thing or two about the colours you use for the calipers and drums. It has to withstand high temperatures, right? Prevoiusly in this thread you did very nice job on restoration of those Brembos. Did I see here on that picture that you put the calipers to owen, or is it just my imagination?
So, the question is: what kind of protection do you use for calipers and drums after sanding them clean? Any primer, and then top coat, or is there more to it?
Once again, sorry for this diversion in very nice thread and excellent project! Love the work!

 

[martinthrapston]

some off us use smooth hammerite paint which does the job and also cheaper than caliper paint k:

 

[PumaNoob]

No problem mate, thats what the forum is here for! We are not mechanics, were just enthusiasts, like you! For my brembos, i used VHT paint (Very high Temperature), followed by VHT laquer, available for between £5 & £10 per can off ebay. You dont need to use a primer with it, but my mate has used a 2 pac paint, its a 2 part paint that professional body shop repairers use on normal body panels, and theyve been fine for over 2 years now. I will be posting more on my Alcon refurb in the next few days, so if there is anything in perticular you want to know or see pics of, like the exact paint can etc, then let me know, & ill try and get some pics up.

Jacko has a thread on refurbing brakes, its targeted at Alcons, but there is a lot of useful info in there about brakes in general, might be worth a read here: http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=2231&view=unread#unread" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are loads of options really, powdercoating being the most expensive, but looks the best (in my opinion), but if you are good with a spray can, you can get pretty good results with that too.

 

[PumaNoob]

"Did I see here on that picture that you put the calipers to owen, or is it just my imagination?

I assume you meant in the oven? Yes, i did put them in the oven, but if the item gets hot on its own on the car, then it will cure itself while fitted. Its not 100% needed, but it said on the can so i tried it, but ive done it without putting in the oven, and its fine!!

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

Cheers mate! :grin:

Thanks a million :wink: !

 

[PumaNoob]

Cheers mate! :grin:

Thanks a million :wink: !

No worries, glad we could help! :thumbs:

Ok, so got my calipers and discs refurbed today, ive noy yet put them together, but just got them sprayed up. No point going over the stuff already in jackos thread, so ill just put a few bits.

One for Wild E. Coyote, its worth spraying the outside of your discs and the cantre section, here are mine

They look aweful when they rust, so sprayed them in the blue VHT paint, Black might be better as i might have gone a bit overkill on the blue, but if it looks crap, ill go over it in black!

One caliper with just the blue, no laquer, and the disc has laquer on.

These pics look really dull, almost grey, but the blue actually looks quite good in the mat form!

,

Here are the calipers with the left half with laquer, right half not yet laquered.

Really would have liked to keep them mat, but i think it will be hard to keep it clean. Besides, my wheels are mat grey, so the shiny caliper might look better.

I got some kunifer brake pipes made up by a guy on ebay, really helpful guy, just gave him the sizes and fittings, and he made up a private listing for me. And i asked for a spare set, so 4 pipes, and 8 UNF fittings, and including postage, he charged me £20, which i thought was a really good price!! If anyone else is interested in kunifer (a superior pipe to copper), or copper brake pipes made to any legnth, then id reccomend giving him a shout. His direct email is [email protected], or his ebay home page is http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/willigg2/?_trksid=p4340.l2559" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That would be too easy though, i cocked up and asked him for pipes too long, i got the pipes at 270mm, when 220-230mm is what i really wanted! He offered to have them back and cut them down and re do the ends for me, but i thought id do it myself, and might be helpful for some if you dont know how to do the pipe ends.

i used this cheap brake pipe flaring tool, worked a treat

You put the pipe in its corresponding hole

Then you put the little black end former for your size pipe. and compress it with the clamp provided, and it should look something like this.

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

Nice background on those pics!
Thanks for the info on the brakes and extra pics :grin:

 

[PumaNoob]

Lol, can you believe that's my garage, I was in there with my mate last night finishing my gear box, & it's jus chaos in there. I'm going to have to have a tidy up today I think!!

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

No sweat :grin:
my Grandpa (carpenter by profession) used to say: if someone's place where he works is always tidy, it means he doesn't work at all!
Find another to do the job whose place is always a semy-mess

 

[PumaNoob]

Your grandfather has the same proffesion as me, so maybe we are all messy!! :lol: I am also a carpenter! But I think my garage is TOO messy, it's a double garage, & you can barely stand up in there. In those pics I can make out some fiesta ST driveshafts, a puma cylinder head, a mondeo ecu, a puma seat subframe, a mondeo engine loom, it's all random junk I'll probly never use! My girlfriend must be very understanding!!!

