Mr FIAT - Your #1 source for vintage car parts

Technical Brake calliper advice

Currently reading:
Technical Brake calliper advice

T

Trusham

New member
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
40
Points
16
Location
Teign Valley Devon
Cant get the front brake pistons to move at all. If I could get them out it may only need a seal kit.
If I fail (which looks likely) which other fiat callipers will fit, uno perhaps? There are no Pandas in any breakers near me.
What do the experts think of leaving out the disk covers, as they are knackered anyway? I think it may be better not having spaces where the mud can jam & dry.

The bills on this are mounting up.
Cheers
Vince
 
New Calipers from an autofactors would only be about 20 quid and you'd have a hell of a lot of work trying to make other fiat ones fit

that and the panda is so light it doesnt really need better stoppers so it's loose/loose there I think....

Jim
 
JimMagill said:
New Calipers from an autofactors would only be about 20 quid
Click to expand...

:eek:

Jim, tell me where! That's a damn good price for a new/ recon caliper!

With regards to the original question, Unos and Pandas share the same front calipers with, I think, the exception of the Selecta Panda models that use different/ larger calipers and the Uno Turbos, which use a design unique to that model.

I'm also fairly sure the 'Cento calipers are different and use a sliding pin design rather than sliding 'wedges'.

To get the piston out of your current caliper, just remove the caliper from the hub, leave it connected and pump the brake pedal until it pops out. It would have to be very seized for it to not come out at all.

Good luck. :)
 
Trouble is the car is just a pile of bits. It would take quite a bit of friggin to get pressure in the callipers. Have tried my air line but no chance.
OK will ring the breakers again and ask for uno and cento, worth a try.

Yes I do mean the rusty bits of plate as the disk cover. Think I will be better off without them.

Have started a new thread for a head gasket question- big rebuild.

Thanks for info
 
Trusham said:
Trouble is the car is just a pile of bits. It would take quite a bit of friggin to get pressure in the callipers. Have tried my air line but no chance.
OK will ring the breakers again and ask for uno and cento, worth a try.

Yes I do mean the rusty bits of plate as the disk cover. Think I will be better off without them.

Have started a new thread for a head gasket question- big rebuild.

Thanks for info
Click to expand...

Sorry, but centro ones will not fit and I'm not sure about the uno's either (the calipiers are the same but I believe the carriers have differerent bolt spacing to the uprights).
 
panda-sport said:
Sorry, but centro ones will not fit and I'm not sure about the uno's either (the calipiers are the same but I believe the carriers have differerent bolt spacing to the uprights).
Click to expand...

Fit the Uno calipers into the Panda carriers :idea:

They're a 'floating' design, so no reason why the Uno calipers won't swap into the Panda carriers ;)
 
Hi
We have just bought from Ebay a 1989 Panda Sisley 4x4 for around £700 and then had to spend £1300 on getting it ready for use. Having just driven it from Dorset to Andalucia in the south of Spain (over 1800 miles) we are now in the mountains at around 850 metres above sea level.
The Sisley got here without any great problems but we are really worried about the brakes. They were serviced last week and many parts were replaced. The engineer said that the brakes are never very good on these cars and so we should expect that; however, these mountains are really steep and we nearly lost control of the Sisley on a particularly steep hill when the brake pedal seemed to go to the ground and then the handbrake would not hold the car as it started to roll backwards towards a 100 metre cliff edge.
Can you possibly advise us on what we need to do to uprate the brake system so that it will afford us some better protection? We had a couple of friends call last night on a walk around our hillside. We were going to offer to drive them home since it was already dark outside, but I was so worried about whether the Sisley would actually stop on the hills with 4 people in it that they had to walk home in the dark...
Many thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
Lynda
 
I'm afraid the engineer was talking rubbish, Panda brakes are perfectly adequate for the weight of car, if your pedal is going to the floor you either have a leak in the system, easy enough to check - the fluid will have gone down,and there will be evidence of brake fluid somewhere externally on the system - particularly the rear wheel cylinders, the brakes haven't been bled properly - have you had any of the braking components changed? The brake fluid is boiling, common in mountainous areas but unlikely unless you have old fluid in which had absorbed water, or a problem with the master cylinder.
I have done a lot of driving in the Alps, on bikes and in overloaded cars with motorbikes on the back and never had brake failure, the key is to use your gearbox for long descents otherwise you will fry your pads and boil old brake fluid quite quickly. The handbrakes are prone to not working until the final pull - I adjust mine with both rear wheels off the ground and keep adjusting until the wheels just start to bind then slacken off a fraction.
The bottom line is if you're not keen on doing it yourself, you need to get a local mechanic to look at it, they shouldn't be like that!
As an afterthought make sure your tickover is set correctly, altitude can effect the low speed running and if your engine is running on with your foot off the throttle, it will affect your engine braking, which is quite disconcerting.
Good luck(y)
Mike
 
Last edited:
Trusham said:
Trouble is the car is just a pile of bits. It would take quite a bit of friggin to get pressure in the callipers. Have tried my air line but no chance.
OK will ring the breakers again and ask for uno and cento, worth a try.

Yes I do mean the rusty bits of plate as the disk cover. Think I will be better off without them.

Have started a new thread for a head gasket question- big rebuild.

Thanks for info
Click to expand...

Try and break the bond of corrosion around the piston by pushing it further into the caliper. Just press it in with a G-clamp. Then hopefully your air-compresser will have enough kick to push it back out, you might need to repeat the process a few times to get it all the way out.

Also seeing as you'll be strupping it and cleaning it anyway, it might be an idea to pour some Plus Gas penetrating oil into caliper before winding it in with the G-clamp to help it slide a bit more easily.

Also, incase you haven't already, you can use an old piece of bicycle inner tube wrapped roand the air gun nozzle to get a better seal on your air-compresser.
 
nitro_warrior said:
Try and break the bond of corrosion around the piston by pushing it further into the caliper. Just press it in with a G-clamp. Then hopefully your air-compresser will have enough kick to push it back out, you might need to repeat the process a few times to get it all the way out.

Also seeing as you'll be strupping it and cleaning it anyway, it might be an idea to pour some Plus Gas penetrating oil into caliper before winding it in with the G-clamp to help it slide a bit more easily.

Also, incase you haven't already, you can use an old piece of bicycle inner tube wrapped roand the air gun nozzle to get a better seal on your air-compresser.
Click to expand...
Good advice, but that's an old post Nitro.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
General Flexible front brake hoses classic panda 1989
Replies
7
Views
748
Good104
G
F
General Various parts classic panda - advice please.
Replies
8
Views
758
bruu
bruu
MdYSalva781
Tuning pandamonium pack
Replies
10
Views
501
MdYSalva781
MdYSalva781
G
General No brakes!!!
Replies
14
Views
852
Good104
G
T
Technical Front flexi hose clips
Replies
2
Views
91
tobywood13
T
Back
Top