General no fear.......

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General no fear.......

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so tippex did the usual and failed her MOT yesterday, not a major fail, the rear calipers are duff, one won't grip the other won't let go.....go figure, i was on borrowed time with them anyway, they always need a good hammering to sort themselves out, so rather than dicking about this year, it's time to sort her out once and for all.

so, new for the 2010 season:

2 new rear calipers, all calipers, bolts and brackets to be taken off, cleaned up and re-painted
all new discs, all round - black diamond 40 grooved
all new EBC green stuff pads all round
fresh 5.1 fluid
new wishbones
poly bushes on ARB, wishbones and rear beam
14" tempras with lightly toasted toyo r888s for track
13" turbos with yoko a539s for road

that takes care of the rubber meeting the road.....

inside the engine bay:

new radiator
new thermostat
fan switch
temp sender for ecu
oil cooler
filter


10 days for the re-test, 14 to the season opener at brooklands....what could possibly go wrong?!:slayer:
 
I think this is going to need a montage video.
Remember to fade out the music at the end.

;)
 
progress so far:

calipers, brackets, dust shields off:

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22 years of mankiness, crud, paint, grease, oil, dirt and god knows what stuck to them. now, i could spend and age, huge tubs of elbow grease and expend every profanity i know on cleaning them, and still not get them 100% perfectly clean.......or, i could take them up the road to an industrial blaster, who will de-grease and blast it all off bare to clean bare metal:
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whilst i was at it, also got the coil plate and and spare arb done:

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best get a layer of pain on before it starts to corrode:
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so todays plan of action? red paint for the calipers and brackets, black for the dust covers, arb and coil plate. sometime today ebc grooved discs and green pads are coming.

lay up all the parts in readiness for tomorrow:slayer:
 
Looks nice, Will have to get mine painted one day, like the metal blasting idea.. Good luck with mot. not quite sure how they work with your testings over there . Im way down here in New Zealand.
 
Looks nice, Will have to get mine painted one day, like the metal blasting idea.. Good luck with mot. not quite sure how they work with your testings over there . Im way down here in New Zealand.

you've got a few unoista down your way, alexgs, rawill spring to mind straight off, well worth looking back over their posts for the local WOF to see what needed to be done to get through(y)

update: brake supplier just called, discs and pads delivered by about 1pm:slayer:
 
It's all looking BRILLIANT Jai, I especially like your de-rusting technique which involves taking all the parts somewhere else and picking them up later. Much better than hours spent standing over a wire wheel rotating at high speed flicking bits of rust (and wire) everywhere :eek:

I wonder if the caliper sliding pins are still a good fit inside the (blasted) holes - then again I don't think they were much of a good fit to begin with!

When I see that coil plate, I really think it looks better once it is drilled with 10mm holes like mine is. Such a weight saving :p

Love the brake discs. Ought to be no excuse now, should be stopping on a dime. How are the hoses?

NZ WOF brake testing: varies depending on whether you go to a testing station (with rolling-road) or a local garage. Rolling-road test is a little stricter than UK MOT requirements because for us the balance side-to-side must be within 10% (and 40% for the parking brake). Imbalance over 10% might pass at the tester's discretion if it's late in the day and the brakes are a bit rusty from lack of use. The actual braking effort is checked against a table of vehicle data (at least, if they can be bothered). Again the requirements are a bit higher than MOT levels of braking effort (which are notoriously low). A standard Uno with rear drum brakes may well have difficulty meeting the requirements on the rear brakes which are officially 120kg each side. However, I've passed with sub-100 readings before. Front brakes require at least 180 to pass. Most standard Uno discs should manage about 220. My Uno Turbo seems to vary depending on how hard the tester stamps on the pedal, but fronts are around 240 and rears around 180 depending on how I've set the rear regulator (I find it's safest for real conditions to have the rear brakes turned down to 120, which is what happens naturally when the slot in the regulator arm for the spring wears oval).

In summary for NZ WOF:
Brake balance and brake 'progressiveness': important, may be difficult to pass with fluid leaks in rear cylinders or rusted front caliper slides
Brake effort achieved: less important, but rear brakes may be low and need adjustment to worn regulator spring
Brake pedal force required and brake pedal travel: not important, still passes even if servo not working
Handbrake lever travel: no 'required' number of clicks but lever travel must not be excessive (in practice, 5-6 clicks for the Uno, overtightening reduces lever effectiveness) and lever must be securely mounted (this latter point a problem for the Uno when the floor cracks around the lever; can be repaired with welding or with large washers and longer bolts to clamp the lever to the floor).
Pipework: Rigid pipes must be clipped in place (clips are erratic on the Uno and often missing from rear axle beam), flexible pipes must show no perishing (often the case on 20+year-old hoses), flexible pipes must not be twisted and must be clear of metalwork (round plastic spacers required on the Uno), must be no leaks.