I'm going to attempt to get my brakes fitted today, aswell as pick up my crank from the machine shop, and finish my gearbox, I'm hoping I'll have my engine built by the end of the week!! I'm inspired to get it finished for the good weather!!

 

[yippeekiay]

I agree with your thoughts on the matt blue. Looks nice/better but would be a bitch to keep clean.

 

[PumaNoob]

So got the brakes all fitted today, but never got a chance to test them because the battery was dead, so its just on charge now!!

The old calipers

New caliper halfs before they are bolted together

A little corrosion on the internal corner behind where pad rails were, but nothing too bad!!

Pad shims

Calipers bolted together

And a nice comparison shot!! :grin:

Ive not really had a look at the old calipers yet, but to be honest, on the inside they look dirty with brake dust build up, but in a lot better condition then i had expected, so fingers crossed, ill be able to refurb them and have them as a spare set!! :thumbs: Ill get some pice up when i get around to cleaning them up!

Just a shot of them fitted!

 

[madhillbilly17]

looks good with the blue mate, i was unsure when i saw them off the car but they do look good on k:

 

[jacko]

sweet! nice one mate. think id have gone with silver on the middle of the disc and black on the outside, just think the blue stands out a bit.

highly recommend hispecs with ali centres too when your discs wear out...

 

[PumaNoob]

sweet! nice one mate. think id have gone with silver on the middle of the disc and black on the outside, just think the blue stands out a bit.

highly recommend hispecs with ali centres too when your discs wear out...

yeah, I think silver or black would have looked better, the blue don't go so well with silver wheels does it? I have a set of dark grey pro lites that I was going to put on, but they don't fit over the calipers on the front, so I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board with them!!

Are there a different disc that fits the puma rears, I thought the fiesta st discs fit, but they are too small, by about 17mm. I was going to replace the rears, a need to change the handbrake cable too as it's sticking. I brought an frp one a whil back, but it dosent look like a 5 min job!!

 

[yippeekiay]

Sorry, but I like the blue inners actually. Although I do agree that silver is probably the better choice. Wish I'd thought of doing my new discs in black now to match my wheels - only been on a couple of weeks so might do them when I change the top mounts this/next week.

Yours look good either way as they're not rust coloured and should hopefully stay that way a lot longer than unpainted ones which is the objective

 

[Marcus000]

Are there a different disc that fits the puma rears, I thought the fiesta st discs fit, but they are too small, by about 17mm.

I "think" it's Focus discs', not Fiesta ST.

 

[jacko]

they are focus 2.0 discs, calipers, hubs etc. discs are 253mm
i have upgraded the calipers (just the carriers really) to 280mm from the focus st170

i had heard the fiesta st ones were the same tho....

handbrake needs exhaust shields to come off....drop the centre section at the downtube and see how much wiggle room you get to take the shields off

 

[PumaNoob]

Thanks for the info guys, i looked on ebay and the puma rear discs said 270mm, and all the other fords said different?? So the puma arent actually 270mm??

Yours look good either way as they're not rust coloured and should hopefully stay that way a lot longer than unpainted ones which is the objective

Lol, that brown color really didnt go with the paintwork!!

Checked the brakes today, and everything seems to be working fine, they feel a little spongy, but that might be because im used to driving my focus, i havent driven any of my pumas for a long time, so it was fun.

Also fitted my clocks, im well pleased with them!

Ill do that handbrake cable when i take the engine and exhaust off, ive got loads to do under the car, all the subframe and hubs and pretty much everything under the car needs wire brushing and powder coating or spraying in hamerite! And a good coat of waxoyle sealer!

 

[PumaNoob]

A quick vid to show my clocks working, ive waited until night so you can see the back lights better, but im very pleased, taken it for a drive and all seems to be working as it should! Hopefully they wont go up in smoke this time!!
also took a little footage from outside and the interior for anybody doubting they are in a puma!!! :thumbs:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySwlk-idOs4[/youtube]

As before, NONE of the puma wiring has been touched, so if i want to put puma clocks back in, i can just unplug these and put my original clocks back!
Any comments welcome, good or bad!