I know all this is a bit short and cryptic but if it is any use, it probably makes sense :eek:

-Alex
 

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liking that coil plate! was that really for weight reduction, or were you covering up the inevitable rust bugs work?!

the hoses were all changed to goodridge braids last year, the ones on the calipers now are for keeping the holes clear. same with the bleed nipples, all new ones coming tomorrow, for about £3, better to replace than renew

yeah stopping as we all know is a bit of a gamble on the tubs standard set up, esp after a few hard pull ups. on my red on tried various combos or standard discs and pads, drilled and grooved with greenstuff, grooved with green stuff, grooved with standard pads, and standard discs with fast road pads.

they all have their up and downsides, cost vs driveability vs longevity etc are all factors. if i was simply doing roadwork for the next year, i'd save the bucks and go OEM for well under £80. but, in this instance, two heavy duty track sessions at spa, followed by 4 days of mayhem at the ring, i'd rather pay the money, put up with a bit of noise, and lose some end life on the pads in exchange for a better stop than the marginal set up.
 
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so the weather held, and it's time for paint....

first up commandeer the clothes line for some hanging action, and get the dust covers, coil plate and arb black:
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then the calipers and carriers get the red:
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somewhere in there is the second coat:cool: but apart from looking at time stamps i can't tell:rolleyes:

anyway, end of the day, back in the garage, waiting for tomorrow:
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the calis and carriers look like a chinese restaurant window display......:p

tomorrow: we can rebuild her, better, faster, stronger.......:D
 
HARDER, better, faster, stronger :p

But if you fade out, it seems like more time has passed... :)

Looking great. I did notice that the pad area on those rear EBC pads seems on the small side - some rear pads have that much, others have the friction material pushed out to the edges. I guess, given the over-effectiveness of the rear brakes anyway, it doesn't matter.

-Alex
 
I did notice that the pad area on those rear EBC pads seems on the small side - some rear pads have that much, others have the friction material pushed out to the edges. I guess, given the over-effectiveness of the rear brakes anyway, it doesn't matter.

-Alex

the manky pads went in just under two years ago, since then done a shed load of mileage, trackdays, etc:
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looks like time for a change.......:rolleyes:

the rears have as expected held up better:
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pretty much the same size:
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so 'twas a bight and sunny day in the vale of watford, and gathered were the disciples of fiat (chas and owen), for a day of ressurection and epicness...little did they know of the dark hand of fate waiting to crush dreams and balls in its iron studded grip......

but we get ahead of ourselves, a bright day, and time to lay out bits:
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start with the rear offside:
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note-yeah the dust cover is still cacky, i couldnt get the ****ing bastard **** nugget off, so it stays with a curse of eternal damnation from me.....

ooooh, shiny disc!
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3mm spacer:
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green stuff pads:
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and caliper.

same on the other side, with my old mucker chas getting stuck right in:
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end result:
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the bikini effect, a little hint of something something on standard (very dirty)alloys!

as the day progresses, bits start leaving the floor, and head to the car:
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and so to the fronts:
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proper back plate:
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disc:
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carrier:
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pads:
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caliper:
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by now was getting late, and dark, and still trojan chas soldiered on....
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adjusting and fettling. the brake bleed had not gone well....something was afoot, and as for changing out the wishbones, arb and rad, was not a good idea as very understanding nieghbours would have lynched my ass, so we bailed down to our second home: pitstart.

this is where the journey goes south, and fate joins us.....

first up, new brake bleed, car on a 4 post, me in the drivers seat, pumping like hugh hefner on date night, owen hanging on precariously topping up, and chas underneath sucking fluid like jenna jameson, end result? rock hard brakes!!!

so earlier in day chas had removed the arb, in readiness for the the new painted one, and polybushed wishbones, which put up one hell of a fight to get them out:
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however whilst the new ones went in a bit easier, was a real fight to get the arb on them after locating the body mounts, at this point photos stopped, due to technical difficulties, i won't pretend to understand, i was baffled and annoyed as heck, chas will no doubt be along to explain, but suffice to say the offside cv decided to snag, and then destroy itself, it was 4am.........

to say i was ****ing livid at the thing, and ready to burn a bitch to the wheels was an understatement......

fear? not yet, concern? growing.

to be continued...........
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todays update:

well lucky for chas and i, dads taxi was working at 5am......owen having been sensible and long since bailed home.

but the day had only begun kids, oh yes, someone had to drop mrs jai off to work, and take her car to the garage for a knocking up front to be diagnosed. thankfully, dad dropped her off, i got 3 hours kip in, and then headed down to hounslow in the panda, turns out it's the central bushes on the arb......NO! I AM NOT GOING TO CHANGE THEM!!! NOT EVEN IF YOU STICK A RED HOT POKER UP MY POO CHUTE!!!!!

calm, zen......remember the good time......ok, i'm back

fiat called, new bushs ordered, £25, glynn the man with the plan to fit, another day another section, another thread. back to reality...

dropped into pitstart, a very understanding owner, sam, had stopped the clock, and ordered the parts, peter the pole, gorilla sized and funny as **** was going to take over:
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unfortunately eurocarparts threw in a spanner. yes it's a cv joint for a 1988 1.3 uno...a non turbo uno div.......dropped into midnight motors, none in stock fella, will tomorrow do? hell yeah!

so anyway, there she sits, forlorn and lonely, still the grandkids came out to see her.....
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once again massive thanks to chas and owen for sticking it out, was a thankless and brutal day, with no real pay off, jason i know you were up to your earsm but the spirit of team bodge was with us!
 
oh, and we still haven't fitted the new radiator, sensor, silicone hoses, modified thermostat, fan switch. or go the new yoko a539s, fitted, balanced or
alignment done.

get the feeling the list grows longer as my patience gets thinner......
 
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